Le due inglesi

A mildly moving, inoffensive Truffaut movie about a young French bloke (played by Truffaut regular Jean-Pierre Léaud, far more remarkable in movies such as Les Quatrecent Coups) who in turn romances two English (or rather, Welsh!) sisters, set during the first decade of the 20th century. It's a French movie and features a love triangle, so that for a start could have turned it into a potentially unoriginal and cliché-ridden affair. Yet the main problem I had with it wasn't so much the well-treaded theme of the love triangle, as the voice-over which somehow gave the feeling the narrative was rather weak (and I suspect it was). The characters of the two sisters, especially the older sister, were surprisingly better drawn than the male lead's (or maybe it just had something to do with the fact the two actresses playing them were more appealing than the inexpressive, boyish Léaud - I simply could not bring myself to believe that these two girls would both feel so attracted to such a bland young man! He was definitely more engaging as Antoine Doinel!). The movie was also successful at portraying something of the difficulty in relations between the sexes in the Edwardian era - how young men and women really needed to go clandestine if they hoped to even get to know each other decently (not just carnally but also emotionally). The issue of women's sexuality, and how it was virtually denied them in this epoch - the price to be paid for so-called respectability - is also a theme that's successfully conveyed by the movie. How could a woman rightfully claim her own sexual identity in such a day and age? An interesting question worth raising. Fortunately, we were spared any simplistic clichés contrasting "libertine France" vs. "strait-laced Britain" as well.

This is on the whole also a good-looking movie, with lovely sets, costumes and photography. One question: why does everyone in the movie (including the title) keep referring to the two sisters as English when they live in Wales and define themselves as Welsh?

Claude Roc has been invited to the coast, where two sisters and a mother will be host, a trip from gay Paris to Wales, lets him gather up his sails, he has ambitions of becoming a betrothed. It's a pleasant and quite ordinary stay, he falls for Muriel but parents have their say, a resolution is prepared, a separation for a year, after which they can agree to run or play.

It's not the most exciting romantic drama you might encounter, some musical chairs, not so passionate affairs, a rather drab and dull performance by Jean-Pierre Léaud who is difficult to disassociate from Antoine Doinel, although generally all the performances and characters are pretty disengaging. Not the best product of François Truffaut's career all told.

Truffaut's this masterpiece is a novel adaptation. Truffaut's skillful story-telling meets with the magnificent performance of Léaud. The story seems to be melodramatic. Truffaut's biggest success in that film is the narrative clearness and "economy". Truffaut uses very subjective plots, but he never leaves the spirit of the story. The contrast of two sisters and the different point of views of English Ladies and the French gentleman creates the brilliant dramatic effect.Truffaut is also very successful about underlining the Freudian relationship of Anne and Muriel and their attitudes towards their mother.

In the end of the Nineteenth Century, the English teenager Ann Brown (Kika Markham) travels from Wales to Paris and befriends the French Claude Roc (Jean-Pierre Léaud) and she invites him to visit her hometown, where she lives with her mother (Sylvia Marriot) and her younger sister Muriel (Stacey Tendeter). When Claude arrives at her home, Ann and Muriel become close friend of Claude, but Ann pushes Claude towards Muriel and they fall in love for each other. However their mothers propose a separation during one year without any communication between them to make them sure about their real feelings. But after six months in Paris, Claude is seduced by many love affairs and sends a letter to Muriel calling off their commitment. When Claude meets Ann in Paris later, they have a love affair; but Claude still has feelings for Muriel.

"Les Deux Anglaises et le Continent" is a pointless and dull romance with a melodramatic triangle of love that recalls a soap-opera most of the time. The cinematography, sets and costumes give a beautiful reconstitution of the period; the gorgeous Kika Markham and Stacey Tendeter have great performances; but the excessive narrative of the obvious is irritating and the feature could be shorter. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "As Duas Inglesas e o Amor" ("The Two Englishwomen and the Love")

"Two English Girls" is a lyrical, amusing slice of Truffaut's unique vision and style of filmmaking. Like all great artists, he can shift his tone from lushly romantic to deadpan comic, from poetic to amusingly prosaic without missing a beat, and all the while keeping his story all of one piece. If you love Truffaut's voice, you'll love this film - charming, personal, light-hearted, with a touch of melancholy. Beautifully filmed, ably acted, with Leaud playing his benign cad so well.