EFF: Two English Girls (1971)

Les deux Anglaises et le continent

New 4K Restoration

“A film of such beautiful, charming and comic discretion that it isn't until the end that one realizes it's also immensely sad and even brutal, though in the nonbrutalizing way that truth can sometimes be.” – The New York Times

Beginning in Paris in 1902, this grand story of two English sisters is punctuated by separations, journeys, reunions, and deaths, all seen through the eyes of Claude (played by Truffaut avatar Jean-Pierre -Léaud), the French boy who is infatuated with them.

Returning to the work of author Henri-Pierre Roché, who also penned the love triangle drama Jules and Jim, Two English Girls sees Truffaut at his most haunting and romantic. Just before his death in 1984, Truffaut recut the film, adding 20 minutes of footage that many critics agreed gave the film extra depth and greatly improved the original.

Festivals and Awards

Winner of Best Film of the Valladolid International Film Festival 1972

Rating

Unclassified 15+

Duration

132 min

Country

France

Language

French, English (English Subtitles)

Cast

Jean-Pierre Léaud, Stacey Tendeter, Kika Markham

Director

François Truffaut