Par Classics gets 'Girl'

French pic a circus love story

By BILL HIGGINS

TELLURIDE, Colo. -- Paramount Classics announced it has acquired North and Latin American rights to Patrice LeConte's "The Girl on the Bridge," although the actual deal was completed prior to the festival.

Par Classics expects to release the French film in mid-2000. No figures were given on the price paid.

"LeConte is a master filmmaker who never ceases to amaze us," said Paramount Classics co-president David Dinerstein. "This particular film struck a chord as soon as we saw it."

The pic stars French actors Daniel Auteuil and Vanessa Paradis.

The 92-minute, black-and-white love story focuses on the relationship between a circus knife-thrower (Auteuil) and the suicidal young woman (Paradis) who volunteers to be his target.

Par Classics co-president Ruth Vitale, who was at the Venice Film Festival, issued a statement in which she called LeConte's film "a romantic fairy tale filled with humor, poetry and eroticism."

LeConte's most recent film was "Ridicule," which opened the 1996 Cannes festival. The 1984 action comedy "The Specialists" is his biggest box-office hit to date. Other films include "Monsieur Hire," "Tango" and "The Hairdresser's Husband."

The deal was brokered by UGC International.