Thérèse Raquin

Despite the considerable talent involved, this tale of passion and murder is pallid stuff. It's filled with bald plot-twists, ending with the ultimate of deux ex machinas, a huge truck careening down a small street for no reason except to kill off a major character, thus creating the pat ironic ending. Every plot twist is unconvincing, from the idea that Vallone and Duby would hit it off in any context, or that the couple would plan to leave a day or so after they told her husband about their affair rather than immediately, to the mother conveniently having a totally paralysing stroke at just the right moment. I guess one can blame Zola for some of this, but this updated version adds nothing.

Not the best of Marcel Carne by any means but an intelligent, measured if somewhat conventional screen version of Zola's novel, nevertheless. Simone Signoret is "Therese Raquin", the married woman whose affair with truck-driver Raf Vallone leads to murder and blackmail. She is, of course, excellent but this is Vallone's movie; it is an effortless performance of an ordinary man caught up in events over which he has no real control. It's also superbly shot in Lyon by Roger Hubert and the updating to postwar France fits the plot perfectly. In an American setting this could be by James M. Cain though the climatic twist is neater than anything Cain might have given us.

A riveting modernization of the eponymous Emile Zola novel, THÉRÈSE RAQUIN chronicles the adulterous infatuation between a burly truck-driver and the beautiful, badgered wife of his feeble colleague that results in murder, blackmail and psychological-damnation. Marcel Carné deftly taps into the mechanics of American film-noir of the 1940s with conspicuous blending of plots of two celebrated James M. Cain classics: "DOUBLE INDEMNITY" & "THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE" and skilfully harmonizes it with the drab and monotonous lifestyle of the French bourgeoisie. There are subtle nods to Hitchcock's "BLACKMAIL" and uncanny parallels with Park Chan-Wook's "THIRST" (which in retrospect make perfect sense as Park also borrowed significantly from the Zola novel.)

Simone Signoret is phenomenal as the titular lead and her transformation from a browbeaten wife trapped in a loveless marriage to a sympathetic femme-fatale is adroitly handled. Her restrained turn might seem too stoic at first but she exudes volumes through her apathetic veneer. Raf Vallone (reminiscent of a brooding Burt Lancaster) is convincing as the impulsive truck driver who's determined on unshackling Thérèse from her oppressive, wretched existence. Roland Lesaffre's addition as the greasy, opportunistic sailor further strengthens the elements of suspense in the story. The naturalistic B+W photography is excellent and maintains a healthy balance between carefully choreographed claustrophobic scenarios and exquisite exterior compositions.

Thérèse Raquin represents French film-making of the old school where storytelling was paramount and is recommended to connoisseurs of classic film-noir

Thérèse Raquin (AKA: The Adultress) is directed by Marcel Carné and Carné co-adapts the screenplay with Charles Spaak from the Émile Zola novel. It stars Simone Signoret, Raf Vallone, Jacques Duby, Maria Pia Casilio and Roland Lesaffre. Music is by Maurice Thiriet and cinematography by Roger Hubert.

Carné reworks Zola's novel to be set in post-war Lyon and slips into a film noir gear. Plot essentially finds Signoret as Raquin, a severely repressed woman stuck in a marriage to her wimpy weasel of a cousin, not only that but she also has to share a home with his domineering mother. Then one day the strapping Laurent LeClaire (Vallone) enters her life, sparking a fiery affair, but as plans for the future are plotted, a turn of events drastically changes everything.

The characterisations are strongly performed, the five principals (Lesaffre arrives late in the play as a key character) giving performances that really draw you into their respective worlds, for better or worse as regards the human condition. Carné skillfully blends the beautiful side of Lyon, such as the quaint cobbled streets and the River Rhone, with a dull bleakness that fogs Thérèse, a woman who has forgotten how to smile, sexual fulfilment a non entity. Hubert also brings his photographic skills to the show, providing some blisteringly gorgeous night shots that offer hope for the new found lovers. But there is a sign post up ahead and it says that the next stop is noirville, and after having spent half the film building his characters, Carné dashes hope and replaces it with misery. Fate plays a big part in the crux aspects of the film, a film noir staple of course, right up to the clinical finale that comes with a thunderous fait accompli.

It's a bit draggy in parts as the director is at pains to show the humdrum side of life, but the change of gear at the mid-point - and the brilliant last quarter, make this a worthy addition for collectors of Frenchie noir. 8/10

Therese Raquin (1953)

You may be familiar with the lead actress, Simone Signoret, from Les Diaboliques, made a year after this film, and she plays a similar conflicted or complex, strong type of woman in a sordid world. She plays the title character, based on a Zola story, who is swept into a romance she doesn't completely expect and then a murder that she doesn't completely abhor.

And she is rather brilliant, a slightly different type than American actresses of the time, but commanding in her stoic intelligence. The two men are both first rate, one a foreign (Italian) charmer and the other a sharper fellow who is only slightly over his head. In fact, everyone is just slightly extended into decisions they don't quite know how to make. The fact that things go wrong is just part of great drama, and part of life, too.

The filming (photography and editing) is totally gorgeous here, The plot progresses slowly enough it might seem to drag, but I think it works in the long run, setting a deliberate and inevitable pace to events. What is maybe weakest is the ending, where things get a little spectacular, perhaps in a fascinating way, but certainly no longer believable.

Director Marcel Carne is no household name in this country, but the strength of this film alone makes me want to find others and get a feel for his style. Recommended for those who like drama, melodrama, and a sort of Euro-noir style, and who don't mind reading subtitles.