The Bronte Sisters

The Bronte Sisters (1979)

Les Sœurs Brontë

In a small presbytery in Yorkshire, England, living under the watchful eyes of their aunt and father, a strict Anglican pastor, the Bronte sisters write their first works and quickly become literary sensations.

Date of release
1979-05-09
TMDB
5.8 / 10 (44)
Runtime
2h 0m
Genres
Drama
Director
André Téchiné

Casting

Interesting facts

The Brontë Sisters is a 1979 French biographical drama film directed by André Téchiné, who co-wrote the screenplay with Pascal Bonitzer and Jean Gruault. The film stars Isabelle Adjani as Emily, Marie-France Pisier as Charlotte and Isabelle Huppert as Anne. Pascal Greggory plays their brother Branwell Brontë. The cinematography was by Bruno Nuytten. It was a project that Téchiné wanted to make since 1972, but only after the favourable reception of Souvenirs d'en France (1975) and Barocco (1976), he was able to find the necessary financing. Produced by Gaumont, the film's originally running time was cut from three hours to less than two upon its release at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival.

Production

The film is notable for casting three of France's most famous actresses of the time: Isabelle Adjani as Emily, Marie-France Pisier as Charlotte and Isabelle Huppert as Anne. Marie-France Pisier, known for her work in the films of François Truffaut, had won back to back César Awards as best supporting actress in Téchiné’s two previous films Souvenirs d’en France and Barocco. She had developed a friendship with Téchiné while working for him.

Pascal Greggory was an unknown actor with only few minor acting credits in films, but he was chosen above Alain Delon and Patrick Dewaere for the role of Branwell. He went on to play Adjani’s brother in La Reine Margot (1994) in which he had the role of Henri III. Huppert, Adjani and Greggory were only in their mid-twenties when the film was made.

Isabelle Huppert had risen to prominence in The Lacemaker (French: La Dentellière) (1977). One of her earlier roles had been in Liliane de Kermadec's Aloïse, a film written by Téchiné. The prior year she played the real-life criminal Violette Nozière in Claude Charbol's movie which won her the Cannes Film Festival Of Best Actress. Huppert and Adjani famously did not get along which made the production of The Brontë Sisters difficult.

Patrick Magee, a veteran Irish actor known for his work in two Stanley Kubrick's films, A Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon, took the role of the father. He spoke his lines in English and was dubbed into French.

Filming took place in Yorkshire, England between 3 July and September 1978.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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