Don't Touch the Axe

Playing classic literary adaptation surprisingly straight, Jacques Rivette's version of Balzac's novel La Duchesse de Langeais catches the tone of the novelist better than any other screen attempt.

Set in the aristocratic salons of 1820s Paris, the story is framed as a flashback, recounting the emotional wranglings between Napoleonic general Armand de Montriveau (Depardieu) and society coquette Antoinette de Langeais (Balibar). Outflanked at every step by Antoinette, his superior at amorous strategy, the blunt Armand makes a decisive move with terrible consequences. The couple's romantic fencing achieves the lofty grandeur of classical tragedy, thanks to Rivette's formal, theatrical approach to the material and thanks to majestically commanding lead performances.

Depardieu is touching as a stormy-browed but gauche suitor, while Jeanne Balibar mesmerises and confounds, giving Antoinette all the actressy hauteur and allure of a Restoration Paris salon 'star'. Rivette veterans Bulle Ogier and Michel Piccoli add a further dash of distinction to the latest by one of French cinema's enduring greats.

Jonathan Romney