Henri-Georges Clouzot’s La Verite was quite a few things rolled into one – courtroom drama,
searing social critique, dark depiction of love gone awry, and the sad tale of
a misunderstood girl, among others. Dominique Marceau (Brigitte Bardot) is
accused of murdering Gilbert (Sami Frey), her former boyfriend, and is on trial
to determine her fate. Her seemingly sordid lifestyle stand in direct contrast
to the picture-perfect perception of a model citizen that Gilbert continues to
possess even after her death. Their socio-economic disparity, compounded by her
inherently rebellious nature vis-à-vis his social standing as a talented music
conductor, make the heavily biased judges convinced of her guilt; her striking
good looks make their presumption of guilt complete. But nothing could be
further from the truth as elaborate flashback sequences reveal not just her
freewheeling choices in life – something that her middle-class parents and the
conservative judges find impossible to accept, leave alone understand – but also
the deeply tragic love affair she gets hopelessly enmeshed and burnt by. As a
sad consequence, she is tried by a staunchly bourgeois society for her
rebellious spirit and her anti-establishmentarian choices, as opposed to the
crime she has been accused of. Brigitte Bardot, the reigning sexpot of her
generation, didn’t just memorably play the role of the protagonist, she seemed
to be ironically the very embodiment of what her character symbolized; and her
sensuousness was as electric, as her vulnerability was heartbreaking. Though
neither flawless nor subtle, the engaging narrative style made this beautifully
photographed and scored movie both a compelling character study and a bleak observation
on society’s hypocritical responses to deviation.
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot
Genre: Crime Drama/Romantic Drama/Courtroom Drama/Psychological Drama
Language: French
Country: France
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