"Le fruit défendu" (= French for "the forbidden fruit") deals with an all too familiar theme: a man aged 45, locked up in his marriage, fatherhood and profession, gets involved with a much younger girl.
Set in the early fifties in the South of France, the predictability of this film's story is more than compensated by both Fernanadel's and Arnoul's excellent acting.
These two leads treat us to some fine human nuances. For instance, how their affair's development is favored by the wife's cold ambition to keep up with high society -- leaving much of her husband's genuine feelings towards her unanswered in the process.
Also fascinating is the mix between the young girl's passion and calculation. And how the latter gradually takes over with the progress of their affair.
But for Fernandel's and Arnoul's play, this film would have been forgotten for a long time.
