Mississippi Mermaid
Part of BAMcinématek
Fri, Jul 10—Sun, Jul 12 at 4, 6:45, 9:30pm
Mon, Jul 13—Thu, Jul 16 at 6:45, 9:30pm
Directed by François Truffaut
With Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Paul Belmondo
(1969) 123min
"It is the creation of a superior moviemaker who works eccentrically in the classical tradition." —New York Times
When isolated tobacco farmer Louis (Belmondo) meets his mail-order bride Julie (Deneuve), he’s unsure this beautiful woman is the same one he has been corresponding with by letter and only seen in photographs. Ignoring his doubts, he falls head over heels for her and the two begin a life together...until the day the mysterious Julie disappears with a large portion of Louis’ assets. Based on a book by William Irish entitled Waltz Into Darkness (also the source writer for Truffaut’s The Bride Wore Black), this tale of sexual obsession and betrayal unfolds in the lush tropical landscape of Africa’s Reunion Island. Truffaut draws on themes and conventions of American noir, while peppering Mississippi Mermaid with eclectic allusions to film and literature such as Renoir, Ray, and Balzac. In French with English subtitles. Courtesy of The Film Desk.
New York Times on Mississippi Mermaid
"'Mississippi Mermaid' has the form of a preposterous romantic melodrama, but it is so full of lovely, complex things—of unannounced emotions, of ideas, of the memories of other movies (Truffaut's, as well as of those of two of his father-figures, Renoir and Hitchcock)—that it defies easy definition..." More
San Francisco Chronicle on Mississippi Mermaid
"A romantic humanist with an infectious love for cinema, Truffaut introduced an effervescence, wit and a gift for brisk storytelling that's still unmatched." More
Time Out on Mississippi Mermaid
"...an elaborate, low-key thriller-fantasy that strains and modifies, comments on and fondly sends up pulp fiction, while taking pulp fiction's more mythic elements as its base." More