La couleur du vent

Louise, a literary advisor at Éditions du Cercle, receives a large manuscript from the United States. Overwhelmed by reading this work, she begins an epistolary relationship with Paul, the author. She falls in love with the writer and never stops trying to get her work accepted by the publishing house. When Paul finally comes to France, Louise, frightened by this intense love, runs away...

Pierre Granier-Deferre carried on with the tradition of the film de qualité (not meant pejoratively , we need this kind of movie more than ever in 2024 ) :"la veuve Couderc " "le chat" "le train" and "une étrange affaire" are excellent works ,and found their audience .

"La couleur du vent" ,that's another story :here he wants to become a deep meaningful intellectual director , art house cinema that is; unfortunately it falls flat :the story is uninteresting and its depiction of the life of a literary advisor displays a dolce vita : small talk ,cocktails and de rigueur trip to the USA with all expenses paid ; and the principal's namby pamby acting does not help ,as expressive as a Barbie doll ; too little time is given over to the best male actor Philippe Leotard ( his anger is not fully exploited,particularly considering he's jealous of a man both he and his lover never met ) ;on the other hand ,one can do without Truffaut's protégé ,Jean-Pierre Léaud ,as unbearable as ever .

The last third is saved by Anna Massey ,an excellent thespian who worked with Hitchcock ("frenzy") and Powell ("peeping tom" );in spite of a weak directing, she succeeds in giving an ambiguous performance ;without her, the final unexpected twist would come at the most awkward moment .