Histoire d'Adèle H., L' (1975)

Director:

François Truffaut

Writers:

Jan Dawson (English adaptation)
Jean Gruault (writer)

Release Date:

8 October 1975 (France)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Plot:

Halifax, 1863. A young woman, miss Lewly, comes to Halifax to search for Lt Pinson, whom she is madly in love with...

Plot Keywords:

Bookstore | Halifax Canada | Obsessive Love | Mad Love | Nightmare

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 9 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Isabelle Adjani	...	Adèle Hugo a.k.a. Adèle Lewry
Bruce Robinson	...	Lt Albert Pinson
Sylvia Marriott	...	Mrs. Saunders
Joseph Blatchley	...	The Bookseller
Ivry Gitlis	...	Hypnotist
Louise Bourdet	...	Victor Hugo's servant
Cecil De Sausmarez	...	Mr. Lenoir
Ruben Dorey	...	Mr. Saunders
Clive Gillingham	...	Keaton
Roger Martin	...	Doctor Murdock
M. White	...	Colonel White (as Mr White)
Madame Louise	...	Madame Baa
Jean-Pierre Leursse	...	Black penpusher

Also Known As:

The Story of Adele H (USA)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) (1991) | Finland:K-16 | France:U | UK:12 | USA:PG | West Germany:16 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Barbados

Company:

Les Films du Carrosse

Trivia:

Initially planned as a grand-scale spectacular drama with Jeanne Moreau to play the lead, then Catherine Deneuve (then having an affair with François Truffaut) was considered for the role. The film took 7 years to be made, and finally Truffaut decided on Isabelle Adjani whom he noticed on a TV broadcast of the Comédie Française:

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The hypnotist has a plant in the audience pretending to be a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which was not set up until a decade after the story's setting of 1863

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Raquel Welch/Phoebe Snow, John Sebastian (#1.18)" (1976)

It Makes You Wonder

This is a period movie that takes place in the 1860s in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It concerns an unrequited love between Adele H., the daughter of Victor Hugo, and a member of the English military stationed there. It is directed by Francois Truffaut. At the film's beginning, there is some narration about the involvement of the French and British in the American Civil War, but the Civil War plays no part in the movie.

I enjoyed the feel of this film. French actress Isabelle Adjani superbly plays a woman whose love is rejected and who inches down a slippery slope to madness. The costumes and scenery ring true, and the movie conveys the feel of the Canadian Atlantic province. It was also interesting to learn this sidelight about Victor Hugo.

Most of all, I enjoyed this film because it raises the question of whether its main character is crazy to begin with or whether, being possessed of such a strong love, it was a natural progression to madness when it was rejected. It raises, but of course does not answer, what causes such a potent love to arise and what is the consequence of its extinguishment.