Mado, um Amor Impossível

Mado came as part of a Romy Schneider 3-pack from Panoceanic films, the other two being Les innocents aux mains sales and Le mouton enrage. It's the weakest of the three because of Claude Sautet's clumsy direction: this man always packs his movies with as many bit players as he can, possibly because he doesn't trust his ability to make a scene work using only two actors in the frame. The finale in the rainstorm with the road turned to mud is made even worse by the fifteen or so actors who have to create some stage business out of nothing.

Another cavil: as others have pointed out, Romy Schneider is onscreen for barely five minutes and gets equal billing with Piccoli and Piccolo who have so much more to do. The supporting actors are thankfully very good: Michel Aumont and Julien Guiomar are villainous as corrupt real estate moguls, and Charles Denner, whom I've loved in many films, does a great job with a crook who wants to see justice done, on his terms.