Danielle Darrieux who is still, thankfully, delighting us at the age of 93 - one film released this year, one in post-production, one announced for next year - was arguably at her peak in the 1950s, a decade in which she appeared in some 27 films ranging from 'classics' like La Ronde, Marie Octobre, Madame de ... to very good, like Ud Drole de dimanche, Pot-Bouille, Bonnes a tuer, La Verite de Bebe Donge, etc. And then there were the purely 'domestic' entries like this one, exactly the kind of French film I enjoy above all others, the kind a very good friend in France is constantly unearthing and sending to me, enriching my life no end. If Darrieux is still delighting us today she was, of course, enchanting us for the first three decades of her career - which began in the early thirties. Here she is asked to do plain, dowdy even and can't quite bring it off. We wonder how/.why such a ravishing creature ever came to marry Bernard Blier who, apart from being unprepossessing in the extreme, is a worthy leading man for an actress of this calibre. Writer director Carlo Rim was a member of the jury at Cannes the year he made this film and has some tasty credits in both departments. He's not unafraid to experiment with the camera and there are those who would argue that the somewhat pedestrian plot can use a little help in this direction. I loved it. Sue me.
3 Reviews
Happy birthday, Danièle!
happytrigger-64-39051730 April 2017
Warning: Spoilers
My favorite french actress, DD, is 100 years young today, so I decided to see this marvellous "La Maison Bonnadieu" directed by Carlo Rim, who did the great "l'Armoire Volante" with Fernandel. And you find similar poetic scenes in both. Carlo Rim is surely a talented writer-director, enjoy the virtuoso intro and ending. All actors are great, Darrieux and Blier of course are exceptional. Special mention to Yves Deniaud.
Just released, the book 'Danièle Darrieux, une femme moderne", jump on it.
Just released, the book 'Danièle Darrieux, une femme moderne", jump on it.
A Heart for a heart, a tooth for a tooth
dbdumonteil30 December 2009
Although the screenplay was written by the director ,it shows Guy De Maupassant's short stories influence.It's one of these rare French comedies which isn't that funny .A story dealing with cuckolds (Bernard Blier played this character so many times ,let's just mention "Manèges" (1949))and with a town where nobody but the hero and the prostitute (a delightful Marthe Mercadier) is and acts like they seem.The beginning of the movie manages to feature two unexpected twists in a dozen of minutes.
Danielle Darrieux is perfect as a two bit Bovary bourgeois lady ,who kills time with her lover and her sewing room,abetted by the local vicar who "considers her a saint laywoman" !Bernard Blier is equally excellent as her not-so-handsome hubby,a man who really suffers :it's an uneven contest ,which , in the end ,justifies the immoral ending. Supporting cast is up to scratch:Jeanne Veniat shines in her part of a grandmother ,and she steals all the scenes she is in; granny is no longer the virtuous moralizing old lady ,who has never sinned : "these hereditary characteristics generally skip a generation" .Françoise Arnoul is the chamber maid who becomes her mistress's rival.Michel François began his career very early as he was one of the young children in "La Cage Aux Rossignols" (later remade as the notorious "Les Choristes" ) and an adolescent discovering love in "Dernières Vacances " .
Mouloudji sings "La Complainte Des Infidèles" (= Unfaithful lovers ' lament).
One should add that Carlo Rim made " La Maison Bonnadieu" just after his sketch of "Les Sept Péchés Capitaux" in which he told another story of cuckold with an unexpected twist.
Danielle Darrieux is perfect as a two bit Bovary bourgeois lady ,who kills time with her lover and her sewing room,abetted by the local vicar who "considers her a saint laywoman" !Bernard Blier is equally excellent as her not-so-handsome hubby,a man who really suffers :it's an uneven contest ,which , in the end ,justifies the immoral ending. Supporting cast is up to scratch:Jeanne Veniat shines in her part of a grandmother ,and she steals all the scenes she is in; granny is no longer the virtuous moralizing old lady ,who has never sinned : "these hereditary characteristics generally skip a generation" .Françoise Arnoul is the chamber maid who becomes her mistress's rival.Michel François began his career very early as he was one of the young children in "La Cage Aux Rossignols" (later remade as the notorious "Les Choristes" ) and an adolescent discovering love in "Dernières Vacances " .
Mouloudji sings "La Complainte Des Infidèles" (= Unfaithful lovers ' lament).
One should add that Carlo Rim made " La Maison Bonnadieu" just after his sketch of "Les Sept Péchés Capitaux" in which he told another story of cuckold with an unexpected twist.
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