The Lovers On The Bridge

Leo Carax's second feature film, The Lovers On The Bridge (1991) is a visual feast. It's an atypical love story between homeless alcoholic Alex (Dennis Levant) and young woman Michelle (Juliet Binochet) who is losing her sight who is sleeping rough. It took eight years for the film to finally get distribution in America, and in that time, its reputation has ballooned to mythic proportions. Due to runaway production costs, which included building a full-scale replica of Paris' famed Pont Neuf bridge over a Montpellier lake, the film was the most expensive in the country's history and a colossal flop at that, leading financiers to demand too much money for the American rights. It's somewhat hard to believe that Carax would be given so much money for what is essentially an art film with little commercial promise. The film doe not always hit the mark, but when it does-say during the exuberant dance during a fireworks display-it is mesmerizing.