A young French man and an older English woman spend one night together on a ship.A young French man and an older English woman spend one night together on a ship.A young French man and an older English woman spend one night together on a ship.
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- 3 wins
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Storyline
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- TriviaDirector Catherine Breillat remembered how, during the shooting, Gilles Guillain, the actor who plays Thomas, revealed her he was still a virgin. "One day we were at the table, with the whole crew, and I asked him if he had ever been in love. He looked me directly in the eye and said in a barely audible, but still clear voice, 'Yes, I've been in love before, but I've never really gotten into it.' We all looked at each other a little strangely, because, I mean, in the film he was playing a sixteen-year-old boy, but in reality he's eighteen, although this excessive shyness helps make him appear younger." So Breillat had to rewrite, in part, the love scene between him and Sarah Pratt, creating a choreography that corresponded better to their bodies. Morever, she told her head cameraman that all the scene had to be filmed once, there was to be no repetition, "because what would happen the first time would be something really upsetting. And it's true, their love scene is magnificent, because all of a sudden you see that he's doing it, he's living it, but it's so fragile and so strong at the same time that if there had been a second take he would have already been used to the scene."
Featured review
I saw this at the Auckland International Film Festival this year and with so little spare time I had to really be picky and selected what I thought was the 10 best films including `Y tu mama tambien' (which received critical acclaim). Personally I thought this was the best.
This film is set on an overnight ferry trip across the English channel, it begins with a chance encounter between two lone travellers, namely a 16 year old boy Thomas and a middle aged woman Alice. Seasoned lone travellers will know that keeping company with other lone travellers is a good way to pass time. This is how their relationship develops. Thomas wants what most young men his age want, a sexual encounter. Alice on the other hand portrays herself as a sophisticated yet vulnerable woman surviving a mid life crisis. Sounds like a volatile combination right? Well you will have to see this film to the end, which has one of the best endings I can remember.
Now some notes about the cast and crew. This film introduces Gilles Grippon (Thomas) and he plays his role well, a teenager trying to be cool yet unsure of himself and impressionable. Sarah Pratt was absolutely gorgeous and stunning as Alice. She really held together those scenes sans the dialog when the couple were just exchanging glances. This film is not wholly a French language film as English is almost equally spoken throughout. Sarah has an excellent command in both. I am surprised so little is known about this beautiful and talented actress. I hope to see her in more films to come.
This is the fourth Catherine Breillat film I have seen and the best so far. Like all her other films she deals with the character's sexual intricacies but it does not have the pornographic taint of `Romance', the violence found in `A Ma Soeur!' or any of the disturbing scenes found `A Real Young Girl' (one of her early films but only recently released because it had been banned). Also well translated on screen especially with the use of lighting is the feel of being on the channel ferry. Having been on one myself it brought back memories.
I would love to own this on DVD if it ever comes out. 10/10
This film is set on an overnight ferry trip across the English channel, it begins with a chance encounter between two lone travellers, namely a 16 year old boy Thomas and a middle aged woman Alice. Seasoned lone travellers will know that keeping company with other lone travellers is a good way to pass time. This is how their relationship develops. Thomas wants what most young men his age want, a sexual encounter. Alice on the other hand portrays herself as a sophisticated yet vulnerable woman surviving a mid life crisis. Sounds like a volatile combination right? Well you will have to see this film to the end, which has one of the best endings I can remember.
Now some notes about the cast and crew. This film introduces Gilles Grippon (Thomas) and he plays his role well, a teenager trying to be cool yet unsure of himself and impressionable. Sarah Pratt was absolutely gorgeous and stunning as Alice. She really held together those scenes sans the dialog when the couple were just exchanging glances. This film is not wholly a French language film as English is almost equally spoken throughout. Sarah has an excellent command in both. I am surprised so little is known about this beautiful and talented actress. I hope to see her in more films to come.
This is the fourth Catherine Breillat film I have seen and the best so far. Like all her other films she deals with the character's sexual intricacies but it does not have the pornographic taint of `Romance', the violence found in `A Ma Soeur!' or any of the disturbing scenes found `A Real Young Girl' (one of her early films but only recently released because it had been banned). Also well translated on screen especially with the use of lighting is the feel of being on the channel ferry. Having been on one myself it brought back memories.
I would love to own this on DVD if it ever comes out. 10/10
- How long is Brief Crossing?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 24 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.70 : 1
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