Don't
Touch The Axe (2006) aka The Duchess Of Langeais
romantic drama directed
by : Jacques Rivette featuring
: Guillaume Depardieu - Jeanne Balibar - Bulle Ogier - Michel Piccoli
- Barbet Schroeder running
time : 2 hours 17 minutes audio :
French - subtitle : English
Guillaume Depardieu,
Jeanne Balibar, and Michel Piccoli star in director Jacques Rivette's adaptation
of the Balzac novella The Duchesse de Langeais, which tells the tale of
a Parisian socialite who is romantically pursued by a Napoleonic war hero.
The story begins as grieving French general Armand de Montriveau (Depardieu)
arrives at a Majorcan church to speak with French nun Antionette le Langeais
(Balibar). General de Montriveau believes le Langeais to be a woman he
once loved dearly, but eventually lost. As the pair is reunited under the
watchful eyes of the presiding priest and mother superior, their romantic
past gradually comes into focus. It was five years ago that bored socialite
Antoinette first became enamored with the wounded soldier whose rousing
tales of adventure offered exciting contrast to her highly refined lifestyle.
Though she was married at the time, the coquettish cosmopolitan quickly
fell under the spell of the commanding military man -- who vowed that very
night that Antoinette would be his lover. As their romance grows more complicated,
the passionate pair finds it increasingly difficult to deny the powerful
connection that binds them.
