Bob Taylor This film started as a TV miniseries; it was chopped down to feature length for general release. I don't think it is an important film, being rushed and skimpy on character development. Guy Schoeller meets Francoise at a book signing and ten seconds later, they're getting wed, and shortly after that, divorced. It was very hard to keep track of the many characters who drop in to the story, then abruptly exit. Just when did Mme. Lebreton enter Francoise's life anyway? Sylvie Testud does a tremendous job of playing Francoise Sagan; she must have been a sort of Rimbaud of the moneyed class, and Testud captures all the wild, impulsive, spendthrift behavior Sagan was noted for. Pierre Palmade as Chazot walks through an underwritten part (all the supporting parts are underwritten) but is interesting to look at.

writers_reign Thirty two years ago Diane Kurys wrote and directed Diabolo Menthe, a thinly-disguised autobiographical take on the childhood of her sister and herself. She followed with others in the same vein, Coup de foudre, La Baule le Pins etc, all beautifully realised. Now, thirty one years later - Sagan was shot as a two-part TV special and aired in 2008 - she has finally come full circle with a genuine BIOgraphy, namely Francoise Sagan, who was catapulted to fame via a novel she batted out in her school vacation, Bonjour, Tristesse. It wasn't actually a very good novel any more than its successors, A Certain Smile, Aimez-vouz Brahms but none of them were outright trash, all sold in droves and all were filmed. The movie has been considerably pared down from its original 180 minutes so it's difficult to be too harsh at what often seem abrupt modulations - the housekeeper/companion who appears seemingly out of the blue during Sagan's last few years, for example. Sylvie Testud is one of the finest French actresses of her generation and I can't recall a single bad performance (though I have not seen everything) and here she is at the top of her game managing to capture the sense of someone permitting Life to live them rather than vice versa. There is fine support especially from Denis Podalydes and Jeanne Balibar but it will be remembered as a curio rather than an essential part of the canon.

etudiantemo Sagan's charisma lies in two elements: her intelligence and sincerity. She is apt at using simple but touching words and phrases, for example, the monologue on the first page of Bonjour, Tristesse. Her legendary life, full of inspiration, enthusiasm, caprice, sometimes looks like an enigma, mysterious and compellent,even her unconventional behavior looks acceptable. Though the film seems to be a little bit insipid, or rather dull, lacking passion and elegancy;the final scene her unreal talk to his son is truly moving. Sylvie Testud's casting is admirable, and i think she wears a unique temperament, close to a temperament of a poet and aristocratic temperament.

stensson It seems to be a trend in French mainstream movies nowadays, to film the story of celebrities' lives. "Sagan" is just another example.This author lived a quite unhappy life, being used but also letting herself be used by flatterers and others. They all disappeared and betrayed her, like she betrayed many people, including her son.But this story is told in such a common way. The main character is complex, but still made very easy to understand. It's all simplified in a moralizing way. Not that you can object much about moralizing over this destructive life and surely, this is entertaining and absolutely not stupid. But Sagan deserves better.