Plot
Truffaut juggles an Hitchcockian suspense/thriller with deepening sexual obsession. Louis (Jean-Paul Belmondo) owns a tobacco plantation and cigarette factory on Réunion Island, but it's lonely work — so he sends away for a mail-order bride.Much to his surprise, the beautiful young Julie Roussel (Catherine Deneuve) arrives by ship (the Mississippi Mermaid of the title), looking nothing like the picture he had received by mail. Louis quickly falls for Julie, while discovering that she is decidedly not the woman with whom he had been corresponding.
Cast
- Jean-Paul Belmondo as Louis Mahé
- Catherine Deneuve as Julie Roussel/Marion Vergano
- Nelly Borgeaud as Berthe
- Martine Ferrière as Landlady
- Marcel Berbert as Jardine
- Yves Drouhet as Detective
- Michel Bouquet as Camolli
- Roland Thénot as Richard
Critical reception
When the film was exhibited in San Francisco in 1999, film critic Edward Guthmann lauded the film in a review, writing, "Truffaut tells his story with terrific dispatch, as if he was thrilled by its possibilities and couldn't wait to share his enthusiasm...the result is a cool combo of film noir, star vehicle and picaresque romance. It's vintage Truffaut, and a great way to get acquainted or reacquainted with one of cinema's true masters.The film, however, had many detractors. Dennis Schwartz, for example, wrote, "This perverse love story just doesn't fly. The two leads play unsympathetic characters and instead of getting into their character's heads they both play it as a game. It comes off as a disturbing film that seems pointless and has questionable entertainment value. It's one of the few misfires from the talented Truffaut, even with the restored 13 minutes missing from its American release that supposedly makes the film more lucid.
References
Notes
External links
- Mississippi Mermaid at DVD Beaver (includes images)
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Last updated on Monday May 26, 2008 at 21:00:21 PDT (GMT -0700)
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