La vérité

Here Brigitte Bardot strips bare and the precedent writer was completely right;it's not Dominique who's judged ,but Bardot herself.Never a character had been closer to the actress -I'm obviously speaking of the public figure- than this victim.Because she's primarily a victim : of a family who was dreaming of a good girl,respectful of family values -see Marie -José Nat 's Annie ,the perfect sister ,the "good" ,the earnest musician :she's so "straight"so "holier-than-thou,that she's almost frightening-;of a society ,not prepared to accept this new way of life,which predates the events of MAY 1968 and woman's lib;and finally,and mainly ,of men:they,too, are not prepared to accept the fact that a woman wants to live like .. a man:Samy Frey,the well-respected and well-meaning young man is actually a macho as well as a future mean bourgeois.

The man who worked this miracle ( turning Bardot into a first -class thespian) is none other than Henri-Georges Clouzot,one of the most daring clever gifted directors France has ever known.It was probably a hard time for him:he was about to become ill ,and that would prevent him from making another movie before 1968 ("the prisoner" ,his final achievement);besides the nouvelle vague on the rise dismissed Clouzot as a man of of the past,one of those creeps who "did not live what he was filming" (sic).Clouzot ,at his best, was better than 10 Chabrol ,20 Truffaut and 100 Godard ,but there's no accounting for tastes.Suffice to say that Clouzot,during his relatively short career (20 years ,and 11 films) ,took more chances single-handedly than the three artists mentioned above ,and his best works ("l'assassin habite au 21","le corbeau","quai des orfèvres","Manon","les diaboliques" -which got more praise abroad than in its native country- and "wages of fear" )are all classics.

"la vérité" is a long flashback ,a giant jig-saw the pieces of which will not completely put together at the end.The lovers of "les diaboliques" will appreciate the duel Paul Meurisse /Charles Vanel.They say HG Clouzot was very hard on his actors:but what a filmography!

In her memoirs ,BB wrote that it was HER favorite movie.

Through contemporary eyes, you might be quite surprised, what most of the courtroom did surmise, without any question or compromise, but the flashbacks tell no lies and the romance, sadly, 'meurts'.

By far the best Brigitte Bardot picture, engaged with the avant-garde director Henry-Georges Clouzot, fitting perfect with a drawn up screenplay, about a lazy girl Dominique (Bardot) tired of his hometown lifestyle, decides by any mean living together with her old sister Annie (Marie-Jose Nat) at glamorous Paris in the early sixties, meanwhile his sister makes a hard efforts to learning classic music, otherwise Dominique dropped her preparatory course to work at beauty parlor, spending her time at bars and night clubs with questionable friendship, until meets Gilbert Tellier (Sami Frey) a promising musician which his sister raising hopes for future marriage, Tellier gonna crazy by so beautiful and sexy Dominique, although she scorns him, when he finally got her, he treats her possessively and grossly, they break apart, she suffers and end up sell yourself on prostitution, at their last meeting she on its kenees begs your pardon, then they had a love night and Dominique is merciless waived on the morning by his cold lover, abased deeply for such ruthlessness, later she kills him and tried out committed suicide afterwards saves in time, brought to trial, she is judge in her dingy background lifestyle, there lawers's battle begin although an unexpected ending, mastery Clouzot explores all strong sexy appeal that BB can delivers with dared scenes, told by countless and overlong flashbacks, my favorite Bardot picture!!

Resume:

First watch: 2020 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 8.75

PROG ROCK? The music featured will be familiar to YES fans - this bit of Stravinsky is what they always started their concerts with and that heralding of something outstanding to come is also reflected with Clouzot's thoroughly engrossing masterpiece.

M. Clouzot, although sounding a little like Insp. Clouseau wasn't particularly one for having a few laughs in his pictures. Although this is pretty much laden with wall to wall doom, there are some very human touches and sparks of humour which do make you smile - that makes this two hour plummet into the chasm of inevitable misery much more palatable. What also really makes this palatable and so utterly engaging is Miss Bardot - putting aside her brilliant performance - you could happily watch this whole thing with the sound off just gazing at this perfect young woman .....of course you'd need a good slapping if you did that because you'd be missing out on an extraordinarily realistic and moving acting performances. But such is the allure of this woman and such is the way this film has been crafted.

RUTH ELLIS? Like the sad and sadly true story of Ruth Ellis, the attitudes of the establishment as exemplified in this court are just the same as then. ....Gentleman of the jury, this young woman is not on trial for her shocking dissolute lifestyle or her immortality, she is on trial for murder..... This film's actual murder trial plays second fiddle to this film's real plot: clash of cultures. It's about the brutal conflict between two societies which until recently had hardly been aware of each other's existence. Like matter and anti-matter existing in the same space, although both inhabiting the same city, the established order - thinking of themselves, the pinnacle of civilisation had just discovered the existence of the working class youth.

PRE-CODE CIMEMA? You expect that class ridden sexism and almost laughable chauvinism in those movies from the early thirties. Ruth Chatterton in FEMALE, 1933 declaring that she's only a woman and should never have tried to do a man's job belongs in a distant age, almost a distant planet. This however is a generation later and because they now wear jeans and t shirts rather than evening dresses and top hats, it is sort of 'now' so when you see those antiquated prejudices, they're no longer amusing relics of a bygone age, they're about us so much more shocking.

Overall this is an intelligent and entertaining movie. It sits there in terms of style and quality with ANATOMY OF A MURDER, TWELVE ANGRY MEN and TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. It's also great to see Miss Bardot showing what a superb actress she was. Sami Frey is also very impressive as the love-struck young musician.

It appears that the outstanding director Henri-George Clouzot was unable to make movies short of being masterpieces. "La Verite" may be defined as the "European Rashomon", and, well aware that my opinion will be considered a sacrilege, I venture to say that Clouzot's film is even better than Kurosawa's celebrated masterpiece. In fact, the essence of both "Rashomon" and "La Verite" lies in the quest of the truth of a story, reconstructed through a sequence of flash-backs.

"La Verite" narrates the trial of the breathtakingly-beautiful-sexy lost girl Dominique (Brigitte Bardot), for the murder of her former boy-friend Gilbert (Samy Frey). Everybody (Dominique herself, her former friends and various lovers, her enemies, notably her own sister, as well as lawyers and prosecutors) states his own version of the facts, but what is the actual truth? To simplify the question: is Dominique just a ruthless killer, or was she a weak, enamored girl, victim of Gilbert's selfishness and bullying? As always in Clouzot's movies, "La Verite" is extremely intense, packed with a profound and uncompromising psychological study. The almost obsessive pace of events gives no break to both the characters and the audience. The script is first-rate, with plenty of cynical sense of humor, in spite of the dramatic facts told.

Brigitte Bardot was a great actress, endowed with an outstanding talent. A careful viewer could easily get it even from BB's performances in minor movies, like, say "Mademoiselle Pigalle". Here, under the sound direction of a genius like Clouzot, she is just sensational in a highly dramatic role. Of course, also the acting by the remainder of the cast is excellent, especially, needless to say, by the legends Charles Vanel and Paul Meurisse, as the two lawyers.

Possibly, the main credit of this fantastic movie lies in a gelid, sarcastic, misanthropic representation of human society. Arguably, this is the trade-mark of Clouzot's style, together with suspense, which here is present but not exasperated like in his other works. The world of the adults is wholly despicable, permeated as they are with hypocrisy, with prejudice and fear, especially in sexual matters, and with sickening cynicism, as masterly represented by the lawyer Paul Meurisse.

However, the youngsters are no better than the adults. They are just fatuous, selfish, conceited loafers, only able to utter pseudo-intellectual chats. As a matter of fact, when Dominique founds herself in dire straits, none of her young friends moves a finger to help her. And Dominique often appears even worse than the others. From some point of view, she might be considered a totally negative character.

So, what's the point of Clouzot? I think that's not an issue. He just shows what he sees; that's the style and the aim of one of the greatest artists in the history of cinema.

"La Verite" is a total masterpiece. It is impossible to be disappointed. Highly recommended.