The Female (1959 film)
| La Femme et le Pantin / Femmina | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Julien Duvivier |
| Produced by |
Christine Gouze-Rénal Fred Surin |
| Written by |
Albert Valentin Screenplay Marcel Achard Dialogues |
| Based on |
La Femme et le pantin[1] by Pierre Louÿs |
| Starring | Brigitte Bardot |
| Music by |
Jean Wiener José Rocca |
| Cinematography | Roger Hubert |
| Edited by | Jacqueline Sadoul |
Release dates |
April 3, 1959 (Italy) |
Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country |
France Italy |
| Language | French |
| Box office | 2,453,892 admissions (France)[2] |
La Femme et le Pantin (Italian: Femmina) is a 1959 French-Italian drama film directed by Julien Duvivier. It is the third adaptation of the novel La Femme et le pantin by Pierre Louÿs.
At first glance Brigitte Bardot was predestined for this film because for many people she had become downright the incarnation of a femme fatale. Yet for that very reason everybody knows right from the start how the story will end. Eva Marchand walks the streets so proudly and so obviously aware of her attractivity that there is no doubt she knows it too. There is even a scene where a grown man spontaneously kisses her feet and she couldn't be less impressed. She shows just enough reaction to prove that her feet are not wooden. So when the ill-fated Don Matteo Diaz (Antonio Vilar) gets obsessed with her and doesn't even try to hide that, it must become his downfall, for it cannot be any other way.
Plot
Matteo Diaz is a wealthy gentleman who loves and respects his wife but doesn't find her attractive any longer because she is paralysed. He already has a certain reputation among women. Accordingly he doesn't hesitate to get close to Eva Marchand as soon as he has realised her beauty. But to his surprise she can't be bothered to show any appreciation for his advances. He begins trying to explain and justify his way of life and his interest in her. The more he tries, the harder she makes it on him. Eventually he is so humiliated that even his walk shows he is a broken man and that is the end of story.
Production
Brigitte Bardot writes in her autobiography[3] the crew used to call the director "Dudu" but despite that their rapport wasn't always perfect during the making of this film. She also stresses how the shooting in Sevilla during the Seville Fair became a hardship because of the heat.
Cast
|
|
See also
- The Woman and the Puppet (1920)
- The Devil is a Woman (1935)
- That Obscure Object of Desire (1977)
References
- ↑ "La Femme et le pantin von Pierre Louÿs (e-book download)". Retrieved 2011-02-12.
- ↑ Box office information for film at Box office story
- ↑ Extrait de ses mémoires, Initiales BB, Éditions Grasset, Paris, 1996, ISBN 2-246-52601-9
External links
- The Female at the Internet Movie Database
- The Female at AllMovie
Further reading
| ||||||||||