gridoon2018 François Truffaut has always been one of the most famous admirers of Alfred Hitchcock, so it was only natural for him to make a film that is intended purely as a homage to his colleague. The elliptically presented plot is unlike any Hitchcock plot I, at least, am aware of; it's mostly the sophisticated camera work and the superb, ingenious music score by Bernard Herrmann that remind you of Hitch. To be honest, the film seems a little flat at first (the first two murders are not too special), but it gets better, and the ending is just about perfect. Jeanne Moreau, although arguably miscast, gives an excellent performance, and at least three of the men manage to create complete characters in a short amount of time. *** out of 4.

seymourblack-1 Francois Truffaut greatly respected and admired the work of Alfred Hitchcock and "The Bride Wore Black" is his homage to the great director. It's a movie that's fascinating to watch because of the skillful way in which the story's important background information is gradually revealed but also because it's highly entertaining in the conventional sense. Its off-beat nature, its numerous Hitchcockian elements and the mystery surrounding the stony-faced widow who embarks on a murder spree are just some of the strong features of this tense revenge thriller which interestingly, also incorporates some of the more gentle and light qualities that are typical of Truffaut's work.Julie Kohler (Jeanne Moreau) is the mysterious woman who, after having failed in an attempt to commit suicide, sets off on a journey to kill the five men whose names she has written down on a list. Her approach to her mission is very meticulous and unemotional and the ways in which she kills her victims vary on each occasion. It transpires that Julie's husband had been shot dead on the church steps on the day of their wedding and she held the five men accountable because, after a night of drinking and playing cards together, one of them had fired a high-powered rifle out of a window opposite the church and this thoughtless act had robbed her of her new husband who'd been her childhood sweetheart and the love of her life.Julie's modus operandi is to lure each victim into a situation where she can kill him. At a party being held in his high-rise apartment by a womaniser called Bliss (Claude Rich), she pushes him off the balcony and he falls to his death. At the apartment of the lonely bachelor Robert Coral (Michel Bouquet), she poisons his drink and at the house of pompous politician Clement Morane (Michel Lonsdale), she suffocates him to death after locking him in a storage cupboard under a flight of stairs. Her plan for her fourth victim is thwarted because Delvaux (Daniel Boulanger), who's a used car dealer, is arrested by the police for handling stolen property but with the aid of a bow and arrow, she successfully completes the murder of the fifth man on her list, an artist called Fergus (Charles Denner).The actions that Julie takes following the murder of Fergus initially seem to be illogical but her reasons soon become clear because the way in which she manipulates events to ensure that she's able to conclude her mission is ingenious and provides the movie with a tremendous conclusion which is also brilliant in the way that it's filmed.The presence of disguises, a poisoned drink and high-angle camera shots together with a Bernard Herrman score, the theme of obsession and a sequence that takes place in a concert hall, are just some of the many Hitchcock trademarks that feature in this story. Julie's character is so traumatised by her experience that she's been completely numbed and Jeanne Moreau captures the cold elegance of her character perfectly in a deadpan performance that's at the centre of everything that happens in this drama. The supporting cast is also top class with Michel Bouquet and Michel Lonsdale both being particularly good in their roles.One of the strengths of "The Bride Wore Black" is that it's thoroughly enjoyable whether it's viewed as a Hitchcock tribute or taken simply at face value. In view of the circumstances in which it was made and the obvious affection that Truffaut had for Hitchcock's work, it's sadly ironic that out of all of his movies, this is the one that Truffaut liked least.

FilmCriticLalitRao All human beings are known to have made mistakes in their careers. There are no exceptions to this rule.This is also true in the case of famous French film director François Truffaut whose film "The bride wore black" is a huge disappointment.Who can be blamed for that ? I don't know much.My guesses might give some idea.Is it the TV channel which was showing this film at an odd hour in the night or is it an avid cinema admirer watching a poorly acted thriller at a wrong time. Whatever one says "La Mariée était en noir" is a big bore which would even fail to impress Alfred Hitchcock,a man for whom it was made.The biggest trouble lies in the depiction of the title role played by Jeanne Moreau.She acts in a very bad manner as she displays a whole lot of wooden performances.There is hardly any suspense at all in this film.It is absolutely clear from the outset that as a disgruntled bride would be heading on a killing spree there should have been somebody who would be willing to fight with her.It is a pity that Truffaut did not work hard on removing such a minor glitch while he was directing this film.

Tweekums This film is an excellent example of a revenge thriller which follows Julie Kohler, the bride of the title, as she exacts revenge on those responsible for her husband's death on their wedding day. We aren't immediately told what happened to make her want to kill the men concerned but learn throughout the film.When we are first introduced to Julie Kohler we see her attempting to throw herself from a window but this suicide attempt is prevented and soon she says that she is going away. She boards a train bound for Paris but promptly gets off on the other side and walks over the tracks to the other platform. She then seeks out a man who she only knows by name and lures him to a balcony during a party she has gatecrashed. After tricking him into climbing over the rail to retrieve a scarf she has "accidentally" dropped she says her name and no more then pushes him to his death. As she proceeds through her list of targets we learn why she wants to kill them and how the people who seemingly have no connection came to kill her husband.The film is fairly gripping and well acted, especially by Jeanne Moreau in the title role. It does have one or two plot holes, the main one being how did she learn who was responsible for her husband's death when the police hadn't found any of them. That can be forgiven though, I think as spending time on that would have detracted from the main story.I would recommend this to anybody who likes revenge thrillers even if they don't usually like non-English films, I'd forgotten I was reading subtitles a few minutes in.