"La Fille sur le Pont" truly is the grown up fairy tale. Here, our Prince Charming is replaced by the unlikely Daniel Auteuil, a quick-witted, straight talking knife thrower whilst our Princess (Vanessa Paradis) proves to be a promiscuous, doe-eyed waif fallen on hard times. Both appear to live in an incomplete world, short of both companionship and luck. As expected they meet (all be it in rather peculiar circumstances) and we embark with them on their frantic journey to far off lands, fame and fortune. The film raises the age old questions of destiny and luck and the possible existence of either. Yet the director, Patrice Leconte, carefully creates an atmosphere of hope and belief and so despite all cynicism an audience does become seduced by the ideology of a good old romance.It's "rom-com" exterior proves highly deceptive as in fact it is a film of great detail and intense beauty. The absence of colour only enhances further the lavish and glamorous surroundings through which the couple saunter. The soundtrack is equally bohemian with elements of swing, samba, Asian folk and jazz all enhancing the exotic nature of the film. Combined with dynamic camera work and fast paced dialogue, the intensity of the knife-throwing scenes permeates throughout the entirety of the film.Patrice Leconte has created a charming piece of cinema that is sentimental, pretty and endearing. Definitely recommended as a quiet night-in, "feel-good" film.

I saw this when it was released some five or six years ago and found it only so-so perhaps due to my aversion to Vanessa Paradis, a Goldie Hawn clone who seems to be under the misconception that acting is all about looking helpless and 'cute' and standing back as all the men within a hundred mile radius roll over and play dead. However the DVD is now available at a giveaway price so I watched it again and found more to admire. I have, of course, no problem with Patrice Leconte, indeed with some twelve titles he is the French director most represented in my DVD collection, similarly Daniel Auteuil is right behind Depardieu in the front rank of French actors currently working. So it was just a question of getting round Paradis which I found somewhat easier this time around. At the time (1999) Leconte had a penchant for using one actor twice in succession - Paradis appeared in his previous film Une Chance sur deux and Auteuil would appear in his next, La Veuve de St Pierre - so having just seen Paradis acted out of sight by Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo may have had something to do with it. The film is laced with wry, cynical lines and seems to be heading into Billy Wilder (The Apartment) territory except that the growing attachment between Auteuil and Paradis is largely on a subconscious level and even at the end it makes do without a conventional clinch. The idea of the obvious 'loser' - here Paradis - becoming stronger than the obvious 'stable/strong' one - Auteuil - is far from new, in fact SO far from new as to be formulaic so all that is left is to do it well and here all hands oblige. Leconte has one of the most eclectic ouevres of any director French or otherwise so it's ironic that he's chosen to come full circle inasmuch as his latest film - which opens in February -is a return to his roots; his second film was Les Bronzes and his latest Friends For Life or Les Bronzes Revisited. Meanwhile La Fille sur le pont is well worth a look.

My ex-girlfriend suggested this movie. She actually gave me a copy. I had thought, previously, since she dug (or seemed to dig) Henry Fool (she later said that she must've been influenced by me, after having attempted to watch Surviving Desire and turning it off because it was too "talky") that perhaps the movie would at least be remotely intriguing. It wasn't.It was a definite case of style over substance. Clearly influenced by MTV (or in Canada's case, Much Music), it was chock full of interesting camerawork, beautiful cinematography, but the sentiments were bland and the story annoying and the characters unappealing. The story is about two incredibly needy, albeit unusual people (well, one is a knife thrower and the other is suicidal) who are tied at the hip and experience this "serendipity" and esp regarding each other. Several scenes show them walking aroung "talking" to each other (each one is in another part of the world). The movie is meant to show this tragic, romantic love affair full of magic and wonder and telepathy, but in the end, it's just a load of hogwash. The film suffers from overwrought sentimentality and a grating, unbelievable storyline that is all about the forces of fate etc.I was just really put off by the whole fairy tale, Cinderella aspect to the story, which seems to broadcast that people can't survive alone, and there is one person out there who is your soul mate. I realize that my own personal biases may influence this opinion, but so be it. I'm not a big fan of fate/ destiny/ the idea that our lives are pre-written. This film is a sickening lecture on the presence of serendipidy and fate and, in the end, I wanted to watch something real and gritty (Trainspotting or something). I mean, I don't mind flights of fancy etc., but this film was trollop. If you're a hopeless romantic who believes in needy, clingy relationships full of jealousy and mistrust, then you may enjoy this flick. If you have more of a philisophical bent and you believe in choice and free will and aren't usually pursuaded by layers of glossy style to conceal the fact that the film is a drab fairy tale, don't see this film. Go see Swimming Pool or 400 Blows if you want excellent french cinema. Avoid this at all costs.I give it 1 out of 10.

The day Vanessa Paradis conquered the world with her childlike 80's hit "Joe Le Taxi" nobody could have thought that a decade later she would be one of the leading French icons, and certainly not a brilliant actress. Cos that's really the least you can say about Vanessa's performance who look like some circusgirl from the fourties, you know the kind of circuspeople like they are filmed in Lynch's "The elephant man". Vanessa plays the role of a young girl Adele who stands at a bridge ready to jump into the river, but just like in every fairy tale she is saved by Gabor (Danny Auteuil) who likes her to be his assisstent for his knife throwingact. She has nothing to loose, too weak to say no (she goes to bed with every guy who is asking for it) and soon she is the muse of Gabor. Even if the two never have any sex with each other, their knifethrowing act is an orgasm itself. And the two might lead a total different life (Auteuil is like a psychotic De Niro) they are made for each other... Is it a love story? Perhaps, but it's just more...at times it's even art (certainly due to the magnificent black and white cinematography) but most of all it's just an ordinary tale from two people who just live their life. "La fille sur le pont" is a genius movie from one of the most original directors France have, and quite unbelievable he started his career with the soulless comedy "Les Bronzés".