In order to adapt La Duchesse de Langeais, Jacques Rivette and his co-writers Pascal Bonitzer and Christine Laurent have been looking for one of the first titles of Balzac’s novel : “Don’t touch the axe“. These words, which had been pronounced by a guardian in Westminster in order to warn a visitor who was curious of the weapon which served to behead King Charles the First, were used by Balzac for rising a political statement. At the time of French Restoration, aristocracy flew from the popular neighborhoods of Paris, concentrated power in fancy Faubourg Saint-Germain and used it for itself. Then, separated from the people, aristocracy was less powerful than it thought and could be chopped more easily than if it was in good terms with the nation.
Something remains from this statement in Rivette’s movie: the choice of a an actress of character, Jeanne Balibar, and of a more physical actor, Guillaume Depardieu. One is diaphanous and ethereal whereas the other is fiery and rough. Both are astonishing in the parts of an aristocratic femme fatale and a bonapartist general, torn by a passion which will never turn concrete. In fact, the novel has been chosen according to the actors.
In the bonus materials, Depardieu says he was surprised that Rivette didn’t submit him to his usual method, improvisation, and that he had to follow a very precise script. The fidelity to Balzac’s literature was equal to the respect of the actors’ identities. We have rarely seen such an embodiment of literature and History.

Bastien Hader