Vivement dimanche !

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.

"Delight has no Competitor, so it is always most." Emily Dickinson's epigram satisfyingly describes the sublime last film of François Truffaut "Vivement Dimanche!" 1983 ("Finally, Sunday" aka "Confidentially Yours"). It's a Hitchcockian thriller shot in black & white, with ("A Man and A Woman," "Trois Colours: Rouge") Jean Louis Trintignant as the man suspected of murder(s), and Fanny Ardant as his dedicated secretary going all out to investigate on her own.

It's becoming my best favorite Truffaut film besides "Fahrenheit 451" 1966, and "Stolen Kisses" 1968. Delightful comic rhythm they have, Ardant and Trintignant together, impeccably delivered this fun thriller like a dance between Astaire and Rogers.

Truffaut's thoughtful details abound. There's the dedication to Stanley Kubrick: at Cinema Eden, we see poster of his 1957's "Paths of Glory," which was once banned in France. There's mention of Vietnamese Restaurant. Ah, the "Rear Window" feeling when the pair poked around, entering a stranger's apartment. There's the use of Le Provençal car. And the 'killer' from Barbara's angle, we see the feet but not the face - who could it be? The variety of women characters: married woman, divorced woman, madam, sinister dealer, secretarial applicant, and Barbara.

Barbara is a brunette who looks dumb and smart all at once, insecure about herself yet so confident in her deductions, bold not shy, she's obstinately determined to get the 'killer' so to prove her boss, Trintignant's Julien (whom she secretly loves) innocent. Ardant is Barbara personified. It's so cool watching her moves and energetic responses with Trintignant matching her steps.

A truly colorful black and white light-hearted mystery. The fun is in the dialog and the repartee between the characters, including the detectives and the many phone calls. The delight is in the plot movement, suspenseful intrigue upon intrigue, continuing humor and surprise after surprise as we follow Ardant and Trintignant, even a kiss has a 'movie' reason.

Absolutely satisfying cinematic affair it is, entertaining complete with a melodic end music from Georges Delerue to go with the playful imagery behind the credits roll. I succumb, this is my best loved Truffaut film, "Vivement Dimanche!"

P.S. At times it brings to mind Woody Allen's 1993 "Manhattan Murder Mystery," while certain angles of Fanny Ardant reminds one of Geena Davis' profile.

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?

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.

i was up late, scamming for some reason to continue my slackful ways... i chanced upon this little gem, halfway through... i knew nothing about this work except it being from overseas...

i was hooked; entranced; captivated by the style, dialogue, pacing and FANNY... what a spark of life she was... beautiful and damaged...

well, i am stunned that this film is from 1983??? surely it's a mistake- 1963 perhaps? and i don't mean the fact it's B&W- this production style is long since passed... isn't it??

stunned also by these user reviews... they are professional-grade, i swear... as good as the movie, i think... something tells me i must watch much more truffaut... and FANNY...