Mademoiselle, 1966 - ★★★★½

Mademoiselle, 1966 - ★★★★½

REVIEWED



“You would have been better to pray for the criminal and the state of his soul.”

- The Priest (Georges Douking)



Sympathy for the she-devil, ooo-woo. Mademoiselles a wicked, darkly twisted forbidden love story, brimming with inner sexual & religious repression, psychosis and xenophobia. A wandering Italian logger arouses the dormant desires of a rural French villages teacher, who goes to extreme lengths to get what she desires.


British director Tony Richardson's 'A Taste of Honey' (one of my mothers favourites), 'Tom Jones' and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner' are rightly deemed 60's cinema classics (at least here in the UK). And as such essential viewing for any self respecting film buff. Oddly for some reason 'Mademoiselle' isn't held in the same esteem, I say 'oddly' mildly because its plain to understand why 60's audiences just weren't ready for a woman so downright nasty and unhinged as Jeanne Moreau's Mademoiselle, actually I'd doubt mainstream audiences will ever be ready. Within the opening 5 minutes shes crushed bird eggs in a nest, flooded a farm and almost drowned a midget farmer (guess it saved on water costs).


Outside of its troubling impossible to love central character, its really sad Mademoiselle isn't more respected. Because its been years since my jaws dropped at B&W cinematography the way it did during this. Oscar winning cinematographer David Watkin's beautifully captures the harsh working agricultural village and amazing forested valley scenery.


[Personal Reasons For Remembering]

The Island of Mr's Moreau... Wow Jeanne Moreau's absolutely incendiary, from being a twisted fire-starter to losing herself and licking Manou's boots and barking like a dog. Having to check imdb because Gabriel Gobin looked so much like John Mills.

[*note this is was my 1st viewing, I'd not even heard of it until a week ago]






Originally taken from Letterboxd

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