Bad Liaisons

Alexandre Astruc himself once told how this movie had badly dated.Seen today,it is terribly boring.Handicapped by constant voice over provided by the leading actress in a funeral voice and by the "narrator" who ridiculously sermonizes about today's -that is to say in the fifties - youth,this story seems too intellectual ,too superficial ,to move us deeply .Even a burning subject (abortion) was not that new since Henri-Georges Clouzot had already broached it in his classic "Le Corbeau" a decade earlier.The entire story is told with flashbacks ,the heroine sitting in a police station .Alexandre Astruc would do much better with his fine adaptation of Guy De Maupassant's "Une Vie" (1958).In that movie,the voice over is never irritating ,for Claude Renoir's dazzling cinematography easily makes up for it.

Young Anouk Aimée leads this film in a singular performance: it's not quite something you've seen before. While undergoing interrogation by police who are investigating the death of an abortion doctor, Catherine (Aimée) remembers, through flashbacks, her involvement with three men--a young frustrated journalist, a wealthy publisher and a fashion photographer. None of these were good choices for Catherine, but she survives quite well, even becomes semi-famous for a while, and gains financial security. As interesting as the stories are--and well-acted by all--it's the way director Alexandre Astruc has chose to present them that makes the film memorable. The flashbacks are artfully shot in stunning black & white, and all set in eye-catching locations. One in particular should be mentioned: a long scene between Catherine and Blaise (the publisher, played by Jean-Claude Pascal), set in a dim room with a large fireplace whose flickering flames create a strong mood of unease. Astruc's direction is without fault throughout. This is a very rare film--apparently not available on home video, essential viewing for fans of French cinema.

Director Alexandre Astruc lived to the ripe old age of 92 but did not leave a significant body of work. LES MAUVAISES RENCONTRES, freely translated as BAD ENCOUNTERS, comes 10 years after David Lean's BRIEF ENCOUNTER. Besides the similar word in the title, you also see trains and a woman considering, and actually engaging in, relations with men. Thankfully shorter than Lean's masterpiece, MAUVAISES sees down on her luck and lonely Anouk Aimée make use of her physical beauty to pull the heartstrings of four men. At first, she is too innocent to know what she is doing and she acts out of genuine love as she bids goodbye to her first boyfriend, who decides to cut his losses and just pulls off on a train.

Dashing and well-off publisher Jean-Claude Pascal is the one who she seems to have deepest feelings for, and who hoists her up the social strata from enough purse for two to three weeks' living, to a steadier financial and professional situation as photoshoot model and fashion journalist, able to afford her own vehicle, in which she is confident enough to seduce her third man, Alain (rather nervously played by Philippe Lemaire).

In comes the other female, Gaby Sylvia, whose importance in the story is questionable apart from apparently snitching for police. She also knows Alain and Dr. Danielli, the latter apparently feeling rermorseful enough to help Catherine (Anouk Aimée) get rid of her unwanted and inconvenient pregnancy... and to put a bullet through his own cranium! Was it because he made her pregnant? Because abortion cost the fetus' life? Because his medical career might suffer as a result of his law-breaking conduct? Why the good doctor should feel remorseful, let alone suicidal, I could not suss out given the brevity of his presence on screen, and the plot's failure to clarify it.

Robert Le Febvre's thoughtful and technically impressive cinematography helps put some substance on a thin plot. Even back in 1955 I doubt French police would interrogate a woman over her decision to abort, and certainly Catherine reflects the emergence of looser morals, a ramification of the many social changes ushered in by the recently ended Second World War.

Aimée (meaning beloved female) does indeed look lovely and is lovingly filmed, in line with her occupation as model and fashion newswoman. Pascal steals the show with his handsome figure and significant eyes. I found the rest of the cast unmemorable, though Gaby Sylvia looked like Gina Lollobrigida and, as indicated above, she seemed to land an unenviable and underused part.

7/10 is probably overgenerous, but I feel the film's production values deserve some recognition.