The Truth

A French courtroom film. Dominique is on trial for murder. She is accused of killing her lover, and how it happened is not in dispute; what is in dispute is why. The hearing begins and the film goes back. Dominique came to Paris from the provinces. Her sister studies music, is orderly, and is the one the family is proud of; she does not study, does not work, and spends her nights in cafés. She meets a man from her sister's circle. Gilbert is going to be a conductor, disciplined and ambitious. From there the film is about a relationship. Mutual at the start, then unbalanced; the man begins to see it as an obstacle and the woman holds on. Something else is happening in the courtroom. The prosecutor and the lawyers describe the woman's life: what she wore, who she was seen with, how she lived. What is being tried is that more than the killing. What the narrative is interested in is not the crime but moral judgment: the question it asks is whether a woman's life can be counted as evidence. Brigitte Bardot takes the lead, in what counts as the most seriously taken work of her career; at the time she was being judged in precisely the way her character is. Sami Frey, Charles Vanel and Paul Meurisse are in the cast. Henri-Georges Clouzot directed. It was one of the most-watched films in France that year. Who it is for: anyone who likes courtroom drama and French classics. Who it is not for: anyone expecting a fast narrative; the film is long and the flashbacks are detailed.