Bob Taylor This film started as a TV miniseries; it was chopped down to feature length for general release. I don't think it is an important film, being rushed and skimpy on character development. Guy Schoeller meets Francoise at a book signing and ten seconds later, they're getting wed, and shortly after that, divorced. It was very hard to keep track of the many characters who drop in to the story, then abruptly exit. Just when did Mme. Lebreton enter Francoise's life anyway? Sylvie Testud does a tremendous job of playing Francoise Sagan; she must have been a sort of Rimbaud of the moneyed class, and Testud captures all the wild, impulsive, spendthrift behavior Sagan was noted for. Pierre Palmade as Chazot walks through an underwritten part (all the supporting parts are underwritten) but is interesting to look at.

jotix100 Francoise Sagan loved to live large. Success came early in her life. The appearance of her novel "Bonjour tristesse" propelled her into the French literary stratosphere with a book that became a sensation. She came from the bourgeois world, by surrounding herself with an entourage of people that loved to party, cost her dearly. Among her friends were Florence Malraux, the daughter of legendary writer Andre Malraux. The film emphasizes how much she loved the material things that came with her celebrity, although she could not care less about money. The proof is how she went through fortunes and ended alone and penniless.Her love for fast cars caused her an accident that almost killed her. From the drugs that she was given to allay her pain, she became addicted to some them, specially cocaine, which she and her friends loved. Ms. Sagan was never a happy woman. In spite of the wealth she was able to accumulate, she died almost penniless. The house she loved had to be sold to pay her debts.The woman who supposedly led a privilege life never found real love in her life. She married Guy Schoeller early on, only to divorce him a few years later. Her romance to American Robert Westhoff ended amicably when he decided to take a male lover after giving her a son. Ms. Sagan became involved with fashion stylist Peggy Roche in a lesbian relationship that lasted until her death from cancer. At the same time she was having an affair with a French Playboy editor, something that was left out of the film.At the end of her life, Francoise Sagan was involved in a tax evasion scandal, as another woman, the mysterious Astrid, came into her life making her dependent on her, and abandoning her at the worst moment in her life when she became ill.Diane Kurys, co-wrote and directed "Sagan", a film made for French television which was shown on cable recently. All the salient points of the life of a celebrity like Francoise Sagan are documented in the picture. Her take on the novelist shows a sympathetic view of a woman who had it all and squandered her talents carelessly. Her love for the fast life and excesses ultimately brought upon her sad ending.Sylvie Testud showed an uncanny physical similarity to Ms. Sagan. This actress is the main reason for watching "Sagan'. The actress shows a vulnerable side of a woman that had it all but was never comfortable with her own celebrity. Her reckless living was her worst enemy. She was a monster, and yet, she had a tremendous sense of loyalty to the group of friends that stayed with her until the end. The supporting cast does good work for Ms. Kurys.Whether one liked Ms. Sagan's literature, or not, she was an influential figure of the last century. One of the best things in the film is the crisp cinematography of Michel Abramowicz who clearly understood the world of Ms. Sagan and photographs her playgrounds in vivid colors. The music score is by Armand Amar.

writers_reign Thirty two years ago Diane Kurys wrote and directed Diabolo Menthe, a thinly-disguised autobiographical take on the childhood of her sister and herself. She followed with others in the same vein, Coup de foudre, La Baule le Pins etc, all beautifully realised. Now, thirty one years later - Sagan was shot as a two-part TV special and aired in 2008 - she has finally come full circle with a genuine BIOgraphy, namely Francoise Sagan, who was catapulted to fame via a novel she batted out in her school vacation, Bonjour, Tristesse. It wasn't actually a very good novel any more than its successors, A Certain Smile, Aimez-vouz Brahms but none of them were outright trash, all sold in droves and all were filmed. The movie has been considerably pared down from its original 180 minutes so it's difficult to be too harsh at what often seem abrupt modulations - the housekeeper/companion who appears seemingly out of the blue during Sagan's last few years, for example. Sylvie Testud is one of the finest French actresses of her generation and I can't recall a single bad performance (though I have not seen everything) and here she is at the top of her game managing to capture the sense of someone permitting Life to live them rather than vice versa. There is fine support especially from Denis Podalydes and Jeanne Balibar but it will be remembered as a curio rather than an essential part of the canon.

stensson It seems to be a trend in French mainstream movies nowadays, to film the story of celebrities' lives. "Sagan" is just another example.This author lived a quite unhappy life, being used but also letting herself be used by flatterers and others. They all disappeared and betrayed her, like she betrayed many people, including her son.But this story is told in such a common way. The main character is complex, but still made very easy to understand. It's all simplified in a moralizing way. Not that you can object much about moralizing over this destructive life and surely, this is entertaining and absolutely not stupid. But Sagan deserves better.