Le miroir à deux faces

In the movie industry, you have to cover your bases so as not to get sued. Barbra Streisand's remake has a few plot similarities, but it's definitely not a remake. It reminds me of a choose-your-own adventure book. The story begins and you come to a fork in the road. If you go this way, the story ends happily. But if you go that way, disaster!

I recommend watching them both.They each have their merits and will leave you thinking and comparing long after the final credits.

When the plain but loving wife played by Michele Morgan is transformed by plastic surgery into a vision of loveliness her unprepossessing husband, portrayed by Bourvil, does not react as she had hoped, to put it mildly. His insecurity causes him to feel threatened which leads to antagonism and estrangement coupled with his intense hatred of the 'charlatan' surgeon. This will have devastating consequences for all concerned. Morgan and Bourvil are convincing in their roles. We fully understand why she feels that beautifying her appearance will improve her life despite her initial hesitation and although his character is from the outset rather unsympathetic we come to feel his pain. Excellent support from Sylvie as his dragon of a mother, Gerard Oury who also has a hand in the script, as the surgeon and Ivan Desny as the man with whom she 'almost' finds happiness. This film is especially topical now in our superficial, image-obsessed society and although this is not director Andre Cayatte in his customary crusading/axe-grinding mode he has typically posed more questions than answers. Recommended viewing for couples!

This review is an answer to Eric Sayettat's review: Eric, the husband did not "love her for what she was". He wanted an ugly wife. He was assured that an ugly wife would need him, never cheat on him and never leave. Once she is no longer ugly, a development neither of them could have expected, that assurance collapses. He doesn't love his wife, he uses her.

With that in mind, the film poses an interesting idea when the surgeon "makes his pitch" to the husband: With a woman who is so intelligent and sensitive, why shouldn't her beautiful inside be matched by a beautiful outside? Which leads to the question, if she were born with a beautiful outside, would she have been so admirable? Would she have needed to be?

An American "remake" was concocted by Mrs Streisand ("the mirror has two faces").It's an interesting case because it shows how much a remake can betray the initial writers' intentions.BS made a movie for BS,a movie which takes place in a chic milieu,with of course characters with big prospects (if you've seen Cayatte's movie,just compare Bourvil's seedy school with Bridges' university;Bridges giving lectures in the whole world and Bourvil,in his nine to five world)Let's stop here.Except for the title ,and although BS credits Cayatte for her movie,the two works have nothing to do with each other.

André Cayatte,a former lawyer ,became the champion of the good causes.His best works remain his earlier ones,such as "justice est faite" and "avant le déluge".This one ,by no means a remarkable movie,is watchable and thanks to Morgan and mainly Bourvil ,deals with an interesting subject.But more than Morgan's desire to become an attractive woman by the cosmetic surgery way,this is Bourvil's part which retains the viewer's attention:a mediocre teacher,not what they call a handsome man,he's not prepared to accept a beautiful woman.After the operation,he shows Morgan their faces in a mirror and yells:"is this the woman I married?"Abetted by an over-possessive mother (Sylvie,excellent as always),self-satisfied and narrow-minded ,he's from a generation who cannot accept woman's lib;he wants a housewife.That's ,for 1958,the most modern side of the movie.

The main flaw is perhaps in the first part:an ugly Michèle Morgan -thanks to a pretty ridiculous make-up - was not really believable. And the ugly duckling story has not always a happy end.