Mississippi Mermaid
| Mississippi Mermaid | |
|---|---|
 American theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | François Truffaut |
| Produced by | Marcel Berbert François Truffaut |
| Written by | François Truffaut William Irish |
| Starring | Catherine Deneuve Jean-Paul Belmondo |
| Music by | Antoine Duhamel |
| Cinematography | Denys Clerval |
| Editing by | Agnès Guillemot |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | June 18, 1969 (France) |
| Running time | 123 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Mississippi Mermaid (French: La sirène du Mississippi) (1969) is a French film directed by François Truffaut. The film is adapted from the 1947 William Irish (Cornell Woolrich) novel Waltz into Darkness. The film features Jean-Paul Belmondo, Catherine Deneuve, and others.[1]
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Plot
Truffaut juggles an Hitchcockian suspense/thriller with deepening sexual obsession. Louis (Jean-Paul Belmondo) owns a tobacco plantation and cigarette factory on Réunion Island, but it's lonely work — so he sends away for a mail-order bride.
Much to his surprise, the beautiful young Julie Roussel (Catherine Deneuve) arrives by ship (the Mississippi Mermaid of the title), looking nothing like the picture he had received by mail. Louis quickly falls for Julie, while discovering that she is decidedly not the woman with whom he had been corresponding.
Cast
- Jean-Paul Belmondo as Louis Mahé
- Catherine Deneuve as Julie Roussel/Marion Vergano
- Nelly Borgeaud as Berthe
- Martine Ferrière as Landlady
- Marcel Berbert as Jardine
- Yves Drouhet as Detective
- Michel Bouquet as Camolli
- Roland Thénot as Richard
Critical reception
When the film was exhibited in San Francisco in 1999, film critic Edward Guthmann lauded the film in a review, writing, "Truffaut tells his story with terrific dispatch, as if he was thrilled by its possibilities and couldn't wait to share his enthusiasm...the result is a cool combo of film noir, star vehicle and picaresque romance. It's vintage Truffaut, and a great way to get acquainted or reacquainted with one of cinema's true masters."[2]
The film, however, had many detractors. Dennis Schwartz, for example, wrote, "This perverse love story just doesn't fly. The two leads play unsympathetic characters and instead of getting into their character's heads they both play it as a game. It comes off as a disturbing film that seems pointless and has questionable entertainment value. It's one of the few misfires from the talented Truffaut, even with the restored 13 minutes missing from its American release that supposedly makes the film more lucid."[3]
References
Notes
- ^ La sirène du Mississippi at the Internet Movie Database.
- ^ Guthmann, Edward. San Francisco Chronicle, film review, "Truffaut's Mermaid Merits Second Look," May 14, 1999. Last accessed: February 21, 2008.
- ^ Schwartz, Dennis. Ozus' World Movie Reviews, January 22, 2008. Last accessed: February 21, 2008.
External links
- La sirène du Mississippi at the Internet Movie Database
- Mississippi Mermaid at Allmovie
- Mississippi Mermaid at the TCM Movie Database
- Mississippi Mermaid at DVD Beaver (includes images)
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