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The Girl Cut in Two

by Claude Chabrol

Those unfamiliar with Claude Chabrol's oeuvre could easily be forgiven for not reading undue significance into the names of characters within his 2007 exploration of bourgeois values and provincial reputation.  Devotees, however, will alight upon the Charles/Paul axis and realise that Saint-Denis and Gaudens are merely the latest incarnations of a rivalry encompassing the director's 50-year career; with TV weather girl (the audaciously titled Gabrielle Deneige) provoking a leisurely examination of their mutually simmering contempt.  Narrative prominence and differing attitudes to work align us initially towards writer Charles, yet it is monied pharmaceutical heir Paul's deprived spirit (a gently acidic mother becomes precise character background) and child-like loyalty that eventually gain our sympathy and expose the older man's reptilian nature.

It comes as a surprise, therefore, that Chabrol waits so long before entering familiar thriller territory; but perhaps the master is simply having a little fun with the genre?  He knows that he can wave the magic wand at any juncture - and does so here.  Indeed, there is a theatrical flourish to the film's design with red prevalent throughout:  from the lens filter of the opening car drive (reminiscent of the same director's tragi-fatalistic Que la Bête Meure) to Gabrielle's quietly emotional renaissance at the end of the film.

Not really a thriller and not quite classic Chabrol, The Girl Cut In Two is nevertheless an expertly crafted annexe to a raft of fascinating Charles/Paul narratives as well as an ultra-modern bourgeois-provincial fable imbued with unerring complexity and depth.

Review by Paul Richard Scott

Shelfmark:

DVD 430, English subtitles available