Cayatte 's decision to call it quits as the seventies ended was entirely appropriate ;his last movies were not in the same league as his sixties works,let alone the one which came before.With "L'Amour En question" ,the director was saying good bye to cinema though he was to work a little for TV .He passed away in 1989 ,and his best works are certainly smarter than of many of his colleagues ;and in spite of what Truffaut may have said ,there are plenty of very interesting movies in his filmography.
Many people were amazed to see Bergmanian Bibi Anderson in this film;one should not forget that I. Bergman was never impressed by the French Nouvelle Vague ,and was raving about Duvivier and Carné;he did like Cayatte's "Justice Est Faite" and "Avant Le Deluge" ;so it's only natural to see such a cerebral actress in this slow-moving thriller .She gives a restrained moving performance ,never overacting ,and even after the denouement,you ask yourself :"was she so innocent?" In a deeply moving scene ,she tells her lawyer she feels responsible for the tragedy.In direct contrast with her, Annie Girardot plays a humane judge,who favors mind (and intuition) over law ;her last line sums up Cayatte's "and justice for all" battle: "two miscarriages of justice in one affair!a record that will be difficult to break!"
That said ,"L'Amour En Question" is not among Cayatte's best ;clichés abound :small ones ,the hairdresser is obligatory gay and is ridiculed by the cop ;big ones:French-justice-is-hard-and-sends- everyone -to -the- guillotine (death penalty was abolished in 1981 in France and anyway ,Cayatte's battle against it had begun in the fifties in "Nous Sommes Tous Des Assassins" ,the very first French ,and perhaps world movie to deal with this burning subject);happily ,in England ,they are presumed innocent (chiefly if the suspect is a high-born man);the informer in the cell takes the biscuit;moreover,the screenplay suffers for pointless episodes -the gypsies' escape-;the flashbacks are very weak ,and the character of the would be impotent husband is underwritten (Michel Auclair,who had worked with Clément and Clouzot,was up to scratch ,but he is not given a single moment to show his talent),and they are marred by a syrupy score.
If you want to improve your English (or your French),the scenes of the trial might help you.John Steiner ,who plays Andersson's lover gives a monotonous portrayal and his final confession fails totally to convince.
The movie sometimes becomes the greatest French-English conflict since Joan of Arc and Napoleon (both figures are mentioned in the dialogue).
Many people were amazed to see Bergmanian Bibi Anderson in this film;one should not forget that I. Bergman was never impressed by the French Nouvelle Vague ,and was raving about Duvivier and Carné;he did like Cayatte's "Justice Est Faite" and "Avant Le Deluge" ;so it's only natural to see such a cerebral actress in this slow-moving thriller .She gives a restrained moving performance ,never overacting ,and even after the denouement,you ask yourself :"was she so innocent?" In a deeply moving scene ,she tells her lawyer she feels responsible for the tragedy.In direct contrast with her, Annie Girardot plays a humane judge,who favors mind (and intuition) over law ;her last line sums up Cayatte's "and justice for all" battle: "two miscarriages of justice in one affair!a record that will be difficult to break!"
That said ,"L'Amour En Question" is not among Cayatte's best ;clichés abound :small ones ,the hairdresser is obligatory gay and is ridiculed by the cop ;big ones:French-justice-is-hard-and-sends- everyone -to -the- guillotine (death penalty was abolished in 1981 in France and anyway ,Cayatte's battle against it had begun in the fifties in "Nous Sommes Tous Des Assassins" ,the very first French ,and perhaps world movie to deal with this burning subject);happily ,in England ,they are presumed innocent (chiefly if the suspect is a high-born man);the informer in the cell takes the biscuit;moreover,the screenplay suffers for pointless episodes -the gypsies' escape-;the flashbacks are very weak ,and the character of the would be impotent husband is underwritten (Michel Auclair,who had worked with Clément and Clouzot,was up to scratch ,but he is not given a single moment to show his talent),and they are marred by a syrupy score.
If you want to improve your English (or your French),the scenes of the trial might help you.John Steiner ,who plays Andersson's lover gives a monotonous portrayal and his final confession fails totally to convince.
The movie sometimes becomes the greatest French-English conflict since Joan of Arc and Napoleon (both figures are mentioned in the dialogue).
