‘Duchess’ has poetic grace

It’s not easy to make Balzac, at his most melodramatic, engrossing on the modern screen. With “The Duchess of Langeais,” Jacques Rivette not only accomplishes this feat, the French director suggests a new model for the literary adaptation, one that keeps some of the wordy beauty of the novel while taking advantage of the poetic possibilities of the cinema.

Balzac’s 1834 novel takes place during the French Restoration, like much of his “La comedie humaine” sequence of which it is a part. Armand de Montriveau (Guillaume Depardieu) distinguished himself as a general under the now-exiled Napoleon, and all Paris is dying to hear his tales of heroism in Africa. Antoinette de Langeais (Jeanne Balibar), the duchess of the title, is one of them. She’s rather popular herself, a doyenne of Paris society who’s left a string of admirers in her wake.

We know that something will happen between the two of them, because the film opens with some scenes that take place five years after their meeting. Armand is haunted, and Antoinette is cloistered in a convent. How the game of love led them to such depths is the subject of the film. For it is a game — the coquette leads the general on until he can take no more. Only then does she realize her mistake, and then it’s his turn to play the game.

Many unsuccessful literary adaptations are criticized for being too wordy. “The Duchess of Langeais” is filled with both words and silence. Not everything in a novel can be dramatized on-screen.

Here, the action is intercut every now and then with words on the screen. Done briefly, it’s the perfect way to keep the high tone of the novel. Other times, the atmosphere is re-created not with words but with looks.

American audiences used to plot-centered entertainment might find “Duchess” rough going. The rewards of watching, though, are many in this deeply thoughtful and deeply felt poem of a film.

Mr. Rivette, now 80, is one of the founders of the French new wave. With his latest film, which also features some gorgeous camerawork and stunning period costumes, he shows he still has plenty of new tricks up his sleeve.

***1/2

TITLE: “The Duchess of Langeais” (“Ne touchez pas la hache”)

RATING: Unrated (mature themes)

CREDITS: Directed by Jacques Rivette. Written by Pascal Bonitzer, Christine Laurent and Mr. Rivette (in French with English subtitles) based on the novel by Honore de Balzac.

RUNNING TIME: 137 minutes

WEB SITE: www.ifcfilms.com/viewFilm.htm?filmId=516

MAXIMUM RATING: FOUR STARS