Les Amants du Pont-Neuf * (1991, Juliette Binoche, Denis Lavant, Klaus Michael Grüber) – Classic Movie Review 11,702

Director Leos Carax’s 1991 French film Les Amants du Pont-Neuf tells a simple banal love story about a young Parisian artist (Juliette Binoche) who is losing her sight and takes to the streets where she pairs up with a fire-eating circus performer punk (Denis Lavant), who lives on the Pont Neuf bridge in Paris, the city’s oldest bridge, which is closed for repairs.

Director Leos Carax creates a 1991 fantasy romance, set during the French Bicentennial celebrations in 1989, in which happiness arises like the Phoenix through life’s setbacks. The artificiality of filming starts from the necessity of having to recreate the Pont-Neuf in the French countryside.

The production team wanted to block off the bridge for three months but this was immediately judged impractical. A search for locations ended up in the town of Lansargues, in the department of Hérault in southern France, and construction began, with the film’s budget of eight to nine million francs adjusted upwards by five million, but then the film’s budget kept on rocketing upwards. They were eventually rescued by producer Christian Fechner providing many millions of his own money.

It never once looks like the real thing – more like a giant theatre set – and this is reflected in the story, reminiscent of a trite, Victorian melodrama, and the filming method that is continually stylised and self-conscious.

German theatre director Klaus Michael Grüber does a spot of real acting as the old tramp who rules the bridge, but the two lead performances are exaggerated and feel untruthful.

The famous water ski-ing down the Seine setting off fireworks sequence is as risible as it is impressive.

Juliette Binoche and Denis Lavant reunite with Carax after his previous film, the 1986 Mauvais Sang.

Alex Christophe Dupont (born 22 November 1960), known as Leos Carax, is known for Boy Meets Girl (1984), Mauvais Sang [The Night Is Young] [Bad Blood] (1986),  Pola X (1999), Holy Motors (2012) and Annette (2021). His professional name is an anagram of his real name Alex and Oscar.

 © Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,702

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