morrison-dylan-fan With a poll taking place on ICM for the best films of 1969,I took a look at what the major auteurs of the French New Wave (FNW) had been up to that year. Finding The Bride Wore Black to be one of my favourite films him,I travelled to Mississippi to witness François Truffaut's second Cornell Woolrich adaptation.View on the film:For his second Woolrich adaptation, writer/ director François Truffaut keeps the FNW styling pressed on Agnès Guillemot's editing, swiped with multi-layered dissolves,spilt screens and brash black screen cuts. Reuniting with cinematographer Denys Clerval after Stolen Kisses, Truffaut continues to open up on his Hitchcock inspiration via graceful tracking shots capturing the boiling heat on the Reunion island, back-screen projected car scenes creating a lovers on the run thriller atmosphere, and a return to the Switzerland safe house from Truffaut's first Noir Shoot The Piano Player,snowing in the romance between Mahé and Vergano on a doomed poetic note.Whilst his other Noir's of the era had a firm foundation for their playing around with time, (the extended flashbacks of Piano,the kill list of Bride,and the 4th wall breaking of A Gorgeous Girl Like Me) the time-frame Truffaut springs here feels incredibly disjointed,as the passage of time between Mahé and Vergano (played with an alluring Femme Fatale edge by Catherine Deneuve) romance stutters between feeling like it has taken place over years-from her appearance and Mahé (a restless Noir loner Jean-Paul Belmondo) being in a mental hospital, to a chance encounter with a detective stating that it has only been a matter of weeks. Basking in the heat of the island, Truffaut does well at establishing doubt over Mahé and Vergano marriage being too perfect. Leaving behind Mahé almost penniless, Truffaut aims for Hitchcock-style twists that miss due to the revelation that Vergano is not who she claims,(who has sent piles of letters to Mahé)making Mahé's passionate love for a total stranger feel rather random,as Mahé searches for the Mississippi mermaid.

Dalbert Pringle You know - I seriously think that this 1969 "WTF!?" French film should be promptly re-titled - "The Bad, the Beautiful, and the Boring." - 'Cause, in my eyes, that's all that this wretched "Francois Truffaut" production amounted to.Filled-to-overflowing with one laughably preposterous situation after another - This, to me, was one of those ludicrous romance stories that literally cried, begged, and demanded to be spoofed, big-time.Starring Catherine Deneuve (one of the most vacantly frigid actresses that French cinema has ever produced) - This film's scenes of sexual intimacy were (thanks to Deneuve) some of the most flaccid and non-arousing ever recorded on celluloid.Put plain and simple - I rank Mississippi Mermaid as being just pure adulterated excrement - Nothing more. Nothing less.

midwestguy-04174 *** This review may contain spoilers *** I bought this movie two years ago and finally finished it today. It took three separate attempts for me to make it through this dark, boring, masochistic tale. That says a lot.The only reason I finished it is because I wanted to get "closure". Kind of like going to a funeral. That says a lot, too.As another reviewer said, there is NO WAY that any man could be as utterly STUPID and NAÏVE as the main character. Especially a man who is a fourth generation plantation owner and runs a big factory. Here is a man who has been a leader all his life, led everyone from domestic servants to farm and factory workers. A man in his position would have encountered hundreds of manipulators and con artists in his life, as well as dozens of gold diggers. Yet he falls for this woman? Ha! The most eligible bachelor on the colony and yet he has to resort to a personal ad? Ha! This man would have had local girls in droves.Truffaut, like Goddard, started out great, but was making mostly garbage by the late 1960s. They ran out of ideas, and once the novelty of the Nouvelle Vague wore off, the magic was gone. They ended up being captured, propped up and supported by the Hollywood/French film industry that they had first rebelled against and criticized.After viewing most of Truffaut's catalogue, I just don't think he was as good as everyone has been led to believe. Either was Goddard, for that matter. Melville was a much better film maker on every level, yet never got a tenth of the recognition. I believe that when it all comes down to it, most of Truffaut's movies are a pain to watch. They are way too long. They go along slowly: boring, brooding, and hopeless. Filled with characters that go from one self-imposed hell to another. This movie is a perfect example.I don't have to mention all the impossible parts of the story line: The French government and the Catholic Church are sticklers for documents. How did they get married without anyone noticing anything funny about her passport? How did a bank in a small town – on an island - just happen to have 28 million French francs cash in the vault that day? (About $5.5 million at the time). You think that any bank manager would release that kind of money to ANYONE without an appointment and the presence of multiple witnesses and signed affidavits? You don't think he would make damn sure that one of the richest men on the island from one of the oldest families was notified before his accounts were drained? What I.D. did she use to get the money out of the bank? I mean, I could believe it if she got away with maybe a million. But basically all the money? Come on. The list goes on. These are really key aspects of the plot that make the story so unbelievable. Not to mention the ridiculous love angle.I believe that Belmondo and Deneuve did the movie just for the money. They were both past their peaks, especially Belmondo. Their presence in the movie, and the fact that Truffaut directed it, is the only reason anyone would ever want to watch this movie, or remember it. I didn't find anything inspiring about their performances.Many critics through the years have charged Nouvelle Vague directors with having outright contempt for their audience. In addition describing their movies as being direct attacks on the viewers' supposed naiveté. This movie really fits the bill on both charges. Movies like this remind me of how we Americans used to talk about foreign movies back in the 1970s. People would say how crazy, weird and pointless these foreign movies were, and RIGHTLY so. "Mississippi Mermaid" is a perfect example.The worst thing about the whole mess is all the artsy-fartsy wannabees who give this movie great reviews and talk about how "wonderful" and "inspiring" it is; how "great" the lead actors' performances were. Are you kidding me?

evening1 I didn't like this much because I couldn't respect the protagonist.Jean-Paul Belmondo has an incredible mug, somewhat of a hybrid of early Brando and Sylvester Stallone. However, his character seems to suffer from either profound mental retardation or suicidal denial.First Marion (Catherine Deneuve) rips him off for 28 million francs. Then he kills a PI to protect her from the cops and must go on the lam. Then his lady love tries to poison him with strychnine. Yet he still finds her adorable. And he doesn't question this because true amour is "difficult."Oh, give me a friggin' break! I'm surprised so exalted a director as Truffaut took this claptrap seriously.I read on Wikipedia that this is one of only three films ever shot in Reunion, a French overseas department off the eastern coast of Africa. I did enjoy some of the tropical scenes. But the characterizations in this film are insulting to anyone of normal intelligence. (Why, why, why would a gumshoe have been so trusting as to confront a shady customer in so confined a space? What WAS he thinking?) Given all the talent in this film, I'm surprised it was so dumb.