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| Brève traversée |
Unfurling another work of verbal dexterity and sexual identity construction, Breillat's
Brève traversée is set on a ferry passage between Cherbourg and Portsmouth, chronicling the verisimilar seduction of 15-year-old virgin Thomas (Gilles Guillain) by thirty-something British stranger Alice (Sarah Pratt).
This gemlike comedy of manners is a layered and bracingly cynical addition to the cycle of tadpolian romances. Acknowledging the attractions and temptations inherent in our movie notions of romance, Breillat obliterates them in a devastating finale; in some ways, this is her most violent film - and her most heartbreaking.
"Damned absorbing!"
Village Voice
