Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne (1945)

A society lady engineers a marriage between her lover and a cabaret dancer who is essentially a prostitute.

Director:

Robert Bresson

Writers:

Robert Bresson (scenario & adaptation), Denis Diderot (novel)

Stars:

Paul Bernard, María Casares, Elina Labourdette

Cast

Cast overview:
Paul Bernard	...	Jean
María Casares	...	Hélène
Elina Labourdette	...	Agnès
Lucienne Bogaert	...	Mme. D
Jean Marchat	...	Jacques
Yvette Etiévant	...	La bonne
Marcel Rouzé
Bernard Lajarrige
Lucy Lancy
Nicole Regnault
Emma Lyonel
Marguerite de Morlaye

Storyline

Hélène understands that Jean doesn't love her anymore. She is full of grief and anger, and she starts brooding on revenge. When she meets Jean, she pretends herself to be the one that has ceased to love the other. Jean is relieved, because now he thinks they can part as friends. Hélène goes to a night club, where a young woman, Agnès, is a famous dancer. Agnés has been forced into this life of debauchery and courtesanship because of poverty. She hates it and all the lecherous men. Hélène has met Agnès and her mother several years ago, and after the show she looks them up. She says that she will help them to leave this degrading life. The next day they shall move to an apartment she has rented, and stay there anonymously. Some days later she arranges a seemingly spontaneous meeting between Jean and Agnès in the Bois de Boulogne. Jean immediately falls in love with Agnès, who he thinks is an innocent girl from the countryside. Fueled by Hélène, and by Agnès's resistance, his infatuation...

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Plot Keywords:

tap dancing | female jealousy | possessive female | possessive mother | manipulative female | 

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Taglines:

Starring the magnificent Maria Casares as 'first violin" in a 'string quartet" of 3 women and 1 man - Diderot's classic tale adapted by Jean Cocteau of a jilted woman's devastating revenge that boomeranged!

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filmed in 1944 during the German occupation of Paris, there is no mention of World War II, no sign of any German presence, not a single uniform in sight, even at the wedding, and none of the usual well-known wartime regulations and/or shortages. Jean, with apparent ample income, but no meaningful source of obtaining it, seems also to have not only escaped military service, but also drives around Paris, otherwise devoid of civilian traffic and military or police control, in a pre-war American-made 1936 Pontiac convertible that would have normally have been confiscated for wartime use decades earlier, and with an apparent ample supply of otherwise unobtainable gasoline.

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Goofs

When Agnes falls after dancing in her apartment, her head is seen resting upon the skirt of her costume. But in the close shot when her mother goes to her, her head is seen to be on the floor.

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Quotes

Agnès: We're unlucky. Every time we meet alone, it's raining.

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Alternate Versions

The German dubbed version is about two minutes shorter, due to several cuts in the final scenes. The channel Arte screened the complete movie with the missing scenes subtitled.

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Connections

Edited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: La monnaie de l'absolu (1999)

User Reviews

True love

Very good movie by Robert Bresson. After two years with Jean, Hélène tells him that she's not in love with him like at the beginning and that the love that she still have for him is fading away. What a surprise and a sense of betrayal when Jean tells Hélène that he was feeling the same way. So, as a revenge, Hélène manage to get Jean and Agnès together. Agnès is an ex-dancer from the Bois de Boulogne. Without knowing her past, Jean will marry her. Then, when he discovers the secret, he's got a choice, leave or prove his love for Agnès.

Very well done. The cinematography is very good, so is the acting.

Out of 100, I gave it 80.

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

3 April 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ladies of the Park

Filming Locations:

Studios Eclair, Epinay-sur-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films Raoul Ploquin

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Tobis-Klangfilm)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1