The Bride Wore Black

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François Truffaut's 1968 thriller was an attempt to reconcile the exclusive experience of the Hitchcockian hero with the expansiveness of Jean Renoir's view of flawed humanity. Jeanne Moreau stars as a newlywed whose husband is shot dead on the church steps following their wedding. The story then follows her systematic and relentless efforts to track down the men who were involved in the killing, murdering each one with a creative efficiency that Truffaut does not mean for us to take too seriously. The film's real point is the interesting tension between the audience's growing knowledge about and sympathy toward the guilty fellows, who really are rather ordinary people, and the narrative hook concerning the heroine's reinvention into a figure of insulated emotion and revenge. (Moreau's character resembles nothing so much as the pathological but vulnerable title character of Hitchcock's Marnie.) The Bride Wore Black (based on a novel by Cornell Woolrich) is not meant to be taken as an object lesson in irony, however. In the finest and most entertaining tradition of Hollywood movies (certainly most of Hitchcock's movies), one can watch Truffaut's film without giving a thought to anything other than its own smooth movement. Take a step back, however, and there are riches to be explored. --Tom Keogh

Description

An engrossing, enigmatic tale of passion and revenge, this 1969 Golden GlobeÂ(r) nominee* from FranÃ§ois Truffaut and co-writer Jean Louis Richard is "cool, witty and disturbingly heartless" (Saturday Review). The bewitching Jeanne Moreau is "simultaneously stunning, chilling and altogether remarkable" (Boxoffice) as a woman who will stop at nothing to avenge her husband's death! Julie (Moreau), a beautiful young bride, has just married her childhood sweatheart and love of her life. But just moments after the ceremony, her beloved is murdered on the steps of thechurch. Emotionally distraught, Julie becomes obsessed with her bridegroom's death and begins a descent into madness as she relentlessly pursues the men responsible. One by one, Julie sees to their demise, and, with each murder more bone chilling and diabolically clever than the last, the question is not who will be next--but rather how they will meet their ghastly end. *Foreign Language Film

Customer Reviews:

He did to Hitchcock what the Germans did to Poland in WW2.......2007-08-30

I was expecting at least a glimpse of the substance present in the Hitchcock movies. After all, the movie is supposed to be a homage to the creator of Psycho, Vertigo and Rear Window. Instead, all we got is some style and a plot with less suspense than the average scooby-doo episode. It has a lot in common with B-movies such as the Theatre of Blood (1973 - Vincent Price), where all you get to expect is a series of killings. If watching a mad and average looking woman for two hours, who will stop at nothing to get her "revenge" (even using a 5-year old so she can turn him into an orphan) excites you, than this movie is for you.

A wonderful Hitchcockian black comedy of murder and revenge by Truffaut, starring Jeanne Moreau.......2006-12-04

Truffaut said The Bride Wore Black was his homage to Hitchcock. A great homage it is, with that Bernard Herrmann score, murderous psychological ambiguity, bad things happening on warm, sunlit days and a complex -- and looney -- main character. Think of it as a black comedy with enough riffs on Vertigo to smile at. Just as importantly, while the film may be Truffaut's homage to Hitchcock, the film remains completely Truffaut's. It's one of his best, and features a wonderful performance by Jeanne Moreau as a woman whose husband is shot and killed as they're standing on the church steps just after they've been married. After recovering from the shock, depression and a suicide attempt, Julie Kohler decides to do something about the five men responsible. If you are unfortunate enough to hear the whispered words, "Je suis Julie Kohler," they will be the last words you'll ever hear.

Julie methodically checks off the names on her list as she finds ways to see that her version of justice is done. She may be obsessed, but she knows exactly what she's doing...and she is implacable. Jeanne Moreau, with those plump, downward-turning lips and puffy smoker's eyes, has never been better. Moreau is an extraordinary actress. She had features that at times could seem almost coarse, but then almost beautiful and certainly desirable. She had a strange fusion of intelligence which challenged and a vastly intriguing nature. I could easily picture her watching Casanova with those reserved, quiet eyes while he struggled to mumble self-consciously, "I love you." Moreau can do more with a stare, a look, a glance than just about any actress I know.

As much as the movie is a joy to watch, the last five minutes has a conclusion that is unexpected and completely satisfying. I think even Hitchcock would have had a smile on his face as he patted Truffaut on the back.

The Bride Wore Black has a fine DVD transfer. It is not anamorphic. There are no extras of any importance. Let's hope it gets reissued not only anamorphic, but with the substantial extras on Truffaut and Moreau the film deserves. For those fans of Truffaut and Hitchcock, you may find of interest Hitchcock (Revised Edition) by Helen G. Scott and Francois Truffaut. The book covers the lengthy interviews Truffaut had with Hitchcock as they discussed Hitchcock's work and each of his films.

The Bride Wore Black (1968) - Francois Truffaut.......2005-10-14

The Bride Wore Black is yet another average film by the always irregular French director Francois Truffaut. Truffaut is such a talented director that it's a shame he never quite found his place before his untimely death. Barrowing elements from Hitchcock, and mixing it with some oddly placed comedy, The Bride Wore Black is a mishmash of cruelty and farse that never comes together to form anything coherent. Visually the film is good, and the music is nice and fitting, but none of these elements saves the ridiculous story from veering off in too many different directions. The Bride Wore Black is ultimately a film that doesn't know what it wants to be, just as Truffaut never quite found what type of films he wanted to make.

An entertaining murder melodrama!.......2005-10-09

Dedicated to Hitchcock, whom Truffaut admired so much, it tells us the sordid revenge of a suddenly when leaving behind the church minutes ago, his husband is shot by three men. He will assume the role of Fair Agent even she has to be in jail in order to come to the last act.
Jeanne Moreau as always was magnificent and the rest of the cast too.

An excellent, original movie.......2005-10-05

"The Bride Wore Black" is not your typical French film. It keeps your attention throughout the whole film. I have never come across something quite like it.

The film is centered around a woman, who is seeking to kill five men. When the film commences, you have no idea exactly why she is doing this. Through her clever tactics, she manages to kill them all.

As the film progresses you understand each piece of the puzzle, and by the end, the puzzle fits together, and you learn exactly why the film is called "The Bride Wore Black" and why she needed to get her revenge.

The Brides (2 pack) The Bride And The Beast/The Brides Wore Blood

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The Brides (2 pack) The Bride And The Beast/The Brides Wore Blood

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The Bride and the Beast: Wedded bliss for a young couple (Lance Fuller and Charlotte Austin) is marred slightly by the bride's discovery of her husband's pet gorilla, for which she begins to develop an unnatural attraction; her husband's understandable jealousy leads him to destroy the ape. Hypnotic past-life regression leads Austin to the conclusion that she was actually a gorilla herself in a previous existence, which explains her obsession... sort of. The pair decide to get away from it all, journeying through some tedious stock footage to the jungles of Africa for a hunting safari, where yet another chest-pounding primate (besides Fuller, that is) has been waiting for just such a golden opportunity to have his way with the young lady. If this has the feel of an Ed Wood sub-classic, that's because it is at least by way of the screenplay. This may serve to explain the array of chic angora sweaters sported by Austin and the abundance of incongruous stock footage. The Brides Wore Blood: Four brides are murdered on their wedding nights. The culprit is a vampire, who thrives on virgin blood. One of the girls comes back to life, only to marry our blood-sucking "hero." Now we have two vampires to contend with. It's in color, it's 86 minutes, and it's all been done before-sometimes better, sometimes worse.

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