David Lewis San Francisco Chronicle Jun 30, 2020

This well-acted, wonderfully photographed biopic explores the troubled life of French feminist author Violette Leduc and her complicated ties to Simone de Beauvoir...

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Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com Aug 30, 2019 3.5/5

As a portrait of the relationship between these two women, the film is exceptionally engaging and engrossing. Emmanuelle Devos and Sandrine Kiberlaine deliver rewarding performances, strikingly at odds as they are genuinely complimentary.

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D.W. Mault CineVue Apr 3, 2019 3/5

It's refreshing to see a film that centres on a daring female creative who is just as self-indulgent and self-pitying as any male artist.

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Ren Jender Bitch Flicks Mar 12, 2019

[Violette] is a nice change in that it focuses on not one, but two women writers who work hard over a period of years to become successful artists (both critically and financially) in their own right.

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John Powers NPR's Fresh Air May 16, 2018

The film was directed and co-written by Martin Provost, who's clearly drawn to women once called "difficult." He uses their exploits to explore big themes - be it the glory and danger of self-expression, or the sexual politics of culture.

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Craig Mathieson The Sunday Age Mar 6, 2017 3.5/5

The relationship between two historic literary figures has rarely been so fiercely drawn as it is in Martin Provost's French drama.

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Sean Axmaker Seanax.com Oct 28, 2016

... this handsome biographical drama takes on a revered but troubled French artist who came out of poverty and neglect and rose to fame. Violette, however, is more about her mother issues, her anxieties over money...

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Missy Schwartz Entertainment Weekly Dec 3, 2014 A-

She [Emmanuelle Devos] gives a tremendous performance, somehow managing to turn an emotion as ugly as self-loathing into something beautiful to behold.

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Siobhan Synnot Scotsman Oct 13, 2014 3/5

Emmanuelle Devos stars as volatile feminist writer Violette Leduc in Martin Provost's epic biopic, with Sandrine Kiberlain as her unrequited literary love, Simone de Beauvoir.

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Aine O'Connor Sunday Independent (Ireland) Oct 3, 2014

Whilst requiring an investment of audience, it is full on without being emotionally draining and is a remarkable character study of a woman coming to terms with herself.

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Kate Muir The Times (UK) Oct 3, 2014 2/5

[Leduc] remains a small and rather irritating sideshow to the more powerful St Germain crowd, and the focus on her life is surprisingly dull.

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Stefan Pape HeyUGuys Oct 3, 2014 3/5

Martin Provost ambitiously expands his tale across decades to give us a substantial look into a changing society through the eyes of one, influential protagonist.

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Peter Bradshaw Guardian Oct 2, 2014 4/5

For all the chaos and pain, it is weirdly romantic: a glorious tale of wish-fulfilment, confirming that writers really can attain self-validation through the pen.

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David Parkinson Empire Magazine Oct 2, 2014 4/5

A beautiful true-life character study that does elegant justice to a largely unheralded writer.

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Trevor Johnston Little White Lies Oct 2, 2014 4/5

A deeply satisfying combination of fascinating subject, ace performers and refined directorial sensibility.

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Richard Knight Windy City Times Oct 2, 2014

The movie really captures the often lonely, torturous existence of the true artist-a huge feat in itself.

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Kevin Harley Total Film Sep 30, 2014 4/5

The focus on wordsmith over words is spectacularly well-served by Devos, whose volcanic expression of inner frustration will put you off writing forever.

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Hannah McGill The List Sep 29, 2014 4/5

Rarely is a female friendship granted such deep and delicious complexity onscreen.

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Peter Keough Boston Globe Aug 21, 2014 2/4

"Violette" demonstrates how suffering produces great art, and that the artist isn't the only one who suffers for it.

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