From my favorite movies..

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

In 1968, Jeanne Moreau will... KILL FERGUS. Possibly. Truffaut's Hitchcock homage, which in turn led to Kill Bill, pays tribute more in style than in theme, as Moreau's widowed bride tracks down the five men responsible for her husband's death (I say "responsible", four of them get a pretty bum rap), amidst numerous clever directorial touches (like the camera snaking around the bushes in front a potential victim's house) and to the strains of Bernard Herrmann's superb score. It isn't deep, particularly credible or very well plotted, it's shot in the peculiar "pastel shade" fashion of so many European films of the '60s - that extends even to the actors' skin; it's difficult to distinguish between the many drawings of Moreau and the real thing - and there's a very silly death scene effect that is almost certainly not a joke, but for the most part it's fast-moving and fun, particularly if you like seeing lecherous Frenchmen being killed.

This is Francois Truffaut's best attempt at doing a Hitchcock film (Lesser efforts include "Mississippi Mermaid" and "Confidentially Yours"). It helps that he's got a story by Cornell Woolrich ("Rear Window") and a score by Bernard Herrmann, whose music can elevate even the trashiest films ("Joy In The Morning," "It's Alive"). "The Bride Wore Black" borrows heavily from several Hitchcock films. Julie Kohler, the main character, resembles "Marnie," a cold, calculating protagonist on a fiendish mission. Both are seen packing a suitcase with new items of clothing, traveling on trains to new destinations and changing hair styles and colors. The plot device of revealing a secret to the audience halfway through in flashback comes from "Vertigo" as do the many unexplained contrivances that test our suspension of disbelief. The film is entertaining largely due to the strange atmosphere it creates and the stylized performance by Jeanne Moreau, seen in nothing but black and white Pierre Cardin outfits. Her usual dour expression suits the character, though she actually smiles for a change on a few occasions. The ending, however far-fetched, serves to satisfy the entire premise. It may take repeated viewings to fully catch all the subtle and not-so-subtle complexities.

from the silly opening attempt at suicide, to the predictable march from one victim to another, this film has to rank as one of the worst French films, and one of Truffaut's worst.and that doesn't include the awful music, despite being written by one of the greatest film composers of all time: Bernard Herrmann. I am disappointed most with the music. It feels as though the music was basically inserted into holes where it did not fit, nor made sense. Herrmann was borrowing from his previous scores so heavily, the music began to sound like Herrmann doing a parody of himself.there are so many problems with the script and editing, as well as the acting, that one doesn't know where to begin.Truffaut couldn't even pull off the fake thunder storm at the third victim's house. The lightning and thunder were so phony and contrived as to make the whole film a cartoon.Then at the re-telling of the tragedy that was to become Julie Kohler's (Jeanne Moreau) motivation for her revenge, we see a sloppy, nonsensical explanation of one the five men clumsily aiming a gun at the victim, and it accidentally going off.pathetic.This film was a travesty.

This film is an excellent example of a revenge thriller which follows Julie Kohler, the bride of the title, as she exacts revenge on those responsible for her husband's death on their wedding day. We aren't immediately told what happened to make her want to kill the men concerned but learn throughout the film.When we are first introduced to Julie Kohler we see her attempting to throw herself from a window but this suicide attempt is prevented and soon she says that she is going away. She boards a train bound for Paris but promptly gets off on the other side and walks over the tracks to the other platform. She then seeks out a man who she only knows by name and lures him to a balcony during a party she has gatecrashed. After tricking him into climbing over the rail to retrieve a scarf she has "accidentally" dropped she says her name and no more then pushes him to his death. As she proceeds through her list of targets we learn why she wants to kill them and how the people who seemingly have no connection came to kill her husband.The film is fairly gripping and well acted, especially by Jeanne Moreau in the title role. It does have one or two plot holes, the main one being how did she learn who was responsible for her husband's death when the police hadn't found any of them. That can be forgiven though, I think as spending time on that would have detracted from the main story.I would recommend this to anybody who likes revenge thrillers even if they don't usually like non-English films, I'd forgotten I was reading subtitles a few minutes in.