The Girl on the Bridge

1999 Drama

A woman's long history of bad luck starts to change when she puts her life on the line in this romantic drama. Adèle (Vanessa Paradis) is a 22-year-old woman whose life seems to have been a long series of miscalculations; she's never had much luck with love, life, or career, and is standing on a bridge overlooking the Seine one night, contemplating suicide, when she's approached by a man named Gabor (Daniel Auteuil). Gabor announces he's a knife-thrower who needs a new human target for his act. Would Adèle be interested? Adèle's immediate answer is to jump into the water, but after Gabor fishes her out and gets her to a hospital, she has a change of heart and the pair are soon on their way to Monaco, where Gabor gets a spot at a circus. Adèle and Gabor make a great team; he's good with knives, she's young and beautiful, and suddenly Adèle's luck starts to change. She visits a casino one night and comes home with a fortune, and even when Gabor throws blindfolded, she walks away without so much as a scratch. However, an obvious chemistry is brewing between the two, which leads to a dilemma: Gabor has a strict policy of never getting romantically involved with his partners. Will he make an exception, or is Adèle's new run of luck coming to an end? more..

Director: Patrice Leconte

Starring: Vanessa Paradis,Daniel Auteuil, Frederic Pfluger, Demetre Georgalas, Catherine Lascault

Reviews

  • Paradis sizzles in a star-making role that gleams like one of Gabor's blades. She's a spellbinder.

    Peter Travers - Rolling Stone

    27 April 2013

  • Leconte (''Ridicule'') gives his heart to the luck of romance, to the dream state visual style of Fellini, and, most lyrically, to the passion of the dagger point swoon.

    Lisa Schwarzbaum - Entertainment Weekly

    27 April 2013

  • What's best about the movie is its playfulness.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    27 April 2013

  • Paradis is a most striking subject, but the movie is a winner as well, starting with a story full of black-comic possibilities exploited fully by the great French director Patrice Leconte.

    Mike Clark - USA Today

    27 April 2013

  • Paradis, an actress and pop singer, is sensational.

    Peter Stack - The San Francisco Chronicle

    27 April 2013

Awards

  • Best Film Not in the English Language

    BAFTA Awards (2001)

     
  • Best Foreign Language Film

    Chicago Film Critics Association Awards (2001)

     
  • Best Actor

    Chlotrudis Awards (2001)

     
  • Patrice Leconte

    Cinemania Film Festival (1999)

  • Best Actor (Meilleur acteur)

    César Awards, France (2000)