LA FEMME DE GILLES

Belgium, 1930s. Gilles (Clovis Cornillac) labours day and night in the blast furnace of a factory. His doting wife Elisa (Emmanuelle Devos from READ MY LIPS) spends her days looking after their twin daughters and their home, with occasional help from her sister Victorine (Laura Smet). Elisa is totally besotted by her man, and communicates her adoration at every opportunity. When pregnant with their third child though, she senses that Gilles may be fooling around with another woman. Rather than confront him, she decides to absorb the insult, and a curious internal battle begins for Elisa, with its courage, abnegation and silence - as she stoically battles to recover the husband she has lost.

GILLES' WIFE is acclaimed filmmaker Frederic Fonteyne's first feature since the award-winning A PORNOGRAPHIC AFFAIR - and once again his considerable observational skills are on full display. This luxurious story unfolds with a minimum of dialogue, and so relies heavily on body language, nuance and facial expressions, recalling the enthralling cinema of the silent era - so awash with close-ups, and painterly cinematography.

Devos and Cornillac give devastatingly spot-on performances and their sometimes silent interactions are subtly compelling - the emotional turmoil simmering, erupting and evolving with each frame. GILLES' WIFE is an intimate story, of infinite grandeur, and is an emotionally wrenching and rewarding cinema experience, from one of French cinema's most revered new talents.

France - 2004 - Drama - 106 mins
In French with English subtitles

Director: Frederic Fonteyne
Script: Phillippe Blasband, Frederic Fonteyne, Marion Hansel
Cast: Emmanuelle Devos, Clovis Cornillac, Laura Smet