La femme écarlate

I stand to be corrected but I think it probably true to say that neither Monica Vitti nor Michelangelo Antonioni were ever quite as effective separately as they were together.

Here she is directed by someone named Jean Valere in what is essentially a vehicle for this mercurial, enigmatic and utterly enchanting artiste. Unfortunately the film itself is absurd, trivial, shallow and a complete waste of her talents. The same comment might easily apply to her co-star Maurice Ronet. He prophesied that he would never again be given a role to match that of Alain Leroy in Louis Malle's underrated masterpiece 'Le Feu Follet' of 1963 and he was, alas, absolutely right! As a rat Robert Hossein plays the kind of role he can do in his sleep. Signorina Vitti proved to be as equally adept at Comedy as she was at Tragedy but she is fighting a losing battle here. Thanks to Valere's insipid direction, the long-awaited scene where she exacts revenge on the man who has wronged her is, like the film itself, a damp squib.

After a gap of sixteen years she and Antonioni made 'The Mystery of Oberwald' based on Cocteau's 'Eagle has Two heads' and showed that the old magic was still there.

02/02/22. Farewell Monica Vitti. May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

The film is a delightful comedy giving Monica Vitti the chance to do what she does best. She has a twinkle in her eye as she handles men. She isn't lost for long when things don't work out.

They don't make stars like her anymore. She plays a confident sexy woman on her own in Paris while keeping her chic Dior clothes on. She is not a bimbo or a teenager but a free spirited woman enjoying herself. Look at her dance on the nightclub. She is gorgeous!

The film is typical of European movies of the time. Not much happening but plenty of style and with all the games grown up men and women played. It's a kind of a sophisticated comedy they don't make any longer.

French-Italian co-production (in French with subtitles) stars Monica Vitti as a perfume factory owner in Paris who loses everything to her scheming lover and commercial manager. She contemplates suicide before deciding killing him might be more satisfying. A featherbrained piece of fluff from director Jean Valère, sexy at times and great eye-candy, but nothing more. Vitti--who, from some angles, resembles Barbra Streisand in a blonde wig--is charming picking up a strange man on the street and telling him her plans over lunch at the Eiffel Tower; however, her sojourns with members of a rock group (dancing and getting high) are silly and just take up time on the clock. ** from ****

i found a copy of this on the old fletcher video label its a lost classic engaging story fantastic acting monica vitti looks stunning as is the photography lovely lighting editing nothing to offend anyone just a film you can sit back and watch and enjoy pity they can't make them like this no more a euro classic.

Monica Vitti thinks she's a good businesswoman. Then she discovers her manager/lover, Robert Hossein, has stolen her business. She flies to Paris to commit suicide, then decides on a better plan. Hossein will be in Paris on Friday. She steals a gun, planning to kill him. First, though, she tells Maurice Ronet, then vanishes from his ken. While he is searching desperately for her, she is cutting a swath among the news reporters and the British band they are interviewing.

Jean Valère's ultimately standard romantic comedy is powered in large part by Miss Vitti's moody, disinterested performance, and a set and costume design that features a lot of bright red clothes and draperies. M. Ronet also gives a fine performance as the moral young man who does not even recognize he loves this woman who invited him to lunch on the Eiffel Tower. It's a very 1960s looking movie. There's a bit of satire on the propensities of rock-and-rollers. but this is never a farcical comedy. It is, however, constantly engaging.