A Sereia do Mississipi

The newspaper 'Lonely Hearts' open a door, to correspondence with a girl you soon adore, the feelings mutual, or so it seems, satisfying both your dreams, a marriage is arranged, and she's called for. The girl you meet, is not the one in her photo, but she justifies with reasons and you go, she is beautiful all round, you feel so lucky, with what you've found, it's not too long before you fall, from your plateau.

Louis Mahé loses more than he bargained for when striking up a distance correspondence with Julie Roussel, and then takes a rollercoaster of a ride as his relationship with her is lost then found, untied then bound, twisted and turned before thriving, and then taking several more turns. I'm not sure Jean-Paul Belmondo does anything over and above his usual, but Catherine Deneuve would snare any potential suitor, and I'm pretty sure they'd never be able to break free. A few threads left dangling, some curious editing and leaps of faith, but all in all an enjoyable film in the presence of two star performers from one of the great directors of the time.

In Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, the owner of a cigarette factory Louis Mahé (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is engaged through correspondence with Julie Roussel and he does not know her. When Julie arrives in the island to get married with Louis, he waits for her in the docks but Louis does not recognize Julie in the passenger vessel and finds that she is totally different from the picture she had sent to Louis. They get married and Louis shares his bank accounts with her. When Julie's sister writes a letter to Louis asking her sister to write to her, Louis discovers that the woman is not Julie that is missing. Further, he finds that the woman has cleared his bank accounts and left the island. Louis and Julie's sister hire an efficient private detective Comolli (Michel Bouquet) and Louis travels to France seeking the woman, but he has a nervous breakdown in Nice and is submitted to an intense sleeping therapy in a clinic. He recovers and finds that the woman, actually Marion Vergano (Catherine Deneuve), works in the Phoenix Club Privé in Antibes and lives in the low-budget Monorail Hotel. Louis breaks in her room and when she arrives from the club, she tells that she was happy with him but her former dangerous lover Richard had blackmailed her. Louis is still in love with Marion and escapes with her to the countryside. But Comolli is chasing Marion in France accused of murdering Julie.

"La Sirène du Mississipi" is a film-noir by the great director/writer François Truffaut, with an unconventional love story of passion, murder and love that hurts. The femme fatale Catherine Deneuve is astonishing, probably in the top of her beauty and is delightful to see her face and the topless scenes on the road and in the room. Jean-Paul Belmondo is very athletic, and the sequence when he escalates the wall of the hotel is impressive. Catherine Deneuve makes this film worth and gives credibility to the passion and lust of Louis. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "A Sereia do Mississipi" ("The Mississippi Mermaid")

On the surface, Francois Truffaut's Mississippi Mermaid is a taut, well- made Hitchcockian thriller that features good looking actors (including the alluring, icy blonde), exciting chases and bizarre circumstances. However, Truffaut gives the story his own twist by focusing on the characteristic of obsession and how it claws at the protagonist and affects his judgment.

Jean-Paul Belmondo puts aside his typical suave and cool demeanor to play a wealthy but lonely and somewhat naive tobacco plantation owner who puts in a request for a mail-order bride, only to discover that she looks like Catherine Deneuve. Naturally, he is taken under her spell and soon discovers she is much more duplicitous than he expected. Many film lovers may know this story better as it was remade in 2001 with Antonio Banderas and Angelina Jolie as Original Sin. Despite having not seen that film, I am confident it cannot be better than this version for two reasons. First of all, Truffaut is a much better director, able to seemingly tie all these various strings together into a coherent and plausible story. Second, there is no way Banderas and Jolie could match the sizzling chemistry between Belmondo and Deneuve. They are capable of being remarkably sexy and sultry without resorting to complete nakedness. This is a sign of true thespian abilities.

While not one of Truffaut's stronger works such as his Antoine Doinel series or Jules and Jim, it is still an entertaining romantic thriller that manages to be both romantic and thrilling. Given the status of many of these types of films recently, there is plenty of reason to revisit this New Wave example.

This is one of the best films I've seen in the last years.Belmonndo and Deneuve shine in their respective roles, he as a naive plantation owner and she as an enigmatic trickster.Words won't do this masterpiece justice,suffice it to say that this is a movie that explores the darker side of love and the pain,humiliation and capacity for self-delusion that go with it, although it's dressed as a film noir. Forget that feeble remake with Jolie and Banderas, see the genuine artticle instead and treat yourselves to some moments of great cinematic beauty.

I have to give Director Truffaut the benefit of the doubt here because he's obviously not stupid. So my best guess is that this strange creation is a sort of tone poem to the power of the femme fatale. That is what Catherine Deneuve plays, and despite being swindled nearly to penury by her, the Jean-Paul Belmondo character keeps coming back for more.

There are a few clichés which come to mind, but "Love is Blind" is ironically the most apt, for it is the irresistible beauty of Deneuve that prevents her mail-order husband from accepting the truth. She lied before, so why not again, and again, and again? Clearly the relationship is doomed, but the illusion continues on for now, strengthened by the sacrifice already made on her behalf...