The New York Times by Manohla Dargis

Duchess of Langeais seems to me a nearly impeccable work of art -- beautiful, true, profound.

Premiere by Glenn Kenny

The first masterpiece of 2008 -- at least by American release date standards -- the latest film from master French director Jacques Rivette is a masterful, multilayered, sometimes enigmatic work of dark irony, an assured tragicomedy of manners and more.

Los Angeles Times by Kevin Thomas

Jacques Rivette has brought the Balzac short story to screen as a superb chamber drama. His is a graceful work of austerity and formality that perfectly captures the chaos of repressed emotions that see beneath the rigid conventions of aristocratic society.

San Francisco Chronicle by Mick LaSalle

The movie's satisfactions are subtle, but they run deep, and there are many.

Philadelphia Inquirer by Steven Rea

Rivette's slow-moving but seamless study of the rituals of courtship has a disarming grace, even as its downcast hero, Depardieu's Gen. Armand de Montriveau, limps around stiffly.

The A.V. Club by Noel Murray

Though not exactly a "comedy" of manners, since it's more melancholy than funny, The Duchess Of Langeais is very much concerned with how the rules of social etiquette interfere with raw human need.

Entertainment Weekly by Owen Gleiberman

A highbrow chick flick that made me feel older, in a good way.

Baltimore Sun by Michael Sragow

The Duchess of Langeais is a romantic dance of death.

Washington Post by Stephen Hunter

With its sophisticated psychology, its brilliant story structure and its riveting performances, The Duchess of Langeais feels very new, even if everything about it is old.

Austin Chronicle by Marjorie Baumgarten

Balibar and Depardieu make a compelling duo who exude an animal magnetism that's undeniable.

Variety

Rivette uses intertitles (including some direct quotes from Balzac) to move the plot along and underline the dry wit. Helming is both leisurely and exact, offering auds ample opportunities to intimately observe the selfishness and folly of two people who would rather fight than switch.

Salon by Stephanie Zacharek

The picture has an unsettling, haunting quality that I haven't been able to shake.

Village Voice

Rivette is teasing his way, thinking afresh, playing a game but tweaking its rules, telling a story, but only sort of--making, in short, not simply a movie, but that ineffable magic called cinema.

New York Magazine (Vulture) by David Edelstein

Rivette has aged into one of cinema’s most ingenious minimalists. In The Duchess of Langeais he uses intertitles--bits of literary exposition--with cheeky understatement.

TV Guide Magazine by Ken Fox

Rivette brings a refreshing realism to what could have been a stodgy costume drama, it's still pretty slow going.

New York Post by Kyle Smith

Jacques Rivette's film is full of painstaking historical detail, but the behavior of the two nonlovers is mired in inaction and emotionally incomprehensible.