L'histoire d'Adèle H. (1975)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

François Truffaut

Writers:

Jan Dawson (English adaptation)
Jean Gruault (writer)

Release Date:

8 October 1975 (France)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | History

Plot:

Halifax, 1863. A young woman, miss Lewly, comes to Halifax to search for Lt Pinson, whom she is madly in love with...

Plot Keywords:

Obsessive Love | Obsession | Insanity | Bookstore | Halifax Canada

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 9 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Isabelle Adjani	...	Adèle Hugo / Adèle Lewry
Bruce Robinson	...	Lt Albert Pinson
Sylvia Marriott	...	Mrs. Saunders
Joseph Blatchley	...	The Bookseller
Ivry Gitlis	...	Hypnotist
Louise Bourdet	...	Victor Hugo's servant
Cecil De Sausmarez	...	Mr. Lenoir
Ruben Dorey	...	Mr. Saunders
Clive Gillingham	...	Keaton
Roger Martin	...	Doctor Murdock
M. White	...	Colonel White (as Mr White)
Madame Louise	...	Madame Baa
Jean-Pierre Leursse	...	Black penpusher

Also Known As:

The Story of Adele H (USA)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) (1991) | Australia:PG | South Korea:15 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | UK:12 | USA:PG | West Germany:16 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Barbados

Company:

Les Films du Carrosse

Trivia:

Gitlis (as the hypnotist) dismisses his Chinese assistant so he can discuss in private with Adele. He allegedly talks to her in Chinese, but actually tells her in Hebrew to get lost.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The hypnotist has a plant in the audience pretending to be a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which was not set up until a decade after the story's setting of 1863

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Kamyu nante shiranai (2005)

Mesmerizing

A genuine horror film of the spirit---the filmmaking is excellent and a bit of a thematic departure for Truffaut as there is little to no leavening humour in this film. In most of his works there is at least a touch of ironic drollness but this film is basically serious-minded all the way through with devastating results.

"Haunting" is the best way to describe Adjani's work in this, one of her first film appearances. Her best moments are wordless; in her eyes is the essense of spiritual dissipation and emotional emaciation. Before our eyes, she is devoured by love, and not in the conventional sense. Without the film ever leaving the secular world, Adele Hugo descends to Hell and Truffaut finds the horror of her journey in the most mundane settings and gestures. A movie that stays with you.

A lacerating but very rewarding experience!