Two English Girls

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")

The two English sisters are as different as night and day. Yet they wear similar costumes. The young man who loves them does a highly believable job throughout the story. The seaside scenery and the young man's acting carry the movie through. The young man's love for Muriel is almost heartbreaking.

Truffaut is at his strongest with this film. He balances French sensitivity with English fullness of personality quite well. I like this better than most of Truffaut's other movies. The movie does not lag at all.

Throughout the movie we are left to wonder. Will it be Muriel? Will it be Anne? The two sisters do good acting jobs. The casting of Muriel was excellent, as her face was very distinctive.

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.

"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.

Another great film by François Truffaut. This one resemble «Jules et Jim» but this time it's about a man, Claude (played by Jean-Pierre Léaud), and the love he's developing (it's reciprocal) for two sisters from Wales, Anne and Muriel (played by Kika Markham and Stacey Tendeter). Usual emotional twists that are a trademark of Truffaut. Nothing is easy, and even love can be extremely cruel.

The film is moving and the acting is very good. The photography and the use of the camera is also pretty good.

Out of 100, I gave it 81.