The Soft Skin (1964)

 Francois Truffaut's "The Soft Skin"


After establishing himself firmly within the French New Wave period with his string of hits like 1959's "The 400 Blows," 1960's "Shoot the Piano Player," and 1962's "Jules and Jim," Francois Truffaut made a film that would bring a screeching halt to the New Wave concepts he had so much utilized, along with bringing a screeching halt to his string of successful box office films. 1964's "The Soft Skin" was in no way a New Wave fascination nor a box office success for Truffaut. 

The film centers on Pierre, a celebrated literary scholar who strikes up an affair with a flight attendant. Amidst this infidelity, he must keep this newfound affair a secret from his wife. In the end, she discovers the truth to tragic consequences. 

The story itself is relatively simple and focuses on more 'bourgeois' problems: celebrity, a bored husband, secret infidelity. However, I found myself completely wrapped up in this story and felt as though the contrived problems of this intellectual made for some lasting and unravelling drama. 

Beyond that, I felt as though the visual nature of the film fits neatly into a formalist structure. It does not abide by the fast-and-loose experimentation that had come to be known with the New Wave movement by that time. Rather, the direction is rather boring, structurally efficient, and like I said, formalist. I suppose Truffaut has taken off his New Wave goggles and is attempting to synthesize his ideas into a more qualitative visual narrative. Perhaps this 'boring' visual imagery matches the mundanity of our protagonist's life. Perhaps this stagnant and simplistic feeling is inferative of the bourgeois upper class malaise, which seems to what causes Pierre to have a risky affair, despite his meek and mild manner. 

Overall, I found the film overtly enjoyable. The concept of the film was very boring and perhaps even the execution. But, I don't know man, somehow Truffaut turned a infinity into a dramatic and tense-filled excursion into the life of a bourgeois intellectual and the foibles of his own standing. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rio Bravo (1959)

Image
  Howard Hawks' "Rio Bravo" To conclude the filmography of Howard Hawks, I watched his 1959 western film " Rio Bravo ." I've got to say that I was expecting a lot more out of this picture based on all the praise for the film. That is not to say that I didn't like it, it was a fine time at the cinema (I was not at the cinema, I was at home). I can't say that I should have expected more, as I'm not entirely that big of a fan of Howard Hawks. Even his best film (to me), " The Big Sleep " is arguably one of the weaker film noirs that I've seen. " Rio Bravo " is a film that apparently is a response to 1952's " High Noon ," which was an allegory about Hollywood's blacklisting and McCarthyism. Howard Hawks and John Wayne felt the film was anti-American and instead made " Rio Bravo " to broadcast an alternative perspective in which the hero of the story doesn't shy away from justice. I personally ha...
Read more

King Kong (1933)

Image
  Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack's "King Kong" There are many post-Depression American 'box office' films that I have seen in my film studies journey. Most of these post-Depression box office films don't typically sit right with me. The films I have in mind are the gangster and monster films that swept the nation in the early 1930s. These films typically were meant to placate an anxious American audience. However, the depth to their thematic intricacies leave something to be desired. Even without this depth, the 'entertainment' aspect of these films were not very entertaining to me. However, there is one film that utterly surprised me, 1933's adventure epic " King Kong ."   The story is well-known. A group of filmmakers travel to a remote island to take advantage of strange and interesting natural wildlife unknown to the outside world. There they meet an indigenous people, all terrified of a large, monstrous primate living on...
Read more

The Big Sleep (1946)

Image
  Howard Hawks' "The Big Sleep" After watching Howard Hawks' 1946 film noir " The Big Sleep ," I have to say that it is not one of my favorite film noirs. That being said, it was definitely the best Howard Hawks film I've seen thus far. It did not have the typical dark ending that permeates the whole film with bleak darkness, which probably made it a lesser noir for me. In fact, it felt more like a 'studio noir,' if that makes sense. I'm not going to go into the entire plot of the film, especially because the entire plot is incredibly convoluted. In fact, this was a major strike against the film at the time of its release. Many reported that they could not keep up with what was happening. I've got to say that, for myself, this was the case as well. I found myself having to rewind to figure out what exactly I missed or who was who. However, upon reflection, the convoluted plot may only add to the feverish intoxication of the film.  Because...
Read more