La fille aux yeux d'or

Two films come to mind on seeing ' La Fille Aux Yeux D'or ' and one is Astruc's ' Le Rideau Cramoisi ' and Melville's ' Les Enfants Terribles. ' Along with Albicocco's arguably finest film they all have a cruel and rather perverse ( using this last word in its positive sense ) view of sexuality, and to the extreme ways of admitting to and denying love. Desire rules and in this film there is a group of men in a secret club capturing women by any means to satisfy their erotic needs. In one scene one of them played superbly by Paul Guers wears an animal mask as if to devour his prey. As well as trying to satisfy his cold needs he has a bizarre relationship with Francoise Prevost ( one of France's greatest actors ) who plays a bisexual fashion photographer. Both of them desire the girl with golden eyes played to the ambiguous hilt by Marie Laforet. Of the three protagonists I found her acting less interesting than the other two. She seems to desire both Guers and Prevost, and the outcome is inevitably complex and tragic. End of spoilers. I have no idea why this masterpiece of French Cinema has been so ' lost ' and was only available as a supplement to the DVD of Albicocco's ' Le Grand Meulnes. ' It can now be fortunately seen on YouTube with English Subtitles. Made in 1961 it shows a fashionable Paris crowd and filmed in black and white it superbly evokes that era of troubled times. Everything for pleasure and love a passport word for sexual needs; the downside being that real emotions creep in and destroy the erotic pleasure. A film well worth seeing for its visual beauty but also for Paul Guers ( what a great Valmont he could have been ) and for Francoise Prevost at her very best.

I saw this film a long time ago. I cannot remember the whole plot in detail and I expected to find more here. Film depicts the love relationship sustained by two women until conflict breaks out when one of them falls in love with a man. The object of conflict is an extremely beautiful model played by Marie Laforêt. I would like to learn more about it. Many thanks.

"The girl with the golden eyes" although it became actress/singer Marie Laforêt's nickname ,has fallen into oblivion.Is it fair? Yes it is .It emphasizes the worst aspects of the Nouvelle Vague :youth cult,approximative screenplay,"meaningful" "deep" dialog,actors hamming it up -with the exception of Laforêt who does not play and who's just beautiful- ,the obligatory drunk scenes ...And to top it all,an overdone cinematography (Albicoco Sr) which exudes a chic magazine aestheticism !This aestheticism which would become Albicoco Jr 's trademark in such overblown works as "Le Petit Matin " (1971) or his adaptation of Alain-Fournier's "Le Grand Meaulnes" (1967) This is a Balzac book transferred to the screen,read the cast and credits.But it takes place circa 1960 .The daring subject (bisexual women,six years before Chabrol's "les Biches") is not daring anymore today.We' re left with uninteresting characters in luxury flats.

Overall enjoyable and worth show but falls on the uneven side of French cinema. But worth watching nonetheless. Its interest lies mainly in the differences from the original Balzac novella (in which a man seduces a young girl who is zealously guarded by her family, the girl makes him dress up in women's clothing and calls him by a woman's name when they make love, he returns to her the next night vowing to kill her for it but discovers she has already been murdered by her other lover, who just happens to be his long lost half sister!)

A perfect example of Nouvelle Vague A heartbreaking story Great music, wonderful direction & cinematography Merci! :)