I don't agreed with Mr. Maltin's comment of this film saying is talkative and boring,he disqualify a very interesting film in very simple terms. It's true sometimes the characters could be more develop, but it is a very absorbing story very well told of the relationship of two very oppose personalities and how the character of Signoret come to create such a fondness and friendship for Noiret, even when she finds out he is a liar, and a murderer, and a thief. I think it is a very valid film and highly recommended, specially for fans of the marvelous Signoret. It was her last film.
6.4Plot summary
Aimless Frenchman Edouard Binet has been travelling in North Africa for many years, and is sailing to Belgium. En route, he meets Sylvie Baron. He introduces her to Nemrod Lobetoum, a rich Egyptian carrying valuable jewelry, and Sylvie and Nemrod become friends. Their friendship escalates to love, which makes Edouard jealous. Days later, Edouard arrives at a rooming house owned by Mme. Louise Baron, Sylvie's mother, wearing blood-stained clothes. It appears that Nemrod was killed on a train after he arrived in France, but Edouard denies any knowledge of what happened. Sylvie suspects that Edouard is responsible for Nemrod's death, but by now her mother has become Edouard's ally.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Simone Signoret as Mme Louise Baron
Movie Reviews
Reviewed by
Noiret is la lodger in Signoret's house in the 30's in Belgium.
Reviewed by
Not the best Simenon adaptation
I was left wondering what Tavernier or Resnais would have done with this story. Or Delannoy or Autant-Lara, or... I found Granier-Deferre's film to be visually sumptuous, thanks to Dominique Andre's art direction and Pierre-William Glenn's cinematography, but it left me emotionally cold and indifferent. The acting is splendid: Simone Signoret and Philippe Noiret do very well, and Fanny Cottencon and Julie Jezequel as Signoret's daughters are effective. The constant cutting back to Egypt and the postcard scenes of souks and pyramids was a wonderfully jarring device. But the visual effects can't make up for the coldness of the directorial approach.