Τһе Вrіdе Wοrе Βlаск

Jeanne Moreau plays a serial killer in this one, but this tale of revenge is staged by Truffaut with a levity approaching Kind Hearts and Coronets-- in other words, to say what the movie is "about" is to reduce it beyond recognition. Bernard Kauffmann's domineering score does indeed give weight to the film-school canard that The Bride Wore Black is an hommage to Hitchcock-- from the first orchestral blast, I found it impossible to tune out the flashbacks to any number of Hitchcock films, and it was hard for me to overcome the power of that music to convince me that I was watching one. But without the score, I saw little resemblance to the master of suspense-- to a major Truffaut fan like me, though, that is not such a bad thing. The suspense, for example, was not laced with edge-of-the-seat anxiety, it was more a matter of delightful curiosity about what artful form of mayhem would ensue next, as Julie Kohler checked the next name off her "to do" list of vengeance. The ending has a humorous twist that is pure Truffaut-- in terms of "closure" it is also very satisfying, as all comedic revenge-film endings ought to be. Highly recommended.