Two English Girls

Two English Girls (original French title: Les Deux Anglaises et le Continent, UK Title: Anne and Muriel), is a 1971 French romantic drama film directed by François Truffaut and adapted from a 1956 novel of the same name by Henri-Pierre Roché. It stars Jean-Pierre Léaud as Claude, Kika Markham as Anne, and Stacey Tendeter as Muriel. Truffaut restored 20 minutes of footage, which fills out the characters, before his death in 1984.^[2]

The novel was first published in English in 2004, translated by Walter Bruno and published by Cambridge Book Review Press, Cambridge, Wisconsin.

Plot

The film begins in Paris, around the year 1902. Claude Roc (Jean-Pierre Léaud), a young middle-class Frenchman, meets Ann Brown (Kika Markham), a young Englishwoman, and they become quick friends. Ann invites Claude to spend the holidays at her family's mansion in Wales, where we meet Ann's widowed mother (Sylvia Marriott) and younger sister Muriel (Stacey Tendeter). During the holidays, Claude, Ann and Muriel become very close, and Claude gradually falls in love with Muriel. Not fully knowing the couple's intentions, both families lay down a one-year-long separation without any contact before agreeing to their marriage.

Claude goes back to Paris where he has many love affairs. Eleven months later he sends Muriel a break-off letter. She is despondent and sinks into a deep depression. Upon returning to Paris to defend her sister, Ann falls for Claude. This begins a love triangle that consumes the threesome for the next twenty years.

Cast

• Jean-Pierre Léaud as Claude Roc
• Kika Markham as Ann Brown
• Stacey Tendeter as Muriel Brown
• Sylvia Marriott as Mrs. Brown
• Marie Mansart as Madame Roc
• Philippe Léotard as Diurka
• Irène Tunc as Ruta
• Mark Peterson as Mr. Flint
• David Markham as the palmist
• Georges Delerue as Claude's business agent
• Marcel Berbert as the art dealer
• Annie Miler as Monique de Montferrand
• Christine Pellé asClaude's secretary
• Jeanne Lobre as Jeanne
• Marie Iracane as Madame Roc's maidservant
• Jean-Claude Dolbert as the English policeman
• Anne Levaslot as Muriel as a child
• Sophie Jeanne as Clarisse
• René Gaillard as a taxi driver
• Sophie Baker as a friend in the café
• Laura Truffaut as a child
• Eva Truffaut as a child
• Mathieu Schiffman as a child
• Guillaume Schiffman as a child^[3]

Reception

The film received generally positive reviews; it currently holds an 86% 'fresh' rating on review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes.^[4]

Disappointed with its reception, Truffaut decided to restore over 20 minutes of footage to the film, a project he completed just before he died in 1984. This version was released after his death. Critics such as Tom Wiener believe it improved the film.^[2]

References

• MacKillop, Ian (2000) Free Spirits: Henri Pierre Roché, François Truffaut and the Two English Girls, Bloomsbury, London, ISBN 0-7475-4855-2

External links

• Les deux anglaises et le continent (Two English Girls) at the Internet Movie Database
• Les deux anglaises et le continent (Two English Girls) at AllMovie
• Les deux anglaises et le continent (Two English Girls) at Rotten Tomatoes