Auf Liebe und Tod

A little similar to Die letzte Metro (1980), but in the tone of Schießen Sie auf den Pianisten (1960), and this time François Truffaut found the correct tone and the appropriate genre to tell this great story.

The ending is slightly underwhelming, but it is about my only complaint, Vivement dimanche! is a well-crafted and well-acted movie, there is nothing else to say about it.

You should see it if you have the opportunity, independently, it is an important movie. But it is also the last film of Truffaut, and it is a reason more to see it right now!

It is very difficult for us, those who admired and loved François Truffaut to judge the 1983 'Vivement Dimanche!' (the English title is 'Confidentially Yours' without taking into account the ruthless label that fate has attached to it: his last film! It's not Truffaut's best film or even his most original film. One of his first and best films, 'Shoot the Piano Player', had explored the film noir genre more than two decades before and used the same style of black and white cinematography with a predilection for night scenes. Truffaut's friendship and admiration for Alfred Hitchcock and his fascination with his art are well known. 'Vivement Dimanche!' it is also considered a tribute to him, but it is more than that. The director seems not only to quote from his master, but to borrow, analyse, dismantle and reconstruct some of his methods. I don't know if when he was filming 'Vivement Dimanche!' Truffaut knew about his illness or realised its severity, but it does not look at all like a testament film, on the contrary, it is a film that experiments with means of cinematic expression, taking over and respectfully continuing a tradition with which the director was very familiar. Perhaps because of this film, Truffaut's career gives the feeling that 'the film was interrupted in the middle of the screening' and that there was still so much to say.

'Vivement Dimanche!' it is one of those films from which viewers have a chance to remember isolated fragments and frames rather than the ensemble at some time after watching. No wonder, because thestory is extremely conventional, and has a lot of unlikely aspects. This is apparently a police intrigue, a mystery surrounding who is the perpetrator of a series of crimes, what Americans call a 'whodunit', but the director's attention is focused more on the relationship between the main suspect, a real estate agent played by Jean-Louis Trintignant and his secretary played by Fanny Ardant who undertakes the investigation that could prove his innocence while he is hiding. It is clear, however, that the director was more interested in the stylistic aspects and especially the reuse of some noir films from the 40s and 50s - the black and white cinematography, the phones, the raincoats, the close-ups with background contrasts. However, these are combined with some of Truffaut's recurring passions and themes - the cinema theatre that plays a significant role in the film (including the poster and the mentioning in a dialogue of a Stanley Kubrick film, which in perspective acquires the significance of passing of the torch), the theatre and especially the fascination for women that he shared with Hitchcock. The penultimate scene is exceptional and the master would have included it in his films, including the text, which is a kind of farewell, even if it is uttered by a murderer. "Everything I did was out of love for women." Adieu, François Truffaut.

Truffaut´s last film is a funny and smart thriller that feels very Hitchcock inspired.It´s entertaining but has no depth.The acting by Fanny Ardant is very funny and great.Also very beautifully shot in black & white and I think that François Truffaut was one of the best directors and he did some fantastic films.4/5

The most suitable movie in the 80's to be filmed in black-and-white. Masterfully directed by Francois Truffuat. Huge part smart, swift, suspenseful and surprising; interesting almost to the very end, (the mystery is slightly better than its solution). Wish they'd make more like these.

Confidentially is truly one of the very best fun mysteries. Frankly,I don't quite understand how some do not seem to understand that this is just a wonderful way to pass a couple of hours. It certainly is not necessary to analyze each and every minute of the picture. I suppose that most of us have a few films, which we always remember and continually go back to contemplate. This is Confidentially. I have it on a quite old VHS and probably watch it at least once every few months. There are so many wonderful aspects. So very different from the run of the mill. I can watch over and over again the opening scene walking with the dog or the closing playing with the lens cap. What incredible music. Interesting, in another Truffaut film, the leg walking scene is vividly portrayed. Ardant is one of those very special French artists that never seem to change or for that matter, age. Twenty years after this film, she starred in Nathalie and Callas. She still is extremely beautiful. I sure would like to figure out just what is the French secret. Danielle Darrieux is still making pictures at 93. It has been more than 50 years since Jean Louis Trintignant became famous after his Brigitte Bardot film. BTW - there are so very many ever so interesting small pieces in Confidentially. One I really like is the one about the girl who comes to the office for a secretarial job interview. This picture is now 27 years old. Will we have to wait another 27 years for another perfectly coordinated and exquisitely designed film to appear?