Product Details

• Actors: Kate Hudson, Naomi Watts, Stockard Channing, Jean-Marie Lhomme, Esmée Buchet-Deàk
• Directors: James Ivory
• Writers: James Ivory, Diane Johnson, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
• Producers: Erica Huggins, Ismail Merchant, Michael Schiffer, Paul Bradley
• Format: PAL
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 2 (Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Run Time: 117 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (114 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0000WST6A
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #160,473 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Le Divorce" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The cinematic team of Merchant Ivory (Howard's End, The Remains of the Day) leaves corsets behind for the contemporary world of Americans in Paris. The day Isabel Walker (Kate Hudson, How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days) comes to visit her pregnant sister Roxy (Naomi Watts, Mullholland Drive) is the day Roxy's French husband leaves her. The divorce proceedings end up centering around a painting, long owned by the Walkers, that the husband's family would like to claim--but their maneuverings are complicated when Isabel begins an affair with a diplomat (Thierry Lhermitte, The Closet) who just happens to be Roxy's uncle-in-law. At its best moments, Le Divorce has the feel of one of Woody Allen's serio-comic films like Hannah and Her Sisters, and there's a genuinely suspenseful climactic scene on the Eiffel Tower. Also featuring Leslie Caron, Glenn Close, Matthew Modine, Stephen Fry, Sam Waterston, and Stockard Channing. --Bret Fetzer

From The New Yorker

A Merchant-Ivory movie set in the present, which makes for a change. This one is the tale of two sisters: Isabel (Kate Hudson), who flies to Paris to visit her sister Roxy (Naomi Watts), who has married a dodgy Frenchman. Cue any number of cross-cultural collisions, as our hopeful young Americans-today's Daisy Millers-become ensnared in the oily grasp of old Europe. Isabel finds herself in bed with Edgar (Thierry Lhermitte), who has the decency to look faintly embarrassed about it. The movie contemplates sex, as well as abortion, suicide, and mental instability, but the director, James Ivory, seems fatally undecided as to whether such matters are worthy of solemn consideration or mere backdrops to a bit of fun. The moral of the piece, finally, appears to be "Don't marry out of your tribe," which is nice to know in these days of international suspicion. Wasted actors include Stockard Channing, Sam Waterston, Bebe Neuwirth, Glenn Close, and Matthew Modine; that's a lot of waste. Leslie Caron offers as pure a definition of grande dame as you are likely to find. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, August 15, 2004

By 

Karine Le Sage "Il faut apprécier la vie." - See all my reviews

This review is from: Le Divorce (DVD)

For those who do not understand French film making this movie may not be exciting but for those of us who understand this is an excellent movie that speaks to the way the French treat relationships and marriage. Some may think that it is misogynistic ---far from it though it is just a very real presentation of the French way of doing things that happens to include a few american girls whose inclusion brings cultural differences into sharp focus.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For French style lovers only, November 16, 2005

By 

Carol H. "Proustian mess" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Le Divorce (DVD)

If you are fond of linear plots in which one event leads to another and the whole leads to a more or less apparent conclusion, "Le divorce" is not likely to make much of an impression on you. It is not even one of those typical Merchant Ivory films which hark back nostalgically to Victorian England or the times of the Raj. "Le divorce" is something like a voyeur peep into the life of two families, one upper-crust French, the other high-brow American which are bound together by the couple whose marriage is drifting apart. The plot has not enough dramatic flair as to have been made into a film, if plot were the only thing to account for to define a film as a work of art, but it has plenty of charm if, like me, you are partial to Paris. For those who love French lifestyle the film will prove delicious: superb decors, shots in Café Flore, the understated stardom of a plush Hermès Kelly bag and Leslie Caron's appearance as the embodiment of French chic and cartesian rationale...all these will appeal to you. Glenn Close is also breathtaking as ever as the American writer who after years of living in Paris has impeccably assimilated the best of both cultures. This is not a film for a rainy day and less so for people who look for entertainment of jaded senses. This is a hedonistic film for the dilettanti, the bon-vivant, to be savoured slowly like a good vintage bordeaux.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Requires more than one viewing, January 10, 2007

By 

S. Dickerson (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Le Divorce (DVD)

The majority of the Amazon reviewers for this movie were unhappy with it, but I think most of them didn't really "get" the movie. I think Americans who've lived abroad, especially in Europe, are more likely to appreciate the views expressed in this film concerning culture clash between Americans and Europeans, the French specifically.

I won't outline the plot, as that is done in too many other reviews, but let me just say that I came to appreciate this film more the 2nd and 3rd times I viewed it. The script somewhat forgoes conventional character development, and the viewer must be savvy enough to pick up on the characters' actions to discern their motivations. Naomi Watts and Kate Hudson make two pretty believable sisters as Roxy and Isabel -- Roxy is married with one young child and another on the way when her husband leaves her. Isabel is the affectionate but somewhat self-absorbed, immature younger sister who comes to Paris to keep Roxy company, but definitely persues her own agenda and ends up getting sucked into some sordid goings-on with her French in-laws.

The film touches on many themes and deals with the emotional upheaval and trauma of divorce while at the same time trying to retain the feel of intelligent romantic-comedy. It is perhaps trying to accomplish too much, as you can tell by the editing that some scenes were cut out to prevent it from being an over-long film. This is especially evident in Isabel's relationship with Yves. One minute, she's meeting him, and the next she's in bed with him. That is unfortunate on the filmmakers' part, but it didn't take too much enjoyment away from me, as I didn't have a problem filling in the blanks. But I know that not everyone can tolerate these kinds of faults in filmmaking.

As someone who lived in Europe for 5 years, I think I enjoyed it more than viewers who have more limited experiences of European lifestyle versus American. Another plus of this film is that it offers some great views of "insider" Paris, and Roxy's and Isabel's wardrobes are FANTASTIC. Beautiful clothes. My main annoyances with this film are the stupid flying Kelly handbag scene at the end (totally unnecessary), and the new DVD cover, featuring Kate and Naomi in outfits that were never seen in the film.