Eaux profondes (1981)

Melanie enjoys flirting and having little affairs. Her husband Victor seems to bear her antics with utmost calm and nonchalance. This impression turns out to be wrong, very wrong indeed.

Director:

Michel Deville

Writers:

Florence Delay, Michel Deville,

Stars:

Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Sandrine Kljajic

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Isabelle Huppert	...	Melanie
Jean-Louis Trintignant	...	Vic Allen
Sandrine Kljajic	...	Marion
Éric Frey	...	Denis Miller
Christian Benedetti	...	Carlo Canelli
Bruce Myers	...	Cameron
Bertrand Bonvoisin	...	Robert Carpentier
Jean-Luc Moreau	...	Joël
Robin Renucci	...	Ralph
Philippe Clévenot	...	Henri Valette
Martine Costes	...	La maman de Julie
Evelyne Didi	...	Evelyn Cowan
Jean-Michel Dupuis	...	Philip Cowan
Bernard Freyd	...	Havermal
Anne Head	...	La directrice

Storyline

Melanie enjoys flirting and having little affairs. Her husband Victor seems to bear her antics with utmost calm and nonchalance. This impression turns out to be wrong, very wrong indeed.

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Plot Keywords:

swimming pool | perfume | marital strife | female nudity | beaten to death | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

16 December 1981 (France)

Also Known As:

Acque profonde

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gaumont, Hamster Productions, France 3 (FR 3)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Version of Tiefe Wasser (1983)

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Soundtracks

"Concerto for Harpsichord"
Composed by Manuel de Falla

User Reviews

Horrible

Somehow this film manages to be boring and disgusting at the same time. The music is particularly awful - faux baroque/jazz - and violin scratching that is supposed to be suspenseful but is just annoying. As is typical in French movies, it starts out well, with a very interesting premise, interesting characters, good dialogue...and then nothing happens. Well, to be fair, some things do happen, but there is never a sense of direction, of the story going somewhere, or of anything being resolved. I can't blame it all on the French though. It's based on a book by Patricia Highsmith and in her signature style glorifies immorality and sexual/psychological perversity. She also wrote "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "Strangers on a Train." Hitchcock was a master filmmaker, and while he kept the evil and the pscyhopathy, he also had the skill to make "Strangers" into a film that is scary and suspenseful, yet with an ending that doesn't repel.

This is like watching a cat and mouse game that you couldn't care less about. I'm sorry I wasted an hour and a half on this terrible movie.