The Bride Wore Black (1968) User Reviews

Truffaut's Hitchcockian Revenge Thriller

[seymourblack-1 · 8/10 · 5 February 2014]

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.

Unforgiven...

[Xstal · 8/10 · 19 January 2023]

At a party you engage the fiancé, on the balcony you let him have his say, as the breeze catches your scarf, he tries to catch on your behalf, and then you leave, after you've helped him on his way. You invite, a gentleman, to a recital, at the end you make a plan to go where he dwells, enjoy a glass or two of drink, then clean receptacles in sink, as you leave it looks as if he's lost his vitals. Helping out when mum's away, it just seems right, businessmen don't find in kitchens, much delight, though that's not the only place, there's a less visited space, that you make cosier, sealed up, and quite air tight. You like to model for an artist as his muse, you overwhelm him with the picture you infuse, it's like a bolt from Cupid's arrow, has just settled in his marrow, as the lights go out, you may have blown his fuse. Serving lunch can be rewarding in its ways, helping out the less well-off with lengthy stays, and you'll always have a stab, to help your own mental rehab, to end the misery that haunts all of your days.

Jeanne Moreau is always outstanding!

The avenger

[jotix100 · 7/10 · 19 August 2010]

Julie Kohler has reasons for wanting to avenge the death of the man she marries, but whom is no longer around to ensure their happiness as a couple. A determined woman, Julie knows she must deal with the five men that changed her life in a second as she and her husband are posing atop the steps of the church where they were married. Mme. Kohler embarks in a mission to remedy the situation that have rendered a bitter woman.

The novelist Cornell Woolrich, who also wrote under the pen name of William Irish and George Hopley, wrote the novel which is the basis of the Francois Truffaut's "The Bride Wore Black". The director, obviously inspired in the original text, brought it to the screen by co-adapting it with an actor, Jean-Louis Richard. The setting was changed to France, for obvious reasons. The result is a film that, on second viewing, recently, proved not to be as exciting as we once thought.

Part of the problem is in the execution of the story. Julie Kohler sets the trap to get the five men responsible to ruin her life, and yet, there is no clue in the film that gives a hint as to how she got to identify the men in the apartment across the way from where she was standing. We go along for the ride; the viewer wants to make concessions in order to enjoy the film. We want to think Julie can pull it off. At each killing, the otherwise intelligent murderess, is oblivious of the things the police will look into to identify the assassin, like leaving a trail of fingerprints on occasion. Logic was something M. Truffaut threw away when he decided to bring the novel, which, by the way, we have not read, to the cinema. The director, a fervent admirer of Alfred Hitchcock, gives a nod to his idol in this ambitious production.

Jeanne Moreau is perfectly chilling as the calculating Julie. She shows a determination and cold blood to do away with the five men that she blames for killing her husband. Ms. Moreau shows a remorseless woman in her resolve to get rid of the people that made her suffer. The casting was an absolute coup for the director, bringing actors of the caliber of Michel Bouquet, Jean-Claude Brialy, Michael Lonsdale, Charles Denner, Claude Rich, and Alessandra Stewart, among them.

Raoul Coutard, who had worked with Truffaut before, is the cinematographer. Bernard Herrmann, a frequent Hitchcock collaborator composed the musical score.

Truffaut's gleeful homage to the cinema of Hitchcock and a subtle mockery of our own expectations of genre

[ThreeSadTigers · 29 April 2008]

The Bride Wore Black (1968) is noted as being director François Truffaut's gleeful homage/pastiche of the cinema of Alfred Hitchcock, with the usual characteristics of deception and retribution, cool cinematography and a lush score by none other than Bernard Hermann all being co-opted alongside some nicely subtle allusions to the broader aspects of the thriller and mystery genres. Whereas it would have been fairly easy for the filmmaker to produce a work that was a shot-for-shot recreation of something that Hitchcock might have done - like for example with De Palma or Van Sant - Truffaut takes the familiar style and iconography of Hitchcock's work - in particular from films like Strangers on a Train (1951), To Catch a Thief (1955) and most prominently Marnie (1964) - and fashions a film that is, on the one hand, an affectionate ode to the filmmaker and, on the other hand, a cruel lampoon. In doing so, the director is able to produce a film that is not only interesting in terms of story and character, but often very funny too.

I was genuinely quite surprised by the use of humour here. I expected from the plot-outline that the film would be incredibly dour and austere but that really isn't the case; with the mixture of lurid, almost B-movie style subject matter, revenge and farce managing to come together fairly well for the most part, as Truffaut tinkers with the expected codes and conventions of the thriller genre in much the same way that Antonioni did with the much superior masterpiece Blowup (1966). Like Blowup, the film can be seen as something of an "anti-thriller", or a film that sets up a number of potentially electrifying Hitchcockian like set pieces and then continually thwarts them - or indeed, forgets about them completely - as the mechanics of the plot push us further and further away from the more recognisable aspects of the story at hand. Whenever we imagine that a scene will play out to our usual expectations, with Hermann's orchestrations and the inventive camera work of Godard's regular cinematographer Raoul Coutard setting the scene, something else happens that throws the film completely off course. For example, in one particular scene, in which our central character stalks one of her victims through the junkyard where he works, we get Truffaut setting up a series of shots that continually teases us with the slow-build of the sequence, the cut-away to the gun and the impending moment before the expected gunshot and then - unexpectedly - the police arrive and arrest the man before any retribution can be taken.

This idea of setting up something potentially very thrilling and exciting, only to then subvert it by way of knowing farce and arch genre references is used throughout The Bride Wore Black, creating an odd juxtaposition between light comedy and cold-blooded murder that probably won't be to all tastes. Apparently the critics of the time hated it, and indeed, Truffaut himself would denounce the film as one of his worst just a few years later, perhaps as a reaction to the knowing tone and the flippant games being played with the more recognisable cinematic conventions. Obviously, Truffaut was a huge fan of Hitchcock, and indeed, one of the first critics to really look at his films within a serious historical context, but all the same, the satirical sideswipes at Hitchcock's work and the evidence of homage is often quite cutting and not always as complimentary as we might expect. The final shot for example, which is indeed very clever and filled with ideas of visual wit, is at the same time blunt to the point of almost going out of its way to lampoon the ending of some of Hitchcock's earlier films like Saboteur (1942). Then we have the ultimate revelation of the event that drove the character to seek revenge and the almost broadly comical rendering of the scene and the complete disregard for any kind of logic and reason.

Was the reason that Truffaut denounced the film simply because he felt it was uncomplimentary, almost mocking of Hitchcock's work, or did he simply feel that the games within the narrative and the combination of murder and farce were simply unsuccessful on this particular project? Regardless, the film succeeds on an entirely perverse level, as we watch Jeanne Moreau step into the role of the iconic "Hitchcock blonde" and plot bloody revenge on those that have wronged her. Some have drawn comparisons with Tarantino's epic Kill Bill (2003-2004), which are apt given the basic outline of the plot and certain elements of the iconography, though Tarantino claims to be unfamiliar with the film in question. Although the broader ramifications of the narrative remain vague and enigmatic even through to the end, the fun of The Bride Wore Black is not in its characters or storytelling capabilities, but in the gleeful subversion of the iconography of the Hollywood thriller by way of the Nouvelle Vague and of course, those constant allusions to Hitchcock and his work.

The bride wore black but the movie did not.

[dbdumonteil · 6/10 · 10 September 2001]

Truffaut was one of William Irish's greatest fans;he wrote a preface for an edition of the American writer's short stories.Not only he directed this movie but he also adapted "la sirène du mississipi" .There's just one problem.Irish's absolute tragic side totally eludes Truffaut.A critic wrote that this writer's endings did not put an end to horror,but prolongated it.Nothing comes close to Irish's desperate universe here.Jean Delannoy Truffaut despised a lot,did a better job with "obsession" .Jeanne Moreau is not Irishian at all.She's too self-confident,too full of joie de vivre to portray such a character.I've always dreamed of what Alexandra Stewart -who plays a small part as a teacher here- could have done with it.Obviously,Truffaut's directing is a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock,but I'm not sure that the Hitchcockian treatment was adequate here.It worked in "rear window" because this movie was ,in the beginning ,one of Irish's short stories and the master could develop it as he wished,but in the full length of a whole novel,the treatment destroys the emotion and the "lost in advance" feeling which emanate from this tormented soul-Irish spent all his miserable life in an hotel room with his mother;an homosexual,he never found true love-.The cast is appealing but most of the actors are wasted ,be they Michel Bouquet or Jean -Claude Brialy.Of course ,it is watchable,there's some suspense,but if you're searching for Irish's world,you must move on.

From One Auteur To Another: Truffaut's Ode To Hitchcock...

[Don-102 · 9/10 · 15 April 1999]

Francois Truffaut's THE BRIDE WORE BLACK is an excellent gift of a film to fans of Hitchcock and even to the master himself. There are many nods to Hitch's films and you know Truffaut had done his homework while making the picture (by writing the definitive book on Hitch's films). What makes BRIDE WORE BLACK more than just mere homage is an elevation of suspense and a less stylized, blatant approach to the material. Truffaut does not sell his own cinematic soul and is able to present a terrific suspense story of his own. It was almost like Hitch's work turned inside out. Jeanne Moreau plays a miserable middle-aged woman, both suicidal and murderous, looking to avenge the death of her life-long companion and husband.

We see the murder of the husband repeatedly throughout the picture, studied from different angles and vantage points. He is assassinated on the steps of the church, while the thunderous 'wedding suite' plays rather ominously. We find out why she picks her victims the way she does and how they all relate to the slaying. This is one ticked off woman. Some of the murders echoed Hitch, one inspired by FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT, another from NOTORIOUS. The scenes and "borrowing" that occur here are not as blatant as you may think, however. They are mostly inspirations and Truffaut puts his own spin on them, meshing them together or taking them apart and reassembling the elements. If you are a Hitch connoisseur, it is fun to interpret what Truffaut is doing with the master's vast material.

I was also struck by a feeling of NORTH BY NORTHWEST, but with a woman as the main protagonist and the journey turned inside out. Of course, we get the character who has seen this person before and either leads to her capture or is on to her, a staple in Hitch flix. The ultimate homage is Bernard Herrmann's score (he was Hitch's right hand man for years). The 'wedding suite' is louder than usual, resonating evil, and the music as a whole is Herrmann's typical gothic work, brilliant and memorable. Truffaut extends Hitchcock by showing us in more graphic detail some of the killings and the relentless mission this woman is on is not stylized the least bit.

Check out the poisoning scene and tell me you don't see Ingrid Bergman looking at Claude Raines circling and bellowing in expressionistic ways. Trains are littered throughout the film, one on the lampshade of a young boy, another with Moreau riding on it. This is all great, but it transcends some of Hitch's work in many ways. The blood-curdling ending is one of the best I have ever seen in film, period. Considering BRIDE WORE BLACK was released in 1968, the horrific ending may have inspired HITCH of all people when he made FRENZY in 1972. Watch both and see if you know what I mean. This is a must see for foreign film fans as well.

RATING: 8 1/2 of 10

sharp, clear, and enigmatic

[allthumbs · 7/10 · 17 July 2004]

great payoff movie is disconcerting.

jeanne moreau is a widowed anti-heroine who wants revenge for the death of her husband moments after their wedding ceremony.

after a failed attempt at suicide, moreau goes after the killers. she's a diabolical schemist.

as she meets each member of the responsible group, she finds an opening to lure them to their deadly fate.

OK, we know she meets them all. and truffaut let's everyone in on the mystery about halfway through.

there are some plot holes here as moreau goes about her deadly business. even so, the homage to hitchcock allusion is on target as demented retribution yields plot twist on plot twist.

the final twist makes the wait worthwhile.

truffaut's aspect on women chasers is a downer, though. i don't see how it serves plot development.

raoul coutard's cinematography and the editing make the "look" of the film riveting.

My favorite Truffaut film

[planktonrules · 10/10 · 28 June 2005]

While I felt pretty lukewarm about some of the more famous Truffaut's films (such as Jules and Jim and The 400 Blows), this film grabbed my attention and delivered great performances and exceptional writing throughout.

The film begins with a mysterious women arriving at a large party. She ingratiates herself to a gentleman there and walks out onto the apartment's balcony. Suddenly, she kills him and quietly vanishes from the party! Then, as the film unfolds she continues to dispatch specific men throughout the countryside. Why she is doing this is unclear until the latter part of the movie and I liked that because the viewer was both amazed at her inventiveness and viciousness yet perplexed as to WHY. The "why" I will leave to you to discover when you see the movie yourself--but do see it if at all possible.

Although not as good as this film, I also recommend you other Truffaut films, such as The Last Metro, The Wild Child or even the bizarrely stylistic Fahrenheit 451

Truffaut's homage to Hitchcock interesting, but lacks tension

[gbill-74877 · 7/10 · 28 April 2016]

Truffaut making a film as an homage to Hitchcock is inherently interesting, since they were both such legends. This story is about a young woman (Jeanne Moreau) who was widowed on her wedding day when her husband was killed accidentally by five guys messing around with a rifle; she then seeks to kill them one by one, in revenge. She does this in some pretty unbelievable ways unfortunately, though the way she goes about the killing at the end was creative and a nice touch. Moreau is captivating, the dialogue is fun and in keeping with 1968 France, and Truffaut is a master at capturing great shots - but I have to say, he didn't match Hitchcock in creating tension or emotional drama, so this film ends up being a bit 'too cool', and thus falls short. It's certainly worth watching if you like these directors though.

Truffaut's best!

[gmoore44 · 9/10 · 20 May 2004]

The Bride Wore Black is, for my money, Truffaut's best film! Jeanne Moreau is pitch perfect as the shattered bride, who will stop at nothing to punish the men responsible for her husband's death. She is fully authentic, as she tracks down and dispenses justice to those responsible, with a cold and icy single mindedness, that would make a shark shudder!! This is a must see for all Truffaut fans, one that still remains vivid to me! 9 out of 10!

A Revenge Flick, Truffant Style!

[Captain_Couth · 10/10 · 1 October 2003]

The Bride Wore Black is the penultimate revenge flick. The Bride (Jeanne Moreau) is devested when her husband is murdered on their wedding day. After a failed suicide attempt, The Bride (a couple of charecters in the film refer to her by this moniker) makes a vow to god that she'll find the men that are responsible for his death and avenge him in the only way she know's how. I LOVE this movie. Jeanne Moreau is THE BRIDE and no one else can lay claim to the title. No one, not even Uma Thurman or anybody else.

Jeanne Moreau delivers such a cold and icy performance. The way she carries out her vengence is truly stylish and shocking. Ice floes through THE BRIDE's veins as she stalks her prey.

Truffant is a great director and this film shows off his style of filmmaking. This film was very entertaining from the begining to end. Unlike most directors, Truffant knows what he wants and gets to the point. No distracting sub-plots here folks. This is a revenge flick and Truffant delivers on this promise. After seeing this film you'll never look at any other revenge films the same. I Loved that haunting wedding theme. I haven't seen a truly good film in such a long time. I highly recommend this film.

A++

Stylish avenger-bride movie

[Chris_Docker · 7/10 · 17 May 2008]

A bridegroom killed at the church and a bride who ruthlessly hunts down those responsible. It is not a unique theme and has appeared in Kill Bill and elsewhere. Truffaut's minimalist rendering mixes film noir with an apparent homage to Hitchcock in a way that invites Freudian analysis. Jeanne Moreau, as the deadly female, shows an emotional range without detracting from her cold-bloodied mission.

The film opens with a sound like a train clattering over tracks. When the image comes into view, we see it is actually a printing press, making dozens of copies of a picture of Julie (Moreau), naked to the waist. Shortly afterwards, we see her frustrated suicide attempt. She then pretends to board a train to Paris, but exits before it leaves, secretly crossing the tracks.

As she hunts down the men on her list, the past is gradually revealed in flashback. Both from her point of view and theirs.

The Bride Wore Black is beautifully photographed and employs a no-nonsense score by Bernard Herrmann (Psycho, Marnie, The Birds). There are other nods to Hitchcock in the editing and the love/obsession, sex/death themes, but the film is still firmly Truffaut. He plays fast and loose with plot holes, leaving the viewer to fill in large amounts of detail, such as Julie's detective work. Continuity never puts reality on a pedestal. For instance, although we must assume a thunderstorm conveniently hides the shouts and banging of one of Julie's victims from a child sleeping upstairs, the garden and pathway outside show no signs of a storm in the morning. But Truffaut allows us to see much of the beautifully constructed mise-en-scene as symbolic rather than slavishly joining the dots. An aerial shot of children reunited with their teacher, mirrors aerial shots of Julie's wedding, reminding us of the children she never had. Her occasional monologues give us ample material to construe the story as a tale of repressed sexuality – whereas later offerings such as Tarantino's avenging bride are more concerned with outer details, or an inner story that will be revealed later.

Julie is a virgin. She 'waited' for her childhood sweetheart, David, only to be deprived of sexual fulfilment on the day they are wedded. After attempting suicide ("They wouldn't let me die so I went back to the church"), her frustration leads her to a 'righteous anger', fuelled and justified by her faith. "What were you seeking her?" the priest asks her. "The strength to continue," she replies. "You gave it to me, in spite of yourself." Feminist film theorists have often pointed out that psychoanalysis as a discourse tends to oppress women, but here the blame is shifted to the Roman Catholic Church, whose repressive doctrine sows the seeds of Julie's breakdown. Julie projects her own demons onto the men she entraps. They are all womanisers. She dangles a carrot of sexual fulfilment before them only to rip it away by death. But unlike the usual femme fatale, she is not a sexually active Lilith. She is not to be 'controlled' by male protagonists – most of the men are weak anyway. Her religious attitude has divested her of sexual freedom, as much as if she had been raped. And she wants revenge.

Julie inveigles herself into an artist's studio. There she poses as Diana, the ancient goddess of hunting who has sworn herself to chastity. The artist's bathroom floor is covered with a three-dimensional carpet of breasts. Removing her shoes, Julie 'tramples' this symbol of nurturing underfoot.

The Bride Wore Black is a great story, however flawed. Moreau, in spite of playing a cold-blooded killer, shows empathy to children (when it suits her plans), compassion to a schoolteacher falsely accused, and even lets us inside her misery for a moment. "I only listen to David," she cries, in a close-up of her tear-stained face. She is totally trapped inside her world. That there are no enduring likable characters in the film encourages us to feel for her. She at least believes in what she is doing. (A few years later, Moreau would reprise some of these 'womanly killer' assets as she teaches them to her protégé in La Femme Nikita).

The lack of characters that we can truly empathise with is a weakness. The storytelling can also seem too simplistic, and even if Truffaut ramps up the tension and mystery towards the end, it can often seem contrived. The addition of some basic clues on how Julie discovers the identity of her victims would not go amiss. But for Truffaut fans or those new to his work, the crisp photography, bold performances and winning directorial style may more than make up for any cracks elsewhere.

A little humour is even squeezed in before the plot twists move us firmly back to post-noir territory."Do you know why the Chinese never use this little finger?" asks the artist, stroking her cheek with his champagne-covered digit. She shakes her head. She is determined to resist him. "Because it's mine," he grins.

Enjoyed it, except for one HUGE, UNFORGIVABLE hole.

[Cinemadharma · 4/10 · 27 October 2007]

I am a Hitchcock fan. I am getting to know Truffaut. I love Day for Night and recently really enjoyed Truffaut's other Hitchcock 'homage', Vivement dimanche! (Confidentially Yours).

This film was sloppy here and there, but didn't mind it so much. There were little plot holes that didn't bother me at all. Bernard Herrmann's score is like comfort food. The film's ending, which some people have described as brilliant, a twist, or horrific, to me seemed rather flat and predictable -- however, again... I still enjoyed it.

The piece that I simply cannot move past - the piece that simply was unforgivable to me, was this one gigantic plot hole which was the basis for the entire plot of the film. If you have seen Kill Bill, then the plot of this film will be familiar to you, as it seems it was inspired by Truffaut's film (or perhaps the book Trauffaut's film was adapted from). The film's main character, Julie Kohler, is seeking revenge on 5 men, one of whom accidentally (and ridiculously) shot and killed her husband on their wedding day. She makes a list, finds each of the men, and disposes of them, crossing each man's name off her list.

The problem here is: The 5 men were unknown to Julie. They were anonymously playing poker and drinking, 5 stories up in a building across from the church. In a flashback sequence, we learn that immediately after the accident, the 5 men flee from the building, all going in separate directions and agree to never see each other again. There is never any explanation as to how Julie discovers the identity of any of these men. Which, to be honest, I could live with -- I don't need every little thing explained to me... the problem is that I cannot think of any plausible way that she could have discovered this information, given the explanation that WAS given regarding the fleeing of the men from the scene of the crime. And given the lack of an arrest of any of the 5 men for the shooting leads one to assume that the police had no leads either. It just makes no sense, and I spent the entire film waiting for the pieces to come together... to understand how she knew who these men were and how she found them. It became a distraction from the entertainment.

Seriously. I could forgive all the other little flaws, but this one is just way too big.

Moreau's show

[teadm · 5 February 2001]

Interesting take on Hitchcock territory, although it lacks the suspense and capacity to involve the viewer as The Master's films always did. The true wonder here is Jeanne Moreau, as cool as a cucumber, going about her revenge business with clockwork accuracy, exuding class and talent equivalent to five of today's stars. Bernard Herrman's passionate score seems slightly out of place against the film's emotional detachment, and most of the time things fall just a little bit too perfectly in place, but overall, this is a satisfying film, of interest to genre fans.

Good film, but just an average Truffaut

[thieverycorp76 · 6/10 · 21 June 2009]

Truffaut pays homage to Hitchcock in this suspense thriller starring the incredible Jeanne Moreau. She competently portrays a widow consumed with revenge and seeking retribution for the murder of her husband, but unfortunately the film's screenplay and direction don't allow for her to display her extraordinary talent. The Bride Wore Black is a solid film and although it's enjoyable, it's clearly one of Truffaut's lesser works.

Don't get me wrong - I'm a huge Truffaut fan and Jeanne Moreau is also was of my all time favorites actresses - it's just that this film of Truffaut's doesn't come anywhere close to holding the same magic as The 400 Blows, Jules & Jim, Don't Shoot the Piano Player, or Day for Night. Like I said - it's not a bad film, just don't have expectations to be blown away.

Black Widow

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 13 August 2006]

After attempting to commit suicide, the widow Julie Kohler (Jeanne Moreau) tells her mother that she will leave town. However, she stays and hunts down and executes the five men that accidentally killed her beloved husband David on the stairs of the church immediately after their wedding ceremony.

"La Mariée Était en Noir" is a simple but excellent thriller. The geniality of François Truffault develops the tragedy of the lead character Julie Kohler with only few flashbacks. Jeanne Moreau is amazing, in the role of a woman that sees her world falling apart with the stupid murder of her beloved husband, and is driven by revenge to stay alive. The conclusion with the camera focusing the security guard is fantastic. The famous "cross of legs" of Catherine Tramell in "Basic Instinct" was probably inspired in the shy one of Julie Kohler in the police department. "The Bride" of "Kill Bill" is also inspired in this classic French movie. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "A Noiva Estava de Preto" ("The Bride Was In Black")

Note: on 06 December 2010, I saw this film again on DVD.

Here KILLS the bride!

[Coventry · 7/10 · 7 September 2012]

I'm a big fan of French cult cinema, I'm a huge admirer of director François Truffaut and I'm truly keen of actress Jeanne Moreau … And yet, the absolute number one reason why I desperately wanted to see "The Bride Wore Black" is because it formed one of the main influences for Quentin Tarantino's ultimate masterpiece "Kill Bill". The epic features ideas and elements from all kind of cult treasures, but a selected few titles were genuine role models for QT, like "Lady Snowblood" and this "The Bride Wore Black". The plot of this late 60's original is simple but efficient, and although containing quite a number of holes and improbabilities, it's still massively compelling after more than forty years. We follow the bride – Julie – on her journey to kill four seemingly random males. Men that initially comes across as innocent and harmless, and even amiable or pitiful, but they all share a dark secret that irredeemably ruined Julie's life and that's why they must be killed without exception. "The Bride Worde Black" is primarily an exercise in style and Truffaut's own personal homage to the work of other cinematic masters, particularly Alfred Hitchcock. The director plays and experiments with camera angles like he witnessed in the repertoire of Hitch, still the occasionally very dark and unsettling atmosphere is entirely Truffaut's very own accomplishment. The film definitely stands on its own as a solid and worthy cult classic. It also owes a great deal of its unique impact to the dazzling performance of Jeanne Moreau as the titular bride, as seldom I've seen such an embittered and vengeance-personified character on screen. Now here's a lady who will truly stop at nothing to extract her revenge! Unfortunately, as indicated before, there are a few too many plot holes for the film to be even remotely plausible. Without going into detail too much, it's never properly clarified how Julie manages to trace down her targeted victims and it's definitely curious how she manages to remain at large for so long. Under more realistic circumstances, she wouldn't even be able to escape from the scene of her first crime without being apprehended. But you gladly forgive the flaws and shortcomings, as "The Bride Wore Black" is – and will always remain – an inventive and suspenseful 60's thriller. Loved the soundtrack, too!

Fingerprints of the master!!!

[elo-equipamentos · 8/10 · 27 September 2018]

Once l'd read somewhere that Truffaut gave a interview where he explained how remarkable were Hitch's works, curiously in that time the master of the suspence for many reasons wasn't had a propper respect from american critics, after that point everyone stayed astonished over such Truffaut's valuable comments, loud and clear, therefore all critics change of mindset about Hitch, in this picture was well designed around such bright fingerprints of the master, even an older Jeanne Moreau she was in great shape to the role of a revengeful woman, the plot is plenty acceptable in many ways, l would like to say that Truffaut wasn't my favorite director neither, however it's hard don't recognize a fine picture like that over such suspicious of the great Alfred Hitchcock!!

Resume:

First watch: 2018 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 8

Never try to imitate your great idol!

[frankde-jong · 6/10 · 20 October 2020]

A nouvelle vague director making a film noir? One is more inclined to think about Claude Chabrol then Francois Truffaut.

Truffaut was however a great admirer of Alfred Hitchcock. He wrote a book about the master of suspense ("Cinema according to Hitchcock", 1966) and in 2015 Kent Jones made a documentary about the influence of this book on other directors. With "La mariée etait en noir" Truffaut has tried to make a film in the style of his great idol.

Did he succeed? I don't think so. Truffaut gives away the perpetrator and the motive too soon and never explains how the perpetrator had tracked down her victims. The ending, and more general the last 5 minutes of the film, are nevertheless great.

Truffaut/Hitchcock

[JasparLamarCrabb · 8/10 · 2 June 2007]

Extremely clever. Having interviewed the master of suspense in his now classic book, Francois Truffaut makes his own Hitchcock film. THE BRIDE WORE BLACK is as clever as it is fun. Jeanne Moreau gives an electrifying performance as a widow out to avenge her husband's death. She does so in increasingly creative ways. Truffaut pays homage to a slew of Hitchcock films (particularly MARNIE, right down to the way Moreau changes hair color & carries her suitcase along railroad tracks!) Moreau is supported by some great French actors including Jean-Claude Brialy and Michel Lonsdale. Lonsdale in particular gives a terrific performance as Moreau's most arrogant quarry. This is Truffaut having a lot of fun...complete with a terrific Bernard Herrmann score!

Five Funerals And A Wedding

[Lejink · 7/10 · 18 July 2022]

Truffaut hadn't long before interviewed Hitchcock extensively and must have felt he'd picked his subject's brains enough to direct his own homage to the Master. He even took as his inspiration another story by the same writer, Cornell Woolrich, who'd devised "Rear Window" and had Bernard Herrman compose the soundtrack music for the movie.

The result is a stylish, stylised thriller as we join avenging angel (or devil) Jeanne Moreau in her hunting down of her wedding list (thanks Kate!) of the five men who had a part in the accidental killing of her childhood sweetheart husband on their actual wedding day.

One at a time, she inveigles her way into her quarries' lives where she either improvises or carefully plans their executions, revealing her true identity to each only at the moment of their death. Her only problem might be her final target, who has inconveniently wound up in prison but in a neat twist she finds a simple way to even get to him.

The film is entertaining and it's fun to spot the Hitchcock motifs Truffaut adopts but somehow I found Moreau's performance just a little too icy and calculating, like when she tricks a man's child into almost becoming an accomplice in his own father's death or when she plays the seductress to a shy and reserved bachelor. It's also worth pointing out that the initial killing was an accident and that only one of the the ill-fated five actually fired the fatal shot, although obviously they had failed to own up to the deed.

I also didn't appreciate all the detrimental talk about women which proliferates the film and couldn't work out if Truffaut was reflecting or exaggerating the traditional French chauvinism of the time. One or two of the murders also seemed to just lack the finesse and precision which Hitchcock would have employed, particularly the first one, which looked decidedly fake in its depiction.

Still, filmed crisply mostly in daylight, I was certainly entertained by the movie even as I just felt something holding me back from fully engaging with it and Moreau's mission of mercilessness.

A wonderful Hitchcockian black comedy of murder and revenge by Truffaut, starring Jeanne Moreau

[Terrell-4 · 9/10 · 1 March 2008]

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.

Cinema Omnivore - The Bride Wore Black (1968) 6.8/10

[lasttimeisaw · 7/10 · 18 November 2023]

"If a substantial frisson is wanting, and some of Julie's murderous methods are rather far-fetched (locking someone in a closet to die from asphyxiation is a novel idea!), the film nonetheless compensates it with Moreau in one of her most restrained roles. Nearly 40 then and down in the mouth, her beauty starts to fade but Truffaut is sensible enough to arm her with fetching coiffure and attires (exclusively in black or white). Julie is an avenging angel whose heart has died with her beloved husband, Moreau registers that flicker of hesitation when Julie is courted by a seemingly earnest Fergus (Denner is such a hard-hitting seducer), a glimpse of resuscitated hope reflected in her eyes as if it spawns a seed in her dead heart. The scene sublimely suggests that Julie is offered a new lease on life if she is willing to bury her past, will she take it? Moreau lets that impression go neither unnoticed nor overboard, such blink-and-you-will-miss-it precision is high-wire attainment."

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tedious and trite Truffaut

[blitzebill · 3/10 · 29 September 2009]

from the silly opening attempt at suicide, to the predictable march from one victim to another, this film has to rank as one of the worst French films, and one of Truffaut's worst.

and that doesn't include the awful music, despite being written by one of the greatest film composers of all time: Bernard Herrmann. I am disappointed most with the music.

It feels as though the music was basically inserted into holes where it did not fit, nor made sense. Herrmann was borrowing from his previous scores so heavily, the music began to sound like Herrmann doing a parody of himself.

there are so many problems with the script and editing, as well as the acting, that one doesn't know where to begin.

Truffaut couldn't even pull off the fake thunder storm at the third victim's house. The lightning and thunder were so phony and contrived as to make the whole film a cartoon.

Then at the re-telling of the tragedy that was to become Julie Kohler's (Jeanne Moreau) motivation for her revenge, we see a sloppy, nonsensical explanation of one the five men clumsily aiming a gun at the victim, and it accidentally going off.

pathetic.

This film was a travesty.

The Bride Wore Black

[Michael_Elliott · 23 July 2009]

Bride Wore Black, The (1968)

*** (out of 4)

Truffaut's homage to Hitchcock deals with a mysterious woman (Jeanne Moreau) who, after a failed suicide, decides to track down and kill the five men responsible for her husband's death on their wedding day. Needless to say, this film was pretty much remade by Quentin Tarantino in the two KILL BILL films but you can see the films influence go even further with various exploitation movies including Jess Franco's SHE KILLED IN ECSTACY as well as the notorious I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE. I think this film works very well as a homage but doesn't work too good on its own. What I was shocked to find is that there's very little emotion of any kind here. There's really no drama, no one to really care for, no suspense and very little mystery. I'm really not sure what the point of the film was except perhaps for Truffaut to show his appreciation to Hitchcock and try to copy a film like the mystery master would have made. The movie has some very good stuff in it but again, I'm sure it could have been better had a few things been changed. The five murders are pretty much like separate short films and this is something I liked. I like how all five murders appear just like their own movies but this does lead to one of my complaints, which is the running time. It really seemed like the movie was padded with needless scenes and stuff that could have been handled in less time. I found all the murders to be quite fun in their own right and that includes the ending, which really worked even though I've read it was different than what was in the novel. Another major plus is the performance by Moreau who manages to be very believable in the role. I thought she came off perfect as the quiet assassin even though you could look into her eyes and see the pain she's feeling for her dead husband. The supporting players, mainly the five men, are quite good as well, although none of them really stick out as being great. The Bernard Hermann score does a good job at reminding us of his previous work with Hitchcock and there are plenty of nice references to the master's films.