Las damas del bosque de Boloña

This film shows Bresson before he turned to using nonprofessional actors. But it's still Bresson in its austerity and economy. He demonstrates the vapidity and luxury of the idle class without overwhelming us with the accouterments. Skillfully, he moves forward the story of a scheming, jealous, vengeful society woman whose own tricks have blown up in her face.

One of your commenters complained the film was boring, but that wasn't my experience. I will grant that, if you're looking for explosions,90-degree plot turns, or uproarious comedy, you will certainly be disappointed. On the other hand, if you enjoy watching and hearing a master look into a soulless bosom, and if you enjoy sitting back while a serious artist shows us how to advance a simple but serious plot about serious people, you'll enjoy Dames.

Just after the Nazis left, Robert Bresson directed this, his second film. The story is an updated version of a tale entitled 'Jacques le Fataliste' by Denis Diderot (1713-1784), the famous radical thinker and encyclopaedist of the French Enlightenment era. Surprisingly enough, Diderot's novels and stories have been filmed 22 times between 1922 and 2013, and this one was filmed again in both 1967 and 2005. The reference to the Bois de Boulogne is because that used to be the traditional haunt of better class prostitutes. This film is a surprisingly formal, classical film for someone like Bresson. It is primarily notable for the frighteningly intense performance by Maria Casares as a beautiful woman scorned, who applies all of her energies to destroying the lover who has jilted her. It is a horrid story of relentless, maniacal feminine vengeance. Dialogue for the film was written by Jean Cocteau. Much of the film consists of recurring shots of the smouldering gaze of Casares, who scorches the viewer, the camera, the screen, and everything and everyone in sight with her sinister, scheming hatred and determination to obtain revenge. She would have been better off going for a walk in the Bois and calming down.

This is Robert Bresson's most stylish, and possibly his most romantic movie; it is an elegant and refined drama of jealousy and revenge. It is full of wonderful details, such as the scene of Elina Labourdette's night club act, or the wonderful moment later in the film where she bursts into dance because of her boredom with her confinement. Maria Casares's performance is in the grand tradition: no one can show steely determination and erotic frustration better. This is Bresson's first masterpiece, and was a failure upon release, but has come to be regarded as one of the great films in French film history.

Till 1950,Robert Bresson used professional actors.This explains why those previous movies are much more accessible -and thus generally overlooked by the "true" RB connoisseurs ,this naive audience who is still thinking that French cinema did begin with him;this mindless belief was fueled by the director himself whose contempt for his colleagues was notorious ...

And like it or not,It's one of his colleagues,Marcel Carné ,who provided Bresson with his star Maria Casarès,who was featured in the absolute chef-d'oeuvre of our French cinema "Les Enfants Du Paradis" .She played the part of Natalie and was not overshadowed by Arletty,which was quite a feat!

In "les Dames...",Casares was extraordinary: in her last scenes ,when she spits her hate ,her contempt and when she savors her vengeance as she says :"You've married a hooker! I had you marry a hooker!" ,she mesmerizes her audience.After her lover had left her,she really became a spider spinning her web in which the two women and her ex would be caught up.

Jean Cocteau wrote the dialog.Maria Casarès would become one of his favorite actresses:"Orphée" and "Le Testament d'Orphée".

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.