The Girl on the Bridge

A winsome contemporary fable of knife-throwing and nymphomania, a fantasia on love and luck, this stars Daniel Auteuil and Vanessa Paradis (French pop star and now Mrs. Johnny Depp.) Patrice Leconte directs in sumptuous widescreen black and white, with New Wave-ish energy. But even more than Truffaut, the reference point is Fellini, with the La Strada-like story and continuous “Fellini-esque” details like the circus backstage. Watchable but disposable, this is sustained by a pinball travelogue, from Paris to Istanbul, and by the sex appeal of the performers. (1998, Sund/T, n.) *6*