One of my all time favorites.

Good start, but then it gets ruined

best movie i've ever seen.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

She: Suicidal, about to jump off a bridge. He: A carnival knife thrower. Would you like to be my target, he asks. Sounds like a match made in heaven. Patrice Leconte's La Fille sur le Ponte may be a bit of quirky romantic fluff, but its great fluff. It's a diverting entertainment without much purchase, thank goodness, for the admiration of deeper meanings with which some Anglo cinephiles deaden the experience of good French movies. It's the story of two people who probably could only exist in the movies. Adele (Vanessa Paradis) is 21, endlessly compliant and endlessly unlucky in love (and with just about everything else, too.) She's a charming gamin, especially if you're the guy trying to pick her up. "Boys attract me," she says, "like beautiful clothes. I always want to try them on." At last she figures out that, for her, while sex is a friendly thing, it never seems to last or to work into anything else. "Funny, isn't it, how people can seem madly in love when they're not. It must be easy to fake." So there she is one evening about to jump off a bridge. Gabor (Daniel Auteuil), an older man, tries to talk her out of jumping. He'd like her to be his target. With her figure and his skill, they'll be a hit...although, he points out, "past the age of 40 knife throwing becomes erratic." She decides to jump anyway. He rescues her and before long they are an act. Adele continues to offer her innocently explicit friendship to those she encounters. She discovers a gift for luck. Gabor? Well, Adele and Gabor develop a distinctly odd approach to intimacy...knife throwing. Giving and receiving seems to bring out all the heavy breathing and beads of perspiration one would expect from the other activity. Note: Do not try this at home just to find out for yourself. What starts as a clever, funny suicidal set up moves into a clever, amusing story about knife throwing as a metaphor for sex and roulette as a metaphor for...well, maybe a relationship. It's so off-kilter, and Adele and Gabor are so attractive and interesting, that their quirky relationship is almost a guilty pleasure to watch. Will Adele decide to move a little so she can find out if one of Gabor's thrown knives is better than a young man's.... Will Gabor ever decide to try something other than a knife to intrigue Adele with.... Will Leconte's amusing mixture of luck, cold steel, eroticism, clever dialogue and shrewd acting come to a happy ending? When things begin to edge a little too close to what passes as seriousness in the movies, about three-quarters of the way through, Leconte has the good sense to pull back. This, after all, is a quirky romantic comedy done with flourishes and knives. You should see the movie. It's well worth it. Daniel Auteuil, one of the screen's great actors, manages to make of Gabor a man with an interestingly unspoken life for us to think about. When a movie depends on quick, clever dialogue, it needs to be delivered matter-of-factly, with no delays for glances, sighs or eye work. Auteuil's matter-of-factness is as deliberately amusing as his lines. Paradis, on the other hand, must make this young woman who lies down so willingly someone we like. Not only does Paradis give us pleasure in sex, when she's around she makes us feel almost young, innocent and erotic ourselves. And how nice it is to see a beautiful star actress without perfect teeth. Some critics have noted the several affectionate references to well known French films Leconte places in The Girl on the Bridge. I wouldn't know. I was too busy enjoying the movie. However, for those who might be intrigued enough to watch some of Leconte's other movies, he'll give you a variety of emotions to deal with. My favorites include Monsieur Hire, full of uneasiness and uncomfortable feelings; The Widow of Saint-Pierre, which comes close to tragedy; Ridicule, as malicious and amusing as you could wish; and my favorite to date, Man on the Train, a wonderful, thoughtful movie of sadness, regret and fulfillment. The Girl on the Bridge is beautifully photographed in black and white.

We enjoyed this film, but I am mystified as to why it was made in black and white...???Apart from possibly conferring a dubious, instant 'world cinema/art movie' status it did absolutely nothing for the plot in my opinion and wasted some superb location and costume opportunities.It wasn't even executed particularly well, as most of the direction seemed to be in the modern style involving camera angles and sweeping movement and it had none of the classic 'set pieces' and static shots (panoramas, buildings etc.) of the earlier masters like the Japanese greats (Ozu, Kurosawa et al) The storyline, characters and acting should (and would) have been enough to lift this flic from the average - it simply does not benefit from being shot in black and white.Top honours must go to Vanessa Pardis for a superbly consistent performance which captured the (my) attention every time she was on the screen. I always have a little trouble with Daniel Auteil (it's the blank stare) but even he did very well despite signs of his advancing years making him look a little old for his leading lady - he is 22 years older than her after all!!Don't let all this put you off though - I rate this movie 8 out of 10 for still being refreshingly different in its treatment of unusual subjects and for carrying a story that was both engaging and entertaining.

In Paris, the needy and unlucky Adèle (Vanessa Paradis) is a complete loser, used by all the men in her life. In a Parisian bridge in the night, when the Adèle is near to commit suicide, the knife thrower Gabor (Daniel Auteuil) invites her to be his target in his show. She accepts the invitation, and they become a great success in show business. Like two halves of a bill, when they separate, they become losers again. Soon they realize that only together they would succeed in life and find love with each other. "La Fille Sur le Pont" is a magnificent and delightful fairytale about two half-souls that meet each other in a Parisian bridge, filling their lives with lucky, happiness and love. The story in some moments recalls the wonderful films by Frank Capra, in other moments is quite erotic. The performances of Daniel Auteuil and Vanessa Paredis, showing a perfect chemistry, deserve a nomination to the Oscar. Most of their witty dialogs are fantastic, the direction of Patrice Leconte is splendid as usual and the black & white cinematography is stunning. "La Fille Sur le Pont" is a movie to be revisited many times and highly indicated to fans of filmed poetry. My vote is nine.Title (Brazil): "A Mulher e o Atirador de Facas" ("The Woman and the Knife Thrower")Note: On 08 Jul 2018 I saw this film again.

The day Vanessa Paradis conquered the world with her childlike 80's hit "Joe Le Taxi" nobody could have thought that a decade later she would be one of the leading French icons, and certainly not a brilliant actress. Cos that's really the least you can say about Vanessa's performance who look like some circusgirl from the fourties, you know the kind of circuspeople like they are filmed in Lynch's "The elephant man". Vanessa plays the role of a young girl Adele who stands at a bridge ready to jump into the river, but just like in every fairy tale she is saved by Gabor (Danny Auteuil) who likes her to be his assisstent for his knife throwingact. She has nothing to loose, too weak to say no (she goes to bed with every guy who is asking for it) and soon she is the muse of Gabor. Even if the two never have any sex with each other, their knifethrowing act is an orgasm itself. And the two might lead a total different life (Auteuil is like a psychotic De Niro) they are made for each other... Is it a love story? Perhaps, but it's just more...at times it's even art (certainly due to the magnificent black and white cinematography) but most of all it's just an ordinary tale from two people who just live their life. "La fille sur le pont" is a genius movie from one of the most original directors France have, and quite unbelievable he started his career with the soulless comedy "Les Bronzés".