The Adultress Reviews

From the 30's to the end of the 60's, Marcel Carné was one of the most prolific French directors and he made some of the finest French pictures ever (‘Drole de drame’, ‘Le quai des brumes’, ‘Hotel du Nord’, ‘Le jour se lève’, ‘Les enfants du paradis’). He made this movie later on during his career and it doesn't belong to his most famous work but I thought it was still pretty good. Indeed, it is an adaptation of a French classic novel which was written by Emile Zola (I think I have read it when I was younger but I'm not completely sure) and it stars Simone Signoret who gave here a very good performance. It is a rather basic story about lust and adultery (in the same genre, I prefer ‘Ossessione’ directed by Luchino Visconti) and, honestly, it was nothing really mind-blowing but thanks to the always amazing directing by Carné and thanks to Simone Signoret (one of the most highly regarded French actress back then), the whole thing remained rather spellbinding to watch. To conclude, even though it is not a masterpiece, I still think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.