La mariée était en noir

Francois Truffaut's THE BRIDE WORE BLACK is an excellent gift of a film to fans of Hitchcock and even to the master himself. There are many nods to Hitch's films and you know Truffaut had done his homework while making the picture (by writing the definitive book on Hitch's films). What makes BRIDE WORE BLACK more than just mere homage is an elevation of suspense and a less stylized, blatant approach to the material. Truffaut does not sell his own cinematic soul and is able to present a terrific suspense story of his own. It was almost like Hitch's work turned inside out. Jeanne Moreau plays a miserable middle-aged woman, both suicidal and murderous, looking to avenge the death of her life-long companion and husband.

We see the murder of the husband repeatedly throughout the picture, studied from different angles and vantage points. He is assassinated on the steps of the church, while the thunderous 'wedding suite' plays rather ominously. We find out why she picks her victims the way she does and how they all relate to the slaying. This is one ticked off woman. Some of the murders echoed Hitch, one inspired by FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT, another from NOTORIOUS. The scenes and "borrowing" that occur here are not as blatant as you may think, however. They are mostly inspirations and Truffaut puts his own spin on them, meshing them together or taking them apart and reassembling the elements. If you are a Hitch connoisseur, it is fun to interpret what Truffaut is doing with the master's vast material.

I was also struck by a feeling of NORTH BY NORTHWEST, but with a woman as the main protagonist and the journey turned inside out. Of course, we get the character who has seen this person before and either leads to her capture or is on to her, a staple in Hitch flix. The ultimate homage is Bernard Herrmann's score (he was Hitch's right hand man for years). The 'wedding suite' is louder than usual, resonating evil, and the music as a whole is Herrmann's typical gothic work, brilliant and memorable. Truffaut extends Hitchcock by showing us in more graphic detail some of the killings and the relentless mission this woman is on is not stylized the least bit.

Check out the poisoning scene and tell me you don't see Ingrid Bergman looking at Claude Raines circling and bellowing in expressionistic ways. Trains are littered throughout the film, one on the lampshade of a young boy, another with Moreau riding on it. This is all great, but it transcends some of Hitch's work in many ways. The blood-curdling ending is one of the best I have ever seen in film, period. Considering BRIDE WORE BLACK was released in 1968, the horrific ending may have inspired HITCH of all people when he made FRENZY in 1972. Watch both and see if you know what I mean. This is a must see for foreign film fans as well.

RATING: 8 1/2 of 10

The Bride Wore Black (1968) is noted as being director François Truffaut's gleeful homage/pastiche of the cinema of Alfred Hitchcock, with the usual characteristics of deception and retribution, cool cinematography and a lush score by none other than Bernard Hermann all being co-opted alongside some nicely subtle allusions to the broader aspects of the thriller and mystery genres. Whereas it would have been fairly easy for the filmmaker to produce a work that was a shot-for-shot recreation of something that Hitchcock might have done - like for example with De Palma or Van Sant - Truffaut takes the familiar style and iconography of Hitchcock's work - in particular from films like Strangers on a Train (1951), To Catch a Thief (1955) and most prominently Marnie (1964) - and fashions a film that is, on the one hand, an affectionate ode to the filmmaker and, on the other hand, a cruel lampoon. In doing so, the director is able to produce a film that is not only interesting in terms of story and character, but often very funny too.

I was genuinely quite surprised by the use of humour here. I expected from the plot-outline that the film would be incredibly dour and austere but that really isn't the case; with the mixture of lurid, almost B-movie style subject matter, revenge and farce managing to come together fairly well for the most part, as Truffaut tinkers with the expected codes and conventions of the thriller genre in much the same way that Antonioni did with the much superior masterpiece Blowup (1966). Like Blowup, the film can be seen as something of an "anti-thriller", or a film that sets up a number of potentially electrifying Hitchcockian like set pieces and then continually thwarts them - or indeed, forgets about them completely - as the mechanics of the plot push us further and further away from the more recognisable aspects of the story at hand. Whenever we imagine that a scene will play out to our usual expectations, with Hermann's orchestrations and the inventive camera work of Godard's regular cinematographer Raoul Coutard setting the scene, something else happens that throws the film completely off course. For example, in one particular scene, in which our central character stalks one of her victims through the junkyard where he works, we get Truffaut setting up a series of shots that continually teases us with the slow-build of the sequence, the cut-away to the gun and the impending moment before the expected gunshot and then - unexpectedly - the police arrive and arrest the man before any retribution can be taken.

This idea of setting up something potentially very thrilling and exciting, only to then subvert it by way of knowing farce and arch genre references is used throughout The Bride Wore Black, creating an odd juxtaposition between light comedy and cold-blooded murder that probably won't be to all tastes. Apparently the critics of the time hated it, and indeed, Truffaut himself would denounce the film as one of his worst just a few years later, perhaps as a reaction to the knowing tone and the flippant games being played with the more recognisable cinematic conventions. Obviously, Truffaut was a huge fan of Hitchcock, and indeed, one of the first critics to really look at his films within a serious historical context, but all the same, the satirical sideswipes at Hitchcock's work and the evidence of homage is often quite cutting and not always as complimentary as we might expect. The final shot for example, which is indeed very clever and filled with ideas of visual wit, is at the same time blunt to the point of almost going out of its way to lampoon the ending of some of Hitchcock's earlier films like Saboteur (1942). Then we have the ultimate revelation of the event that drove the character to seek revenge and the almost broadly comical rendering of the scene and the complete disregard for any kind of logic and reason.

Was the reason that Truffaut denounced the film simply because he felt it was uncomplimentary, almost mocking of Hitchcock's work, or did he simply feel that the games within the narrative and the combination of murder and farce were simply unsuccessful on this particular project? Regardless, the film succeeds on an entirely perverse level, as we watch Jeanne Moreau step into the role of the iconic "Hitchcock blonde" and plot bloody revenge on those that have wronged her. Some have drawn comparisons with Tarantino's epic Kill Bill (2003-2004), which are apt given the basic outline of the plot and certain elements of the iconography, though Tarantino claims to be unfamiliar with the film in question. Although the broader ramifications of the narrative remain vague and enigmatic even through to the end, the fun of The Bride Wore Black is not in its characters or storytelling capabilities, but in the gleeful subversion of the iconography of the Hollywood thriller by way of the Nouvelle Vague and of course, those constant allusions to Hitchcock and his work.

Bride Wore Black, The (1968)

*** (out of 4)

Truffaut's homage to Hitchcock deals with a mysterious woman (Jeanne Moreau) who, after a failed suicide, decides to track down and kill the five men responsible for her husband's death on their wedding day. Needless to say, this film was pretty much remade by Quentin Tarantino in the two KILL BILL films but you can see the films influence go even further with various exploitation movies including Jess Franco's SHE KILLED IN ECSTACY as well as the notorious I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE. I think this film works very well as a homage but doesn't work too good on its own. What I was shocked to find is that there's very little emotion of any kind here. There's really no drama, no one to really care for, no suspense and very little mystery. I'm really not sure what the point of the film was except perhaps for Truffaut to show his appreciation to Hitchcock and try to copy a film like the mystery master would have made. The movie has some very good stuff in it but again, I'm sure it could have been better had a few things been changed. The five murders are pretty much like separate short films and this is something I liked. I like how all five murders appear just like their own movies but this does lead to one of my complaints, which is the running time. It really seemed like the movie was padded with needless scenes and stuff that could have been handled in less time. I found all the murders to be quite fun in their own right and that includes the ending, which really worked even though I've read it was different than what was in the novel. Another major plus is the performance by Moreau who manages to be very believable in the role. I thought she came off perfect as the quiet assassin even though you could look into her eyes and see the pain she's feeling for her dead husband. The supporting players, mainly the five men, are quite good as well, although none of them really stick out as being great. The Bernard Hermann score does a good job at reminding us of his previous work with Hitchcock and there are plenty of nice references to the master's films.

The Bride Wore Black is, for my money, Truffaut's best film! Jeanne Moreau is pitch perfect as the shattered bride, who will stop at nothing to punish the men responsible for her husband's death. She is fully authentic, as she tracks down and dispenses justice to those responsible, with a cold and icy single mindedness, that would make a shark shudder!! This is a must see for all Truffaut fans, one that still remains vivid to me! 9 out of 10!

After attempting to commit suicide, the widow Julie Kohler (Jeanne Moreau) tells her mother that she will leave town. However, she stays and hunts down and executes the five men that accidentally killed her beloved husband David on the stairs of the church immediately after their wedding ceremony.

"La Mariée Était en Noir" is a simple but excellent thriller. The geniality of François Truffault develops the tragedy of the lead character Julie Kohler with only few flashbacks. Jeanne Moreau is amazing, in the role of a woman that sees her world falling apart with the stupid murder of her beloved husband, and is driven by revenge to stay alive. The conclusion with the camera focusing the security guard is fantastic. The famous "cross of legs" of Catherine Tramell in "Basic Instinct" was probably inspired in the shy one of Julie Kohler in the police department. "The Bride" of "Kill Bill" is also inspired in this classic French movie. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "A Noiva Estava de Preto" ("The Bride Was In Black")

Note: on 06 December 2010, I saw this film again on DVD.