La mariée était en noir (1968)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

François Truffaut

Writers:

Cornell Woolrich (novel)
François Truffaut (adaptation) ...

Release Date:

25 June 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Tagline:

She was a bride when the violence happened... Now she's a widow and it's going to happen again

Plot:

Julie Kohler is prevented from suicide by her mother. She leaves the town. She will track down, charm and kill five men who do not know her...

Plot Keywords:

Wedding | Murder Plot | Bow And Arrow | Female Nudity | Tape Recorder

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Jeanne Moreau	...	Julie Kohler
Michel Bouquet	...	Coral
Jean-Claude Brialy	...	Corey
Charles Denner	...	Fergus
Claude Rich	...	Bliss
Michael Lonsdale	...	Rene Morane (as Michel Lonsdale)
Daniel Boulanger	...	Delvaux
Alexandra Stewart	...	Mlle Becker
Sylvine Delannoy	...	Mme Morane
Luce Fabiole	...	Julie's mother
Michèle Montfort	...	Fergus's model
Jacqueline Rouillard
Paul Pavel	...	Mechanic
Gilles Quéant	...	Examining judge (as Gilles Queant)
Serge Rousseau	...	David

Also Known As:

The Bride Wore Black (Australia) (UK) (USA)
La sposa in nero (Italy)

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Netherlands:12 (2009) (DVD) | Argentina:13 | Canada:G (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Unrated | West Germany:16 (nf)

Filming Locations:

Alpes-Maritimes, France

Company:

Les Films du Carrosse

Trivia:

This film is François Truffaut's homage to Alfred Hitchcock, made shortly after Truffaut had published a book of extensive interviews with Hitchcock. As part of his homage, Truffaut chose a novel written by Cornell Woolrich, on who's story Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954) was based, and even chose long-time Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann to compose the score.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Julie goes to Fergus's studio the second time to model, he has her wear a special bracelet by Calder. But seconds before, when she is in the bathroom changing, she is clearly already wearing the bracelet.

Quotes:

Julie Kohler: Je suis Julie Kohler!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Day for Night: An Appreciation (2003) (V)

My favorite Truffaut film

While I felt pretty lukewarm about some of the more famous Truffaut's films (such as Jules and Jim and The 400 Blows), this film grabbed my attention and delivered great performances and exceptional writing throughout.

The film begins with a mysterious women arriving at a large party. She ingratiates herself to a gentleman there and walks out onto the apartment's balcony. Suddenly, she kills him and quietly vanishes from the party! Then, as the film unfolds she continues to dispatch specific men throughout the countryside. Why she is doing this is unclear until the latter part of the movie and I liked that because the viewer was both amazed at her inventiveness and viciousness yet perplexed as to WHY. The "why" I will leave to you to discover when you see the movie yourself--but do see it if at all possible.

Although not as good as this film, I also recommend you other Truffaut films, such as The Last Metro, The Wild Child or even the bizarrely stylistic Fahrenheit 451