THE WOMAN NEXT DOOR

France, 1981, 106 minutes, Colour.
Gerard Depardieu, Fanny Ardant.
Directed by Francois Truffaut.

The Woman Next Door is the second-last film of celebrated French director Francois Truffaut. Confidentially Yours, with Fanny Ardant, the star of this film, was the last film before his untimely death in 1983. A critic, a writer (especially with his book of interviews with Alfred Hitchcock), Truffaut was quite an important director from the late 1950s, especially with his autobiographical The Four Hundred Blows. During the 1960s he embellished his reputation with Shoot the Pianist, Jules and Jim, The Soft Skin and then a range of thrillers like The Bride Wore Black. He also made Fahrenheit 451 in English. He then continued in several films, the story of the young boy, Antoine Doinel (played by Jean- Pierre Leaud) with Stolen Kisses and a number of sequels.

The film was written by his collaborator, Suzanne Schiffman who wrote a number of screenplays for Truffaut including Day for Night, Small Change, The Man Who Loved Women, The Last Metro.

The film is very French, a story of mad love. Bernard and Mathilde had been lovers many years earlier when Mathilde and her husband moved next door to Bernard and his wife. They decide to keep their past a secret, become involved again, become quite obsessive in the French style. This alienated a number of audiences not used to this kind of high emotion, audiences who wanted a clarification of character and situations.

Taken as a French film, it is an intense study of relationships, obsessions, tragedy.

Gerard Depardieu and Fanny Ardant bring an intensity, as expected, to their roles.

1. An entertaining romantic thriller? The soap opera ingredients, but more? A study of love and obsession, sexuality, suburban life? The significance of the ordinary? The quality of the film?

2. The work of François Truffaut? His career, interest in relationships? His insight into characters, feeling? His craft and finesse? His drawing attention to the fact that he is filming and allusions to films and plots? His choice of stars and their contribution to the impact of the film?

3. The use of Grenoble, houses, hotel, tennis club, airport, experimental lake? The authenticity of the atmosphere, credibility of characters and situations? His portrayal of intimate sequences, groups? The smooth techniques for portraying events e.g. the party, the tennis afternoon with a myriad of characters and incident? The musical score?

4. The significance of the introduction and Madame Jouve? Her story, asking the camera to move back and revealing she was a cripple? An engaging beginning? Audience accepting the contrivances and artificiality of the telling of the story? Madame Jouve as character, her wisdom, experience? Telling Bernard her story? Mathilde knowing it? Philippe and his being in error about the story and the New Caledonian visitor? The importance of her love and infatuation, the repute of her falling from the window, her attempted suicide and its effect? Her not letting her love know? The arrival of the cable and its effect on her? Her decision to go away ? to avoid the lover, so that he would not know she was crippled? Her concern about Bernard and Mathilde? Speaking directly? Her story serving as a pattern for that of Bernard and Mathilde? Love, hurt. death? The importance of the arrival of the New Caledonian visitor. seeing him through the eyes of the tennis club people, his departure? Madam Jouve's comment at the end of the film? The effectiveness of her as a device and as a character?

5. Madame Jouve's drawing attention to the houses and their being characters? Each house, exteriors and interiors, proximity? Differences? Inside and out? visits? Each of the characters within the houses and the houses affecting their behaviour? Avoiding the houses? The contrast with the hotel and the rooms, corridors? Reception? The cafe? The openness of the tennis club?

6. The structure of the film: the information from Madame Jouve, the introduction to the houses, the situation of neighbours moving in, the focus on Bernard and his obsession, the effect on Mathilde, their liaison, the culmination in the violent outburst and the transference of the obsession to Mathilde and Bernard's calmness? Her breakdown? His seeming indifference? Her returning to 'normality'? The climax and the deaths? The pattern of romantic melodrama, soap opera? The effect of the death sequence and the audience getting to know and understand the principal characters?

7. The situations and soap opera? The skill in Truffaut's writing and direction: attention to detail, characters and their feelings, words, actions? Meals, phone calls, the engaged phone etc, the children, the incident with Bernard being locked out of the car, the tennis games and conversations, the movement in the various rooms, observation from the windows etc? The effectiveness of the humour in the delivery of the cable at the tennis club?

8. Bernard as the seemingly normal husband? Love for Arlette and their intimacy, joy in his son? Satisfaction with his work? The confrontation with Mathilde? His avoiding the meal, being rude to her? The discussions with Odile after the phone call and her telling him the story? The phone calls? The encounter in the supermarket and the kissing at the car? The beginning of erratic behaviour? The revelation of his manic depression? The hotel arrangement and the lies? The obsession at home? His restless behaviour at the tennis club? Surreptitious conversations with Mathilde? The midnight snack, talking to Arlette, going out? His wanting to be alone and cut off? His self-control?

9. Mathilde and the impact of her encountering Bernard, her uncertainty, attempts at control, the meals, wanting to talk rationally, the phone calls? The supermarket meeting and the kiss? Her arranging the hotel meetings and arriving first? Her love for her husband, her work, children's stories (and her not having children, her envy of Thomas)? The dispute over the pool of blood and her cartoon child's resemblance to Thomas? Her not wanting to deceive her husband yet not telling him the truth? The encounters with Bernard at home? The dinner, the changing of the dress and Arlette going upstairs? Philippe's discovery of Bernard in the photo and her fabricated story? The final meeting and the drive? The party before the honeymoon and her reaction to Bernard's violence? The return after the honeymoon, the finishing of the book, the signing of the books and her collapse at the party? Her wanting to be ill? The confrontations with her psychologist? Not wanting to see her husband? Her listlessness at Bernard's visits? Her declaring she was unlovable? The gradual change and her declaring herself normal? The obsession taking possession of her, seducing Bernard into the house, the sexual encounter, her killing Bernard, the impact of her killing herself?

10. How well portrayed was sexual obsession, even without love? The explanation of the past, their getting on each other's nerves, Mathilde's desperate love (and the parallel with Madame Jouve), the off-and-on, the breaks? Her marriage and quick divorce and her explanation of this? Her describing Bernard as manic-depressive? The clash between heart and head, love and sexual passion?

11. The sketch of Arlette: the pleasant housewife, intimate. loving, good mother, housekeeper, the ordinary home sequences, at the tennis club, her friendship with Mathilde, her forgiveness of Bernard, her pregnancy? Thomas and the sequences at home, his character not being developed but just being a symbol of childhood? Mathilde's visit to the house and his accompanying her, her seeing the bedroom and its effect on her breakdown?

12. Philippe and his love for Mathilde, the comments about his British lack of expression in feeling, a gentleman, his skill at work, his coping, the truth, the honeymoon, his asking Bernard to visit Mathilde in hospital?

13. Roland and his friendship with Madame Jouve? With Mathilde and encouraging her? working together with her? The significance of his being homosexual, the relationship with Mathilde, Bernard's jealousy? His sensitivity?

14. The doctor and his therapy, Mathilde telling Madame Jouve's story and exaggerating it for his attention, her condemnation of him as being uninterested and being a paid professional?

15. The overall impact of the film and its quality, its insight? Credibility?