Every day, AlloCiné recommends a film to (re)watch on TV. Tonight: Jean-Paul Belmondo plays the trapped lover.
When two leading figures of the New Wave meet, the result is a captivating thriller. We obviously want to talk about the duo Jean-Paul Belmondo and François Truffaut.
In 1969, La Sirène du Mississippi was released at the cinema, a dark and mysterious film signed by the director of 400 Blows. We discover the story of Louis, a Reunion industrialist, and Julie, an elegant woman, who decide to get married through classified ads.
But once the ceremony is over, she disappears, taking all of Louis’ money with her. He finds her a few days later in France and discovers that she is not really the one he married.
Does this scenario sound familiar to you? This is normal, because it is the adaptation of the thriller by the American writer William Irish. The cast is made up of a stunning duo, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Catherine Deneuve, as well as Michel Bouquet.
The unique Truffaut-Belmondo collaboration
And if you’ve never heard of this film, it’s probably because it received a very poor reception when it was released in theaters.
Faced with this failure, François Truffaut had notably tried to explain: “It is easy to imagine what shocked the Western world. Because The Mississippi Mermaid shows a weak man (despite his appearance), bewitched by a strong woman (despite her appearances)”.
A box office fiasco, with only 100,000 admissions, for a rather expensive production bringing together two screen stars. We can only imagine the disappointment of François Truffaut et Jean-Paul Belmondowho sign their only collaboration.
Today, fifty-five years have passed and the reviews are much more positive, since The Mississippi Mermaid obtains the very decent average of 3.6 out of 5 on AlloCiné.
Tonight on Arte at 8:55 p.m.
