The character of Adele was written with Vanessa in mind by director Patrice Leconte and screenwriter Serge Frydman. Both men met Vanessa while working on the film Un Chance sur Deux (“Half a Chance”). It was then that Leconte asked Vanessa if she were interested in the role of Adele. She said yes. 

The Girl on the Bridge was filmed in Paris, Monaco, Athens, and Istanbul in 1998 and released into French cinemas March 31, 1999. It is shot in black and white and set to a jazzy score. It received eight César award nominations, including one for Vanessa in the best actress category. The film also received a Golden Globe nomination in the best foreign film category. 

The film opens with the wayward waif Adele (Vanessa) leaning from a bridge over the icy waters of the Seine contemplating suicide, where from out of nowhere comes Gabor (Daniel Auteuil), a down-on-his-luck knife-thrower, who says, “You look like a girl who is about to make a mistake.” Their chance meeting on the bridge leads to a reversal of fortune for both characters. Their luck changes and each becomes the other’s good-luck charm until their luck changes again… 

“What pleased me a lot about “The Girl on the Bridge” was that it was a love story but that it was above all a story of desire,” Leconte told the New York Times in July 2000. “The two characters feel that, above their heads, something very strong is hovering, and a spark would be enough to get them to fall in each other’s arms. But that spark only comes at the very end. The challenge is to build that desire for an hour and a half, until at the end it finally happens.”