A wealthy plantation owner is captivated by a mysterious woman with a shady past.A wealthy plantation owner is captivated by a mysterious woman with a shady past.A wealthy plantation owner is captivated by a mysterious woman with a shady past.
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaQuite uniquely, director François Truffaut chose to shoot the film almost completely in chronological order. The reasoning for this was that he found the relationship between the two main characters so important, he wanted it to develop in a natural way. Truffaut actually spent the nights re-writing the scenes he would film the next day, to follow the dynamics between the leading couple.
- GoofsWhen the disc Marion has recorded is run over in the street and shattered, she kneels to retrieve the pieces; at first her right knee is uppermost, but then suddenly her left knee is higher, as she stands.
- Quotes
Louis Mahé: Here we go. You're sulking. I knew it. Now you're just pretending to be mad because inside you're not really mad. You put on that cold look... but inside you're smiling. Come on. Show me your smile.
Julie Roussel: I'm fed up with all that smile crap! It doesn't work anymore! Don't speak to me. For Christ's sake, leave me alone!
Louis Mahé: All right. Okay. That's fine with me. It's not difficult to know what you're thinking of me. And you're asking yourself... "Why the hell am I with this guy who's broke... and can't even knock over an old lady in the street to steal her purse?"
Louis Mahé: [Continues, as Julie maintains an air of indifference] You only think of yourself. You're not a selfish girl. You're selfishness personified. You think that you're a real person, that you're unique. But you're not. You're just one in a growing multitude of girls now... not really bitches, not really adventuresses or whores, no... But some kind of parasite... who live outside normal society. You're not women or girls. You're "chicks". What else you are doesn't have an exact name. Mindless, with your heads full of garbage or air. You're in love with your own bodies. You're always going out in the sun, always tanning. You spend hours fixing your face. You can't pass by a car without looking at your reflection in the windshield. But you know where to find most of these girls? In airports. Yes! Everywhere planes are taking off for faraway spots. Because you are beautiful girls, and beautiful girls get fought over. They're invited from one big city to another. And they go there. They stroll around everywhere... with their little purses in hand, all made up.
Louis Mahé: [as Julie slightly glares at him] Now you're really mad. That makes me happy. Because when you're mad, your mouth gets twisted... it gets crooked. And you turn ugly. Really ugly. So dreadfully ugly.
- Alternate versionsSPOILERS: In some versions of this film, the image of the comic strip in the newspaper that makes Belmondo's character realize his wife has been poisoning him has been removed. The probable reason is that the whole idea is a bit naive and absurd, although without this image it is impossible to explain how the man finds out that he has been poisoned. (As the comic strip in question involves Disney-related art of Snow White being offered the poisoned apple by the Witch, the removal of the cartoon in some versions is more likely due to issues involving Disney's copyright.)
Next to "The Soft Skin", coincidentally staring Deneuve's sister (the late Francoise Dorleac), this would have to be my favourite Truffaut film.
As well as directing, Truffaut also wrote the screenplay. Something that always strikes me about Truffaut is his almost childlike innocence when presenting a story -- one could almost call it naivety.
There's a scene towards the end of the film where Belmondo returns to the apartment in Lyon with the remains of the loot. He rings the doorbell and Deneuve answers wearing a negligee. In the time it takes Belmondo to reach their room from the street, Deneuve changes into her dress, puts on her best pair of stockings and shoes, then lies on the bed and pretends she is asleep. It's a scene that could almost come from the mind of a child - but that's Truffaut for you.
Watching Catherine Deneuve in her films of the late 60's is indeed a sensory pleasure. She is so extraordinarily beautiful it is almost painful for us to watch. Incidentally, for those fans, there are a couple of topless scenes of her in this film - indeed a sinful pleasure.
I disagree with previous posters. I see nothing 'Hitchcockian' about the film at all. As for the 'look' of it - i love the look of the older film stock used in the 60's. It certainly gives films of this period a unique look.
Highly recommended for both Deneuve and Truffaut fans......
Details
Box office
- Budget
- FRF 8,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $33,725
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $11,206
- Apr 25, 1999
- Gross worldwide
- $33,725