74
Metascore
23 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100PremiereGlenn KennyPremiereGlenn KennyThe first masterpiece of 2008 -- at least by American release date standards -- the latest film from master French director Jacques Rivette is a masterful, multilayered, sometimes enigmatic work of dark irony, an assured tragicomedy of manners and more.
- 100The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisDuchess of Langeais seems to me a nearly impeccable work of art -- beautiful, true, profound.
- 83Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanA highbrow chick flick that made me feel older, in a good way.
- 83The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThough not exactly a "comedy" of manners, since it's more melancholy than funny, The Duchess Of Langeais is very much concerned with how the rules of social etiquette interfere with raw human need.
- 70VarietyVarietyRivette uses intertitles (including some direct quotes from Balzac) to move the plot along and underline the dry wit. Helming is both leisurely and exact, offering auds ample opportunities to intimately observe the selfishness and folly of two people who would rather fight than switch.
- 70New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinRivette has aged into one of cinema’s most ingenious minimalists. In The Duchess of Langeais he uses intertitles--bits of literary exposition--with cheeky understatement.
- 70Village VoiceVillage VoiceRivette is teasing his way, thinking afresh, playing a game but tweaking its rules, telling a story, but only sort of--making, in short, not simply a movie, but that ineffable magic called cinema.
- 70SalonStephanie ZacharekSalonStephanie ZacharekThe picture has an unsettling, haunting quality that I haven't been able to shake.
- 63TV Guide MagazineKen FoxTV Guide MagazineKen FoxRivette brings a refreshing realism to what could have been a stodgy costume drama, it's still pretty slow going.
- 38New York PostKyle SmithNew York PostKyle SmithJacques Rivette's film is full of painstaking historical detail, but the behavior of the two nonlovers is mired in inaction and emotionally incomprehensible.