La croix et la bannière

The thing you will initially notice most about this film is the fact that there is no dialogue for an uncomfortably long time after the opening credits. It opens with a sort of cat and mouse game in a bustling French metropolis; A shoplifter steals a gem-encrusted cross-and-banner-shaped necklace and decides to temporarily hide it inside a purse sitting on a store shelf. What he does not count on is a beautiful young woman immediately buying the purse and taking it home with her, oblivious to the fact that valuable jewels are hidden inside it. The rest of the film has the would-be thief desperately trying to arrange a meeting with the woman so he may reclaim his stashed goods. What appears to be the beginning of a dark love triangle, ends in tragedy so poetically played out it takes your breath away.