The Bride Wore Black
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Movie Reviews of The Bride Wore Black
Movie Review: Somewhere between Hitchcock and Tarantino...
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm glad I'm not the only person who, while watching `Le Mariee Etait en Noir', thought of `Kill Bill'. I mean, there are obvious comparisons to be made, and it is certainly respectable that Tarantino would be influenced by someone as marvelously influential as Francois Truffaut. Personally, I adore him. `Jules et Jim' is my favorite movie of all time, and a few of Truffaut's other films are not far behind. While I don't think he's quite as great as Jean-Luc Godard (a cinematic obsession of mine), but I am not one of those who thinks you have to pick a side (cough*FriedrichNietzsche*cough).
`La Mariee Etait en Noir' tells the story of a woman scorned. That woman is Julie Kohler, a woman who spent her whole life loving one man only to have him shot and killed on the day of their wedding. She has spent her years since tracking down the men responsible and delivering the same fate they offered her husband.
What is so intriguing about this film is that, when all is said and done, the revelation behind the killing is not what we would have expected; not at all. I think that this clever twist is perfectly used here, for it delivers conflicting emotions to the audience. I don't want to uncover the twist, because for me it was the most profound part of the film, but I will say that it causes you to question your side of the battle so-to-speak.
The Hitchcock influence is all over this film. What I love about it though, is that it understood how to make it fresh and new. This doesn't feel like Hitchcock-lite, or like a deliberate copycat. This isn't mimicry as much as homage. Truffaut still makes this very much is own film, allowing the jovial French cinematic atmosphere to lend its own set of layers to this thriller. You can also thank the beautifully talented Jeanne Moreau for delivering an outstanding performance. She captures the coldness that chips away to reveal true emotional duress, especially when she learns the truth. I also love the way you can see her playing the part. She plays the reserved flirt rather well, using her sensuality to attack, but always keeping that prickly demeanor that almost enticing the audience all the more.
The film, and especially the calculated murders, are not really meant to be taken too seriously. This is a thriller, but it is more about the psychological effect the situation is having on Julie. As with the best of Hitchcock, `Le Mariee Etait en Noir' is most appreciated when one takes the time to dig a little deeper.
Movie Review: A wonderful Hitchcockian black comedy of murder and revenge by Truffaut, starring Jeanne Moreau
Summary: 5 Stars
Truffaut said The Bride Wore Black was his homage to Hitchcock. A great homage it is, with that Bernard Herrmann score, murderous psychological ambiguity, bad things happening on warm, sunlit days and a complex -- and looney -- main character. Think of it as a black comedy with enough riffs on Vertigo to smile at. Just as importantly, while the film may be Truffaut's homage to Hitchcock, the film remains completely Truffaut's. It's one of his best, and features a wonderful performance by Jeanne Moreau as a woman whose husband is shot and killed as they're standing on the church steps just after they've been married. After recovering from the shock, depression and a suicide attempt, Julie Kohler decides to do something about the five men responsible. If you are unfortunate enough to hear the whispered words, "Je suis Julie Kohler," they will be the last words you'll ever hear.
Julie methodically checks off the names on her list as she finds ways to see that her version of justice is done. She may be obsessed, but she knows exactly what she's doing...and she is implacable. Jeanne Moreau, with those plump, downward-turning lips and puffy smoker's eyes, has never been better. Moreau is an extraordinary actress. She had features that at times could seem almost coarse, but then almost beautiful and certainly desirable. She had a strange fusion of intelligence which challenged and a vastly intriguing nature. I could easily picture her watching Casanova with those reserved, quiet eyes while he struggled to mumble self-consciously, "I love you." Moreau can do more with a stare, a look, a glance than just about any actress I know.
As much as the movie is a joy to watch, the last five minutes has a conclusion that is unexpected and completely satisfying. I think even Hitchcock would have had a smile on his face as he patted Truffaut on the back.
The Bride Wore Black has a fine DVD transfer. It is not anamorphic. There are no extras of any importance. Let's hope it gets reissued not only anamorphic, but with the substantial extras on Truffaut and Moreau the film deserves. For those fans of Truffaut and Hitchcock, you may find of interest Hitchcock (Revised Edition) by Helen G. Scott and Francois Truffaut. The book covers the lengthy interviews Truffaut had with Hitchcock as they discussed Hitchcock's work and each of his films.
Movie Review: Truffaut's Hitchcock homage is better than the real thing!
Summary: 5 Stars
Before buying this DVD I'd only seen the film twice before, both times on television and the last time some 13 years ago. I was pleased to fimd it had lost none of it's power to entertain.Although it was well received, particularly by the art house crowd, when it was released it is now a largely ignored film. This is a pitty as it is superbly crafted and despite a somewhat absurd plot conconcerning a widowed bride avenging the assassination of her husband it does draw the viewer into it and you cannot help but wonder how it will all be resolved.
The Bride Wore Black was Francois Truffaut's second colour film and like his first, Fahrenhight 451(1966), he makes strong use of primery colours namly red, blue, white and black. In particular his decision to dress Julie Kohler(Jeanne Moreau) only in black and white is extreamely effective and each of her five victims is treated to a different creation in black or white and sometimes both; each designed to lure it's respective man to his fate. Jeanne Moreau gives an amazing performance in the title role for however alluring she appears to her victims(they all fall in love with her) her eyes are always filled with cold hatred for them.
This film is, above all, a tribute to the master of suspence himself Alfred Hitchcock; Bernard Herrmann's music and the slightly cold lighting together with the restrained style of acting combine to make a French version of an unmistakeable cocktail as deadly as the poisoned Arrack Julie gives to Bliss, her second victim. But The Bride Wore Black is a lot better than the films that Hitchcock was comming out with at around the time this was made namely "Torn Curtain"(1967) and "Topaz"(1969).
Although the DVD does not appear to have been digitally restored the original print from which it has been made is good and if you don't want to be distracted by subtitles you have the option to view the film with a dubbed English language soundtrack, although the American accents sound a bit strange eminating from all thoes French actors.
Although to modern audiences this may apear a bit camp this is a "must have" for any lover of French New Wave Cinema.
Movie Review: Shamelessly Entertaining Neo-Noir Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
"The Bride Wore Black" is another neo-noir classic from Francois Truffaut. It's adapted from the pulp novel masterpiece by Cornell Woolrich (aka William Irish.) Truffaut retains the story and the sense of doom of the book but pares down Woolrich's convoluted plot so that it is even darker. Jeanne Moreau is scary as the implacable Bride, who tracks down the five men she holds responsible for the death of her husband on their wedding day. (You can see the tremendous influence this film had on Tarantino's Kill Bill, Volume 1). This is an icy examination of the eternal war between men and women; the men are either sexual predators or spinless wimps, and the Bride is remorseless in exterminating them. The film has several setpieces that are obviously tributes to Hitchcock (like the high-rise building; and the wrongfully accused teacher.) There's even a musical score by Hitch's signature composer, Bernard Herrman. Truffaut ratchets up the tension to unbearable levels as we wait to see how the Bride will dispatch her next victim. Truffaut, the great humanist and friend of small children, occasionally peeks out, but mostly this film is a gripping ride on the dark side. It also has one of the gratest final scenes I've encountered in a movie. Just terrific.Movie Review: Truffaut and Woolrich--quelle combination!
Summary: 5 Stars
Based on the novel of the same name, this film is a razor sharp depiction of one woman's relentless pursuit of her newly wedded and deaded husband's killers. Cornell Woolrich was THE quintessential noir fiction writer, the master of savage irony, and this is, without question, one of the best translations of his work into film.Jeanne Moreau brings out the fanatic dedication of the main character--as schoolteacher, vixen, artist's model--whatever it takes, she will find and destroy the killers. Even in prison, she manages to kill. Her impassive demeanor is a perfect representation of the Woolrich ethos--that life in its unpredictability will change you so dramatically that there is no chance in hell you will ever be the same as you were before.
The killers are all regular guys who never suspect a thing--because they're not professional criminals, they have no reason to be looking over their shoulders. The various methods the Moreau character uses to dispatch the men are clever and intriguing.
Truffaut's sharp eye for character detail is an exact match with Woolrich's mordant eye for plotting. The two together make for a tough, engaging film that still rings true after more than 30 years.