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The Girl (film)
Encyclopedia
The Girl is a 2000 American/French romantic drama film directed by Sande Zeig
. It is a love story set in Paris
between "the Artist" (Agathe De La Boulaye
) and "the Girl" (Claire Keim
), based on a story by Zeig's partner Monique Wittig
. It was negatively received by critics.
as "The Artist". She is obsessed with a nightclub singer (Claire Keim
) whom she calls "The Girl". One night the girl takes the artist to the hotel where she lives and they make love. The girl, who does not usually sleep with women, tells the artist that it is "just one night" but they begin seeing each other. The girl continues to see men and the artist has a long term lover, Bu Savè (Sandra Nkake), who accepts the artist's obsession.
The artist draws and paints the girl, but gradually grows frustrated with her work. She notices a man (Cyril Lecomte) watching her and the girl. The man behaves aggressively and possessively towards the girl. He starts following the artist and sends threatening letters to the girl telling her to get rid of the artist. The girl refuses. The man follows the artist and tries to attack her. The artist asks advice from Bu Savè, who gives her a gun.
When the artist cannot find the girl, she discovers that she has gone away with the man, who turns out to be the owner of the nightclub where the girl sings. When the man and the girl return, the artist gives the girl the gun.
The artist gets beaten up by the man and his friend. Later when she goes to meet the girl at the hotel, she finds the man there, naked and asleep. She leaves. The next day she returns and tells the girl that she is leaving her. The artist puts all her energy into her painting. One day she goes back to the hotel. As she climbs the stairs, she hears gunshots. She finds the man dead and the girl with a gunshot wound to her side.
. It was Wittig's first English language story. The screenplay was written by Wittig and Zeig. Zeig, an American, said of her decision to shoot the film in France, "I don't feel like an American independent filmmaker. I'm just not inspired to shoot in America with American stories."
it was rated 15 and in Germany
it was rated 12. It premiered on September 9, 2000 at the Toronto Film Festival. It went on to appear in 2001 at the Turin International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and the Berlin Film Festival. It was given a limited theatrical release in the United States on April 20, 2001, distributed by Zeig's company Artistic License
.
gave The Girl a "rotten" rating of 13% based on 30 reviews. Metacritic
gave it a "generally negative" rating of 34% based on 14 reviews.
Sande Zeig
Sande Zeig is an American film director and writer. She was the partner of late French feminist writer Monique Wittig. She directed the 2000 romantic drama The Girl.-Biography:...
. It is a love story set in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
between "the Artist" (Agathe De La Boulaye
Agathe De La Boulaye
Agathe de La Boulaye is a French film and television actress. She played Adele Rousseau in 2004 science fiction film Alien vs. Predator. In 2008 she played quadriplegic psychiatrist Claire Etxebarra in television series Disparitions, retour aux sources....
) and "the Girl" (Claire Keim
Claire Keim
-Biography:Keim was born in Senlis, Oise to an architect and a dentist.She had a relationship with an actor Frédéric Diefenthal. She is in a relationship with French footballer Bixente Lizarazu and lives between Saint Jean de Luz and Paris...
), based on a story by Zeig's partner Monique Wittig
Monique Wittig
Monique Wittig was a French author and feminist theorist who wrote about overcoming socially enforced gender roles and who coined the phrase "heterosexual contract". She published her first novel, L'Opoponax, in 1964...
. It was negatively received by critics.
Plot
The film is narrated by Agathe De La BoulayeAgathe De La Boulaye
Agathe de La Boulaye is a French film and television actress. She played Adele Rousseau in 2004 science fiction film Alien vs. Predator. In 2008 she played quadriplegic psychiatrist Claire Etxebarra in television series Disparitions, retour aux sources....
as "The Artist". She is obsessed with a nightclub singer (Claire Keim
Claire Keim
-Biography:Keim was born in Senlis, Oise to an architect and a dentist.She had a relationship with an actor Frédéric Diefenthal. She is in a relationship with French footballer Bixente Lizarazu and lives between Saint Jean de Luz and Paris...
) whom she calls "The Girl". One night the girl takes the artist to the hotel where she lives and they make love. The girl, who does not usually sleep with women, tells the artist that it is "just one night" but they begin seeing each other. The girl continues to see men and the artist has a long term lover, Bu Savè (Sandra Nkake), who accepts the artist's obsession.
The artist draws and paints the girl, but gradually grows frustrated with her work. She notices a man (Cyril Lecomte) watching her and the girl. The man behaves aggressively and possessively towards the girl. He starts following the artist and sends threatening letters to the girl telling her to get rid of the artist. The girl refuses. The man follows the artist and tries to attack her. The artist asks advice from Bu Savè, who gives her a gun.
When the artist cannot find the girl, she discovers that she has gone away with the man, who turns out to be the owner of the nightclub where the girl sings. When the man and the girl return, the artist gives the girl the gun.
The artist gets beaten up by the man and his friend. Later when she goes to meet the girl at the hotel, she finds the man there, naked and asleep. She leaves. The next day she returns and tells the girl that she is leaving her. The artist puts all her energy into her painting. One day she goes back to the hotel. As she climbs the stairs, she hears gunshots. She finds the man dead and the girl with a gunshot wound to her side.
Cast
- Claire KeimClaire Keim-Biography:Keim was born in Senlis, Oise to an architect and a dentist.She had a relationship with an actor Frédéric Diefenthal. She is in a relationship with French footballer Bixente Lizarazu and lives between Saint Jean de Luz and Paris...
as The Girl, a nightclub jazz singer. The narrator calls her "Agnus Dei". - Agathe De La BoulayeAgathe De La BoulayeAgathe de La Boulaye is a French film and television actress. She played Adele Rousseau in 2004 science fiction film Alien vs. Predator. In 2008 she played quadriplegic psychiatrist Claire Etxebarra in television series Disparitions, retour aux sources....
as The Narrator, and artist. The girl calls her "Lover". - Cyril Lecomte as The Man, owner of the nightclub where the girl sings. He has a past with the girl and tries to stop her seeing the narrator.
- Sandra Nkake as Bu Savè, the narrator's long-term lover.
- Ronald GuttmanRonald GuttmanRonald Guttman is a Belgian actor, theatrical producer and film producer.Guttman was born in Uccle. He has appeared in TV shows such as Lost, Lipstick Jungle, Heroes, The West Wing, and Sex and the City. He had a recurring role as Alexander Cambias, Sr...
as Bartender - Cyrille Hertel as Bodyguard
- Pascal Cervo as Hotel Clerk
- Franck Prévost as Piano Player
- Hélène Juren as Art School Model
Production
The Girl was based on a short story of the same name by Zeig's partner French writer and theorist Monique WittigMonique Wittig
Monique Wittig was a French author and feminist theorist who wrote about overcoming socially enforced gender roles and who coined the phrase "heterosexual contract". She published her first novel, L'Opoponax, in 1964...
. It was Wittig's first English language story. The screenplay was written by Wittig and Zeig. Zeig, an American, said of her decision to shoot the film in France, "I don't feel like an American independent filmmaker. I'm just not inspired to shoot in America with American stories."
Ratings and distribution
The Girl was unrated in the United States. In the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
it was rated 15 and in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
it was rated 12. It premiered on September 9, 2000 at the Toronto Film Festival. It went on to appear in 2001 at the Turin International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and the Berlin Film Festival. It was given a limited theatrical release in the United States on April 20, 2001, distributed by Zeig's company Artistic License
Artistic License
The Artistic License refers most commonly to the original Artistic License , a software license used for certain free and open source software packages, most notably the standard Perl implementation and most CPAN modules, which are dual-licensed under the Artistic License and the GNU General Public...
.
Reception
Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
gave The Girl a "rotten" rating of 13% based on 30 reviews. Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
gave it a "generally negative" rating of 34% based on 14 reviews.