The Girl on the Bridge (1999)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Every once in a while — too rarely — a film unexpectedly hits you like the burst-in-your-mouth of a fresh, flavorsome tomato. You're left sitting with a grin, thinking simply, "Wow. I really enjoyed that." For me, Patrice Leconte's The Girl on the Bridge (La Fille sur la Pont) was one of those films.The film opens with 21-year old Adele (Vanessa Paradis) explaining to a roomful of psychology students why she is suicidal: All her life she has been luckless, especially so with men. She cannot resist men (she feels compelled to try them on, Adele says, like other girls her age try on pretty clothes). Yet men treat her abominably.Cut to a bridge over the Seine. Night. Adele stands on the edge staring down into the water, trying to screw up the courage to jump, the sounds of samba music coming from a passing tourist boat. A man's voice from the dark: "You look like a girl who's about to make a mistake." One of the great pickup lines in film.The voice belongs to Gabor (Daniel Auteuil), a knife thrower in search of a target. He recruits on bridges, he tells Adele, because the women he meets there have little to lose — so if he hits them, it's no big loss. Adele promptly jumps into the river.Fortunately, Adele survives, and she and Gabor perform his knife-throwing act to great acclaim across Europe. In a reversal of fortune for them both, they find that together they have astonishing luck in every facet of their lives. But Adele soon ends it, for with her newfound luck, she has met her Mr. Right, and she leaves Gabor behind.But Gabor and Adele are, as Adele remarks, like the two halves of a torn 50-franc note: Apart, their luck is all bad. Working on a cruise ship, Gabor puts a knife into the thigh of Adele's replacement; he is immediately offloaded in Istanbul, with no means of returning to Paris. Adele is abandoned by her Mr. Right in Athens; she is left lost and destitute.But just as Gabor has lost all hope and is about to jump off an Istanbul bridge, he hears a woman's voice: "You look like a man who's about to make a mistake."The film charms throughout, not least because of the charisma of Paradis and Auteuil. Paradis, in particular, is mesmerizing as Adele, a naive waif with a striking, confident beauty buried inside, waiting to emerge. But Leconte balances the film's charm with a certain gravitas, as throughout Gabor and Adele balance on the edges between life and death; fear and ecstasy; happiness and despair; sexual penetration and emotional laceration. The result is, simply, a pleasure to behold.

We enjoyed this film, but I am mystified as to why it was made in black and white...???Apart from possibly conferring a dubious, instant 'world cinema/art movie' status it did absolutely nothing for the plot in my opinion and wasted some superb location and costume opportunities.It wasn't even executed particularly well, as most of the direction seemed to be in the modern style involving camera angles and sweeping movement and it had none of the classic 'set pieces' and static shots (panoramas, buildings etc.) of the earlier masters like the Japanese greats (Ozu, Kurosawa et al) The storyline, characters and acting should (and would) have been enough to lift this flic from the average - it simply does not benefit from being shot in black and white.Top honours must go to Vanessa Pardis for a superbly consistent performance which captured the (my) attention every time she was on the screen. I always have a little trouble with Daniel Auteil (it's the blank stare) but even he did very well despite signs of his advancing years making him look a little old for his leading lady - he is 22 years older than her after all!!Don't let all this put you off though - I rate this movie 8 out of 10 for still being refreshingly different in its treatment of unusual subjects and for carrying a story that was both engaging and entertaining.

Patrice Leconte's "The Girl on the Bridge" is a film that on second viewing seems better than when we first saw it. In a way, it appears to be a change of pace for M. Leconte, a man whose films have always been received well by his fans. As written for the screen by Serge Frydman, the movie presents a different take on love between two lonely people.In fact, this original film begins and end on bridges with a reversal in what Adele and Gabor are trying to do. At the start, it's Adele the one that is at the end of her rope, and at the conclusion, it's Gabor who does a complete role reversal when everything seems to be hopeless for him.Adele and Gabor never consummate their love as we follow when their lives comes together. Adele, during the interview with what appears to be either a social worker, reveals the sordid aspects of her life to the camera in an amazing sequence that sets the tone to the rest of the film. M. Leconte and his camera seem to be in love with the lovely Adele.The two principals, Vanessa Paradis and Daniel Auteuil are perfect in the film. Both actors do excellent work together.The magnificent black and white photography by Jean Marie Dreujou is perhaps the best asset for the film. The music score adds to the mood of the film.

This can be considered as another fairy tale but with lots of twists: No colors, or color busted scenes, it's all in black and white. The characters save each other. They are continually on the road, traveling from one city in Europe to another and from one bridge to another. Filmed entirely in black/white, the eye is not focused on the panoramas but on the characters themselves. Especially the knife-throwing scenes are quite craftily edited. The acting is quite well, and Vanessa Paradis is a surprise, she can actually act apart from singing. The soundtrack is very gripping. To sum up: Girl on the Bridge is a road movie about love and luck which starts on a bridge in Paris and ends on another bridge in Istanbul.