Summary
Bernard Coudray lives with his wife and young son in a remote country house near to Grenoble.
One day, a married couple, Philippe and Mathilde Bauchard, move into the house next door.
Mathilde and Bernard were lovers, many years before, and both are equally surprised at
the unexpected reunion. Initially, Bernard avoids Mathilde, but a chance meeting
in a supermarket reawakens a long-buried passion and they are soon having an affair.
Unfortunately, neither of them seems capable of controlling the emotional whirlwind which
this unleashes.
Review
For his last but one film, François Truffaut returns to a subject which was always
close to his heart – the capacity of an intense amorous passion to take over and ultimately
wreck the lives of its subjects. It is a theme which he explored brilliantly in
his earlier film, Jules et Jim, which is almost universally regarded as one of
the best French films ever made. However, whilst that film drew on Truffaut’s
own natural romantic impulse, La femme d'à côté is a more contrived
affair. The latter film appears stifled by the pent-up emotions of its characters
and the tragedy of its ending.
Despite that, the film is well worth seeing. It occupies an important part in the
Truffaut cannon, hinting at the direction his cinema might have taken if he had lived
a while longer.
True, the script is not the best to grace one of his films, and the sober photography
does give the film a depressing claustrophobic feel throughout. But, to counter
that, there are some fine acting performances from Depardieu and Ardant which give the
film great emotional intensity and drive.
Although this is only her first film, Fanny Ardant gives a fine, memorable performance,
and is perfectly cast opposite Depardieu in one of the French cinema’s most intensely
passionate of on-screen romances.
Truffaut's relationship with Ardant continued fruitfully on screen and off. She
was to take a lead role in the great director's final film Vivement dimanche! and
she was his partner up to his death in 1985 (bearing him his third child).
© James Travers 2000
See also:
The life of François Truffaut
Les 400 coups
Tirez sur le pianiste
Jules et Jim
Farenheit 451
Baisers volés
Le Dernier métro
Buy films by François Truffaut
Buy films with Gérard Depardieu
More about the French New Wave
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