The action of this film is after the war, when Ingrid Thulin returns home to Paris after having spent too many years in a German concentration camp (Dachau) as a Jewess. Just before being taken away by the Nazis she had been married to a Polish chess player (Maximilian Schell), and when she returns she tries to call him up and reaches him all right, but she hears he has a girl in bed, so she doesn't identify herself but hangs up and leaves him hanging. What's worse, that girl in his bed happens to be her step-daughter.
The question rises, like in so many similar cases after too long an absence, whether she should have come home at all. As things turn out, that question is relevant indeed, but she chooses to face the challenge.
The intrigue develops into a tricky nest of infected relationships, as the step-daughter (Samantha Eggar) turns up to be no good girl at all, and Doctor Bovard, (Ingrid Thulin's colleague, Herbert Lom) immediately recognizes her as a case for psychiatry. All four make excellent performances, and although two of the characters are really revoltingly bad, it's worth watching their acting. You might have remonstrances on the way, but the finale will patch over all objections, as the consistency of the development of all four characters is absolute. John Lee Thompson, both director and producer, has apparently tried to make something of an ultimate noir and almost succeeded. The film is a bit longish, the tempo is a bit slow, but it is efficient enough anyway. The black-and-white character enhances the true mood of a great noir.
The question rises, like in so many similar cases after too long an absence, whether she should have come home at all. As things turn out, that question is relevant indeed, but she chooses to face the challenge.
The intrigue develops into a tricky nest of infected relationships, as the step-daughter (Samantha Eggar) turns up to be no good girl at all, and Doctor Bovard, (Ingrid Thulin's colleague, Herbert Lom) immediately recognizes her as a case for psychiatry. All four make excellent performances, and although two of the characters are really revoltingly bad, it's worth watching their acting. You might have remonstrances on the way, but the finale will patch over all objections, as the consistency of the development of all four characters is absolute. John Lee Thompson, both director and producer, has apparently tried to make something of an ultimate noir and almost succeeded. The film is a bit longish, the tempo is a bit slow, but it is efficient enough anyway. The black-and-white character enhances the true mood of a great noir.