Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot.
Clouzot gae us Le Corbeau (1943), Quai des Orfèvres (1947), The Wages of Fear (1953) Diabolique (1955). Written by Henri-Georges Clouzot, Simone Drieu, Michèle Perrein, Jérôme Géronimi, Christiane Rochefort, and Véra Clouzot. Cinematography by Armand Thirard.
The film stars Brigitte Bardot (...And God Created Woman (1956), as Dominique Marceau
Charles Vanel (The Wages of Fear aka Le salaire de la peur (1953), Sinners of Paris aka: Rafles sur la ville (1958), as Maître Guérin
Paul Meurisse (Les Diaboliques (Diabolique) (1955)) as Maître Éparvier, Sami Frey as Gilbert Tellier, Marie-José Nat as Annie Marceau, Louis Seigner as Le président des assises, André Oumansky as Ludovic, René Blancard as L'avocat général, Fernand Ledoux as Le médecin légiste
Claude Berri as Georges, Barbara Sommers as Daisy, Jackie Sardou as The concierge.
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| Brigitte Bardot as Dominique Marceau |
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| Paul Meurisse as as Maître Éparvier and Charles Vanel as Maître Guérin |
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| Sami Frey as Gilbert Tellier |
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| Marie-José Nat as Annie Marceau |
A Woman's Prison. A nun guard is making her morning rounds. She is unlocking cell doors. At certain doors she announces that one of the inmates within has a date in court. At Dominique Marceau's cell it's Dominique's trial day.
La Vérité can fit easily on a quadruple bill with The Tattered Dress (1957), 1959's Anatomy of a Murder , and Twilight of Honor (1963). All feature trials, the first and last all use flashbacks to tell the story. The first and last are Noirs, Anatomy of a Murder certainly could have also been a Noir if it had been filmed in the Noir style and had used flashbacks, the subject matter sure was sordid enough.
At the opening of the trial we see our two contesting lawyers Maître Guérin for the defense, and Maître Éparvier for the prosecution. Dominique is brought in, a jury is selected and charges are read. Then the prosecution details the events with various wittiness testimony, that lead up to the murder of Gilbert Tellier by Dominique Marceau. The defense of course, cross examines each witness to either refute their testimony or to question some of the inferences made from their statements.
So the story is basically the story of two sisters, "the good" sister Annie Marceau, and Dominique Marceau "the bad" sister.
Annie was a good student and promising violinist. Dominique was the wild child, a popular girl in school who like to fool around with boys.
When Dominique finds out that her parents are going to send Annie to Paris to study at a conservatory she throws a fit. She wants to get out of the provincial town she is in and go to the big city too. She tells her father that she can work, and go to a beautician school. He tells her no, She tells him that he will be sorry. Dominique takes a bunch of pills trying to commit suicide. Dad relents.
So the girls are now in Paris, sharing an apartment. Annie attending the music conservatory and becoming the girlfriend of Gilbert a promising conductor while Dominique attracted to the bohemian Parisian nightlife can't get herself awake in the morning to attend the beautician school. Dominique has a number of casual sexual relationships with all of her rebellious peers.
One day when Gilbert comes to visit Annie at her apartment he finds instead an obviously nude Dominique under a sheet who is shaking her ass provocatively to a latin beat. Dominique tells him that Annie has just stepped out. She also asks him if he's had sex with her yet? Gilbert says no. Dominique tells him that he should and that maybe it will make her easier to get along with less of a frigid fuss pot.
Annie, coming back to this scene in the apartment is of course very upset. She asks Dominique to get out. The damage was done though Gilbert is infatuated with Dominique.
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| Leaving the apartment |
So Dominique goes to hang out with her bohemian friends sharing a hotel flop with Daisy. She flirts all the time has lots of impulsive casual relationships while Gilbert is now hanging around like a puppy dog getting more and more frustrated.
The final straw to break the camel's back is when Dominique walking down the sidewalk with Gilbert, hops on the back of a motorcycle for a two minute ride around the block but doesn't come back.
Gilbert hangs around her flop hotel for the whole night waiting. She doesn't show up till midday.
When she does finally arrive they argue, when Dominique offers him a go at some casual sex with her, Gilbert accepts. Gilbert is now even more smitten. Gilbert asks her to marry him, Dominique refuses, but agrees to move in with him.
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| Sex with Gilbert |
Dominique continues her casual lifestyle. She still has sex with others. Gilbert beats her, and the landlady evicts her. Gilbert is still obsessed with Domenique so they still manage to see each other.
Dominique finds a job as hat and coat check girl at Le Spoutnik nightclub working for Toussaint.
Toussaint offers her a ride and comes onto her, but she tells him that she is in a relationship with Gilbert now. maybe she is becoming a bit more mature. Toussaint platonically continues to give Domenique rides home in his sports car.
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| Toussaint giving Domenique a ride home |
A few weeks later it all goes Noirsville when the suspicious Gilbert spies on Dominique at closing time of the club and confronts her when she gets into the sports car. She tries to tell him that all is innocent but Gilbert breaks off their relationship and stomps off, making Dominique mad enough to demand to have sex now with Toussaint at the Hotel Radio.
After this Dominique quits her job at Le Spoutnik and then becomes homeless after Daisy leaves to go back to the states. She becomes a prostitute sleeping in her clients hotel rooms when she can and on a station waiting room bench when she can't. To top it off, when she goes back to her hometown for her father's funeral she finds out that Annie is getting married to Gilbert. Back in Paris Dominique visits Gilbert and begs him to take her back, He sleeps with her but throws her out in the morning. Distraught she walks in front of a bus trying to kill herself. She survives deigning that it was a suicide attempt, saying that it was just a careless accident. However, she goes and buys herself an automatic.
Noirsville
This well made French Noir was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at Academy Awards, USA 1961. Brigitte Brado won the David for best foreign actress at the David di Donatello Awards 1961. Won (Tide with Virgin Spring ) Golden Globe for Best Foreign-Language Foreign Film 1960, and Henri-Georges Clouzot won best director at Mar del Plata Film Festival 1961. 9/10
