The Brontë Sisters

Although I saw this film in 1979/1980 it was one of the most memorable movies of my movie viewing days. The photography was excellent and is to my mind one of the best alongside 2 or 3 other films that have appealed to my artistic senses. At the time I thought 'trust the French to make a movie about the English that is so beautifully executed'. This may sound very "highbrow" but not really. If you are into foreign language films well acted and visually appealing this is a film for you. I have been searching ever since for a chance to view it again. Top Marks 10/10

A feast of perfect acting (the three actresses earn applause), inspired direction and splendid photography (which evokes the outside and the inner landscapes of the sister writers), but strictly reserved to Bronte admirers. The screenplay, built upon continuous references to the Bronte artistic work, can create a sense of icy estrangement, but who is familiar with the writings and the life of the Bronte sisters (maybe through the cult Charlotte bio by Elizabeth Gaskell) will be enchanted. It is a pity this movie remains mainly unseen. The only chance to obtain it at the moment is to get the Spanish DVD which also features the French version.

Exquisite direction, beautiful cinematography and precise performances of all the entire cast cannot prevent this film of being excessively cold. The mood tries to recreate the unexciting existences and fatalist life philosophy of the Brönte sisters, but it makes the film icy and a little dull. However, the worst of all is that you can rarely connect with such cold characters through freezing (but after all deliberate) acting. Nice effort, but failed anyway.

The Bronte Sisters hilariously stars Isabelle Adjani who was a sensual beauty in her youth as Emily Bronte, the sister most likely to be honored as a historical figure having resting B - face. Have you seen a portrait of Emily? She looked permanently ANGRY, as if she were annoyed at being painted. By all accounts, she was a loner who had two friends her entire life outside the family, who preferred the company of animals and nature and she is repeatedly quoted in the film as having a deep disdain for the illusion of romantic love (anyone can confirm, who is educated enough to read Wuthering Heights as ABSOLUTELY NOT being a romance novel, but as Emily's complex book of horror comedy which mocks and derides youthful passion).

And that's the least of this film's problems, as it focuses far too much on the bitterness and loss in the lives of both sisters and brother Bronte. But it is a lovely film to look at, and has biographical merit in its substance, at least.

"Les Soeurs Brontë" is an undeniably handsome production, but also a bleak and shallow film. For at least half its length, it could be re-titled "Branwell & Co.", because he is the main character. But even when the sisters have the film to themselves, Andre Techine and his co-screenwriters have chosen to focus too much on their misery and not enough on their artistic / creative impulses and processes. If you bypass the obvious language discrepancy (at one point, one of the sisters says "we know a little French" - the entire film is in French, of course), the three female leads are well-cast, especially as sisters: Marie-France Pisier (who later became a novelist herself) outshines her two more famous co-stars on this occasion. ** out of 4.