Vivement dimanche!

i was up late, scamming for some reason to continue my slackful ways... i chanced upon this little gem, halfway through... i knew nothing about this work except it being from overseas...

i was hooked; entranced; captivated by the style, dialogue, pacing and FANNY... what a spark of life she was... beautiful and damaged...

well, i am stunned that this film is from 1983??? surely it's a mistake- 1963 perhaps? and i don't mean the fact it's B&W- this production style is long since passed... isn't it??

stunned also by these user reviews... they are professional-grade, i swear... as good as the movie, i think... something tells me i must watch much more truffaut... and FANNY...

A little similar to Le Dernier Métro (1980), but in the tone of Tirez sur le pianiste (1960), and this time François Truffaut found the correct tone and the appropriate genre to tell this great story.

The ending is slightly underwhelming, but it is about my only complaint, Vivement dimanche! is a well-crafted and well-acted movie, there is nothing else to say about it.

You should see it if you have the opportunity, independently, it is an important movie. But it is also the last film of Truffaut, and it is a reason more to see it right now!

Truffaut´s last film is a funny and smart thriller that feels very Hitchcock inspired.It´s entertaining but has no depth.The acting by Fanny Ardant is very funny and great.Also very beautifully shot in black & white and I think that François Truffaut was one of the best directors and he did some fantastic films.4/5

"Delight has no Competitor, so it is always most." Emily Dickinson's epigram satisfyingly describes the sublime last film of François Truffaut "Vivement Dimanche!" 1983 ("Finally, Sunday" aka "Confidentially Yours"). It's a Hitchcockian thriller shot in black & white, with ("A Man and A Woman," "Trois Colours: Rouge") Jean Louis Trintignant as the man suspected of murder(s), and Fanny Ardant as his dedicated secretary going all out to investigate on her own.

It's becoming my best favorite Truffaut film besides "Fahrenheit 451" 1966, and "Stolen Kisses" 1968. Delightful comic rhythm they have, Ardant and Trintignant together, impeccably delivered this fun thriller like a dance between Astaire and Rogers.

Truffaut's thoughtful details abound. There's the dedication to Stanley Kubrick: at Cinema Eden, we see poster of his 1957's "Paths of Glory," which was once banned in France. There's mention of Vietnamese Restaurant. Ah, the "Rear Window" feeling when the pair poked around, entering a stranger's apartment. There's the use of Le Provençal car. And the 'killer' from Barbara's angle, we see the feet but not the face - who could it be? The variety of women characters: married woman, divorced woman, madam, sinister dealer, secretarial applicant, and Barbara.

Barbara is a brunette who looks dumb and smart all at once, insecure about herself yet so confident in her deductions, bold not shy, she's obstinately determined to get the 'killer' so to prove her boss, Trintignant's Julien (whom she secretly loves) innocent. Ardant is Barbara personified. It's so cool watching her moves and energetic responses with Trintignant matching her steps.

A truly colorful black and white light-hearted mystery. The fun is in the dialog and the repartee between the characters, including the detectives and the many phone calls. The delight is in the plot movement, suspenseful intrigue upon intrigue, continuing humor and surprise after surprise as we follow Ardant and Trintignant, even a kiss has a 'movie' reason.

Absolutely satisfying cinematic affair it is, entertaining complete with a melodic end music from Georges Delerue to go with the playful imagery behind the credits roll. I succumb, this is my best loved Truffaut film, "Vivement Dimanche!"

P.S. At times it brings to mind Woody Allen's 1993 "Manhattan Murder Mystery," while certain angles of Fanny Ardant reminds one of Geena Davis' profile.

As a brunette secretary, you're missing a ticked box, and now your job is drifting headlong into rocks, is your boss so homicidal, to kill his wife and her love idol, it's as perplexing as it is, a real flummox. You investigate and research what went down, it leads, to seedy places, around town, iniquities of noir, becomes increasingly bizarre, it's enough to make you scowl, glower and frown. It's not too long before your boss is apprehended, the police, are pretty sure, that he offended, can you get him off the hook, this older man you want to hug, as you desire to make him your future intended.

It's a more than satisfactory reproduction of an early 60s noir whodunit, but the shining light of Fanny Ardant consumes the darkness and casts a spell.