The Ladies of the Bois de Boulogne (1945) User Reviews

The film belongs to Maria Casarès.

[dbdumonteil · 8/10 · 28 July 2007]

Till 1950,Robert Bresson used professional actors.This explains why those previous movies are much more accessible -and thus generally overlooked by the "true" RB connoisseurs ,this naive audience who is still thinking that French cinema did begin with him;this mindless belief was fueled by the director himself whose contempt for his colleagues was notorious ...

And like it or not,It's one of his colleagues,Marcel Carné ,who provided Bresson with his star Maria Casarès,who was featured in the absolute chef-d'oeuvre of our French cinema "Les Enfants Du Paradis" .She played the part of Natalie and was not overshadowed by Arletty,which was quite a feat!

In "les Dames...",Casares was extraordinary: in her last scenes ,when she spits her hate ,her contempt and when she savors her vengeance as she says :"You've married a hooker! I had you marry a hooker!" ,she mesmerizes her audience.After her lover had left her,she really became a spider spinning her web in which the two women and her ex would be caught up.

Jean Cocteau wrote the dialog.Maria Casarès would become one of his favorite actresses:"Orphée" and "Le Testament d'Orphée".

Bresson's Second Feature Film Confounds As It Mesmerizes

[CitizenCaine · 8/10 · 5 July 2009]

French auteur director Robert Bresson co-wrote and directed Les Dames Du Bois Du Boulogne during the close of World War II. The film illustrates the classic love triangle of a woman scorned plotting revenge, a man bored with his lover who almost immediately turns his attentions toward another young prospect, and a young girl from the wrong side of the tracks trying to improve her station in life, keenly aware of needing to support her mother. However, as with most of Bresson's films, the film is deceptively simple in its construction but not in its execution.

The beautiful and enigmatic Maria Casares stars as Helene, the woman irked by her lover's easy acceptance of her rejection. Every woman wants to attain the upper-hand over her jilted lover it seems. Casares is absolutely mesmerizing as the conniving upper-crust woman consumed by anger and revenge. Paul Bernard plays the seemingly naive Jean who turns his attention from one woman to another and winds up faced with the classic dilemma facing many men: madonna vs. whore. Bernard has the right combination of charm, naivete, and romance to carry the role. Elina Labourdette has, perhaps, the most difficult role of Agnes, the seemingly innocent girl with a past torn between her duty to her mother, her guilt and shame, and her ambivalence toward men in general.

Amazingly, Casares and Bernard seem very contemporary in their roles, despite the age of the film, demonstrating that Bresson had a keen eye for the psychosocial detail of his characters. However, there seems to be an element of unbelievability, as some viewers put it, in the characters and/or the story itself. This doubt stems from the romanticized traits of Jean and perhaps Agnes as well. Jean wants to believe that Agnes is his ideal wife until Helene dashes his hopes, at least temporarily. Agnes is grief-stricken with guilt over the revelations about her past that Jean discovered too late via Helene.

In a wonderful bit of idealistic romanticism, Bresson's camera lifts itself above the couple at the key moment when viewers are waiting for the definitive answer regarding the couple's survival; at this moment, the camera's view illustrates that instant in every life when we're faced with the moment of truth. In the end, the characters stay true to themselves despite their obvious shortcomings, and isn't that what real love's supposed to be about? Jean Cocteau contributed to the screenplay, and the cinematography highlights the contrasts between light and dark, mirroring the attributes of its characters.

There are no signs of Vichy France during the film despite its World War II time period, and one wonders whether the minimalist Bresson's style happens to be synonymous with having the foresight to convey this universal story outside the confines of time. Perhaps that's too idealistic of an outlook to espouse. It's the working definition of a what would become to be known as a "chick" flick, but it also has an ethereal quality that elevates it above its type. It's based on an episode from philosopher Denis Diderot's 1796 novel Jacques Le Fataliste. *** of 4 stars.

Bresson's second film, a moody classical set piece

[robert-temple-1 · 8/10 · 14 August 2014]

Just after the Nazis left, Robert Bresson directed this, his second film. The story is an updated version of a tale entitled 'Jacques le Fataliste' by Denis Diderot (1713-1784), the famous radical thinker and encyclopaedist of the French Enlightenment era. Surprisingly enough, Diderot's novels and stories have been filmed 22 times between 1922 and 2013, and this one was filmed again in both 1967 and 2005. The reference to the Bois de Boulogne is because that used to be the traditional haunt of better class prostitutes. This film is a surprisingly formal, classical film for someone like Bresson. It is primarily notable for the frighteningly intense performance by Maria Casares as a beautiful woman scorned, who applies all of her energies to destroying the lover who has jilted her. It is a horrid story of relentless, maniacal feminine vengeance. Dialogue for the film was written by Jean Cocteau. Much of the film consists of recurring shots of the smouldering gaze of Casares, who scorches the viewer, the camera, the screen, and everything and everyone in sight with her sinister, scheming hatred and determination to obtain revenge. She would have been better off going for a walk in the Bois and calming down.

A rare intersection of melodrama and Robert Bresson

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 20 December 2022]

Worldly Parisian Helene (Maria Casares) realizes that her boyfriend Jean (Paul Bernard) has fallen out of love with her. She then sets out to secretly arrange for a relationship to form between Jean and self-loathing dancer and prostitute Agnes (Elina Labourdette). Also featuring Lucienne Bogaert, Jean Marchat, and Yvette Etievant.

Robert Bresson and melodrama are two things I wouldn't expect to see together, seeing as how the director strove in his later work to remove as much sentiment and emotion as possible from his narratives. I couldn't get into this dark soap opera much, for a few reasons. The central character of Jean is never presented in such a way as to explain why anyone, either the two ladies or the audience, should care about him at all. With Jean being such an uninspired sop, most of the rest of the story seems much ado about nothing.

Casares is good in moments as the plotting Helene, but her ever-present "cat ate the canary" smirk grows tiresome and almost comical. Why would anyone trust this woman when she constantly looks like she just poisoned you? Finally, Elena Labourdette gets the biggest emotional workout in the piece, and she seems the most natural. Still, as with Jean, the script is often vague about why these characters behave as they do. Overall, I was disappointed in this, as I like many of Bresson's later works, but this just failed to click.

Watch this film.

[sanzo-2 · 9/10 · 27 December 2007]

This film shows Bresson before he turned to using nonprofessional actors. But it's still Bresson in its austerity and economy. He demonstrates the vapidity and luxury of the idle class without overwhelming us with the accouterments. Skillfully, he moves forward the story of a scheming, jealous, vengeful society woman whose own tricks have blown up in her face.

One of your commenters complained the film was boring, but that wasn't my experience. I will grant that, if you're looking for explosions,90-degree plot turns, or uproarious comedy, you will certainly be disappointed. On the other hand, if you enjoy watching and hearing a master look into a soulless bosom, and if you enjoy sitting back while a serious artist shows us how to advance a simple but serious plot about serious people, you'll enjoy Dames.

Vague characterization mars story of a woman's revenge

[jbasmarks · 6/10 · 23 August 2005]

Robert Bresson's 1945 adaptation of Denis Diderot's novel Jacque Le Fataliste leaves a few gaps for modern film buffs to jump over in order to appreciate this war-time love story. The secondary character of Agnes is supposed to be a prostitute with a vague connection to the main character, Helene, but other than an amazingly athletic dance in an up-scale cabaret, she shows no inclinations toward the lascivious or even the exotic. When she leaves the club after the fore-mentioned dance, she leaves alone, disdaining men in general and the many flowers they leave her in token of their desire,affection, whatever. Further muddling Agnes' character is her virginal demeanor after leaving the profession and taking Helene's charity. Perhaps this is done in order to seem worthy of help or it may simply be a lack of continuity in the development of Agnes' character. Agnes'mother seems also to bring a unique portrayal to her role as the mother of a prostitute. But my limited experience really doesn't qualify me to assess accurately such a role. Perhaps my inundation with American films leaves me with expectations of seedy stereotypes to fulfill my need for character identity. In any case, both Agnes and her mother seem obscurely rendered. On the other hand, Helene, played by Maria Casares, is portrayed with a well-nuanced undercurrent of revenge and manipulation, even a bit over-the-top in places, but entertainingly so. Her motivations are never far from the surface as she manipulates Jacque/Jean in order to get revenge for his having lost his passion for her, though apparently not his grudging admiration of her. They remain good friends and generally imply a relationship far more sophisticated than modern Americans might understand, given the change that's occurred in their emotional situation. The role of Jacque/Jean is very adequately portrayed by Paul Bernard as a love-sick boob of a Parisian businessman. He is absolutely hilarious in a scene where he leaves his marriage to Agnes in a fit of pique, having finally been told, both by Agnes and Helene, the true character of his beloved, and bangs his large coupe into another car, flails pathetically with the steering wheel while trying to get out of the car park, and finally roars off in a cloud of consternation while Helene smirks sardonically. My dedication to this plot is compromised because none of Agnes' seedy past has been portrayed on screen; thus, I have no emotional connection to her character. And this brings me back to my main problem with this film. Agnes and her mother seem totally misrepresented or else I simply expect too much scandal in a film about a prostitute- probably more my problem than theirs. Another odd point- The film shows a remarkably well functioning city which we have been led to believe was suffering under the oppressive occupation of the Wehrmacht. But I suppose as in all wars, it is only the lower classes who suffer the depredations of military conflict. I think I'll have a look at the novel and see if the film becomes in comparison more interesting. Adding further challenge to an appreciation of this film, the b&w exposure quality, though never bad, is uneven toward the end.

The film was not un-enjoyable but I was usually shaking my head in disbelief whenever Agnes was represented as a virginal prostitute. I guess I expected more sophistication from a french film maker.

Bresson meets Cocteau: a movie of poetic realism and restrained (and not so restrained) passions

[Quinoa1984 · 10/10 · 4 March 2009]

In Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne (or The Ladies of the Bois de Boulogne), we see a society woman Helene played with icy and curiously subtle perfection by María Casares (notice the colorful hats and little white dog and servant) get her form of revenge on an ex-lover (or would-be lover) by having him fall for another woman, a sort of wonderful dancer but more "street" type named Agnes (also very wonderful Elina Labourdette). He doesn't know about her past, since she and her guardian of sorts Mme. D have moved out of their previous dingy place of living, and she can't stand him falling for her since, frankly, she starts to fall in love with him too. What to do? Marriage of course, with some results that on the surface look right out of a TV soap opera.

Which, perhaps, is part of the point. A Hollywood director could make a tawdry melodrama out of the ingredients present here, but the director Robert Bresson is interested in other things, what makes the passions of these characters tic themselves. We see letters written (sometimes with the "help" of another in a conniving way), glances turn into loving stares, significant little things like the lending of an umbrella or the presence of new flowers, the drop of a glass during dinner from minor shock or dismay. At the same time Bresson doesn't let us think these people shouldn't be together, making the eventual dastardly twist make it even harder but even more necessary for Agnes and Jean to be together. Or to try.

Some may be thrown off slightly, as I was, by Bresson's direction here having seen his later, more famous works like his masterpiece A Man Escaped and near-great films (or arguably just the best there is) like Au hasard Balthazar and Pickpocket and how much more restrained and 'stone-cold' emotionally one might say compared to this film. If he hadn't gone his own way with Diary of a Country Priest, Bresson could have gone the way of a more conventional career on the basis of this project, which features some more conventional touches like in the editing, or in allowing for certain moments of incredible and even sensual joy like when Agnes dances. But it's the small touches, and certain traits in the performances that he's able to bring out of his actors, that do mark it as a Robert Bresson picture. And if anything having such a tug-of-war of what is love, what is it to fall for someone dearly in the face of a trick or whatever or cynicism benefits from having somewhat more conventional emotional scenes than the drained sorrow of Balthazar.

Not to mention having Jean Cocteau writing the dialog, which is such an added bonus that it must not be dismissed. Here we see Cocteau's mark by way of the dialog being very rich in getting to the heart of the matter in almost every scene but seamlessly still adhering to Bresson's scenario. One might say it's very "French" in the romantic sense, but why carp? It is a film with three big French names in the writing credits (Diderot, a famous novelist also responsible for The Nun, has a credit as well), and as far as French romance films of the period go it's so deeply affecting that I would say it's mandatory for someone following films of the 1940s from the country. It's about what may or may not be futile in the ways of the heart, or in the worse ways of the heart, and what surpasses society by two people just connecting with each other. A+

Bresson is far more interested in humiliation and misogyny than real passion and convincing evil

[christopher-underwood · 7/10 · 17 February 2009]

There is much to enjoy in this simple tale of the wrath of a woman scorned, but 'timeless', 'masterpiece' or 'spellbinding', I rather think not. It is beautifully shot with memorable performances and an effective if barely believable dialogue. Early on the power and determination evidenced by a mere look from Maria Casares does give one hope that this might have the power of a vintage Bunuel. Unfortunately, for me, Bresson is far more interested in humiliation and misogyny than real passion and convincing evil. I know allowances have to be made for the passing time and changes morals but surely even within the movie as it stands little really adds up. Something of infatuation is illustrated but where is the wonderful portrayal of deep love that some strange folk detect?

"Hell hath no fury . . ."

[Red-125 · 10/10 · 20 March 2012]

Les dames du Bois de Boulogne (1945) was written and directed by Robert Bresson. This movie is the second feature film by the great French director Bresson. It's the last film in which he used professional actors.

In a story somewhat reminiscent of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, two wealthy, sophisticated lovers have a parting of the ways. Hélène, played by María Casares, senses that Jean (Paul Bernard) is losing interest in her. She suggests that they separate, and he agrees. The problem is that he agrees too readily. Hélène feigns indifference, but she plots revenge.

The weapon of revenge is Agnès, played by Elina Labourdette. Agnès is a young cabaret dancer and (we understand) a prostitute. This is an ingénue role, and it's clear that Agnès is a serious dancer, forced into this role in order to support herself and her mother. The remainder of the story depicts the way the elaborate revenge scheme involving Agnès is carried out.

Labourdette and Bernard are fine actors, and both had long careers in French cinema. However, the success of the movie comes from the extraordinary appearance and acting skills of María Casares. Casares, although Spanish, had an extremely successful career on both the French stage and screen. With her lithe figure and elegant clothing, she is every inch the French socialite. She is not beautiful in a typical cinematic way. Instead, with her triangular, almost feline face, and her narrowed eyes, she is fascinating. She dominates every scene in which she appears. No one questions her motive for revenge and her ability to achieve it. Bresson directs the film--and Casares--with the hand of a master.

We saw this movie on the large screen at the excellent Dryden Theatre at Eastman House in Rochester, NY. The person who introduced the film said it was the only print in the United States at present. This print is owned by the French government, and only lent to selected institutions. A DVD is available, but may be of a somewhat different version. Still, even if the DVD isn't an ideal substitute for the print version, it's worth obtaining and seeing. This is one of the great films of French cinema. Don't miss it!

The Old Bait and Switch

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 6 July 2016]

A society lady (Maria Casarès) engineers a marriage between her lover (Paul Bernard) and a cabaret dancer (Élina Labourdette) who is essentially a prostitute.

Not to say the acting isn't great or the direction isn't wonderful... because they both are. But this really comes down to a great script. This is the sort of bait and switch comedy that the French were great at. Diderot, Voltaire, Beaumarchais... there is a music to their writing that I have never found in any other nation's literature.

This translates fairly well to the screen, and is a great farce about social standing and romance. Now, whether Agnes is a prostitute or not, I don't know. Although she clearly was in the original story, some say she is not in the film. Regardless, the humor of the comedy remains the same.

Stylish romantic drama.

[lqualls-dchin · 10/10 · 13 August 2000]

This is Robert Bresson's most stylish, and possibly his most romantic movie; it is an elegant and refined drama of jealousy and revenge. It is full of wonderful details, such as the scene of Elina Labourdette's night club act, or the wonderful moment later in the film where she bursts into dance because of her boredom with her confinement. Maria Casares's performance is in the grand tradition: no one can show steely determination and erotic frustration better. This is Bresson's first masterpiece, and was a failure upon release, but has come to be regarded as one of the great films in French film history.

A tale of revenge

[gbill-74877 · 7/10 · 28 January 2019]

After a woman tells her lover the thrill is gone and that she wants to break it off, he confesses the same thing, taking her aback and wounding her pride. This sets in motion a plan for slow, methodical, delicious revenge. That makes total sense, right? Her idea is to get him interested in a woman who had aspirations to become a serious dancer, but out of poverty, had to turn to dancing in cabarets and prostitution to support herself and her mother. She plots to keep the 'fallen' woman's story hidden and to put the two in each other's path, then manipulate him into falling in love. The icy cruelty and emotional torture may remind you of the aristocrats in Laclos's 'Dangerous Liaisons', and indeed, the script is based on a part of a book by Denis Diderot, 'Jacques the Fatalist,' which was also published in the late 18th century.

María Casares is suitably evil in the leading role, and I really felt for the young woman who becomes her pawn (Elina Labourdette). When we first meet the latter, she's dancing in front of men and trying to keep a smile on her face, but hating their attention. We soon see her in the grip of a rich guy who humiliates her by blowing smoke in her face and smirking. It's hard to fathom how her mother can encourage her to accept this life, even out of necessity. This along with the tropes of the wrath of a woman scorned and the shame of a woman who is not virginal give the film an unpleasant overall taste. It is interesting to see the story unfold, however, with Labourdette's character sensing something is amiss and suspecting Casares. The ending is also strong.

Bare-Faced In The Park

[writers_reign · 5/10 · 5 November 2006]

Movies that are pre-sold as 'classic', 'masterpiece', etc nearly always have a tough row to hoe to live up to the hype. I've seen only a handful of Bresson movies and the only one I am happy to concede is a masterpiece is Au Hasard, Balthazar, the others are just a heavy mixture of the static and the obscure. This is no exception. Throughout I had the feeling I was watching cyphers rather than real people. There seemed to be no real reason for 1) a popular prostitute to quit the profession and 2) accept the largesse of another woman. The fact that the prostitute is the least-likely looking hooker that ever came down the Pike is another factor as is her mother's acquiescence/acceptance. The air of unreality doesn't help much either if anybody asks you. Strange to think that when a far superior film, the Carne-Prevert Les Portes de la nuit, tried to mix fantasy with realism within months of this entry it was laughed off the screen and took several years to be acknowledged as the gem it is. This is one to see if you're a Bresson completist otherwise give it plenty of room.

Early Bresson in unkind drama!!

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 29 November 2018]

Quite often french's movie are too hard to swallow, actually they usually making an Art pictures, unusual for us, more hollywoodesque oriented, when l saw it on first time was endless boring, yesterday l'd reread it one more time more carefully, trying see something else and l did found it deeply well done, the results are true gem although in slow pace, poetic and fatalistic, the dialogues supplied by Jean Cocteau rises upwards enrances, adapted from a old novel this picture maybe needs a second chance from moviefans, Bresson deserves it entirely!!

Resume:

First watch: 2010 / How many: 2 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.5

Masterpiece

[Grasse · 10/10 · 5 July 1999]

It is Bresson's most accessible, classically structured film. Taken from Diderot, it is a story of love, betrayal and revenge. Why a masterpiece? Because it is one of the few films which manage to give the viewer a true sense of what love is and/or should be, of what it may achieve, avoiding the corny lexicon of romance, turning the potentially stale conventions of melodrama into an altogether plausible concoction of events, gestures, actions directly speaking to our experience. In its perfectly self-contained way it keeps showing us again and again that people may actually love each other, in spite of all.

This early Bresson gives glimpses of his later style

[frankde-jong · 7/10 · 9 January 2020]

A film about a woman taking revenge on her lover by using another woman as bait my sound like films as "Nathalie" (2003, Anne Fontaine) or "Chloe" (2009, Atom Egoyan).

In reality however there are many differences.

The woman in "Les Dames ..." does not suspect infedelity from her lover, she is only angry because his love has cooled down. The girl she uses as bait is not a professional escort, but a girl whose's family has fallen into poverty and who takes on a "Lola Montes" (1955. ax Ophuls) like tragedy during the film.

"Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne" is an early film of Robert Bresson. Compared with his later films it has a lot of plot (based on a novel by the 18th century philosopher and Encyclopedia writer Denis Diderot and a scenario by Jean Cocteau). It was the latest film in which Bresson used professional actors, although he made them act in a very wooden style. In this way facial expressions (especially those of Maria Casares as Helene) became the primary means of cummunicating mood.

The final scene of "Les Dames ..." is really brilliant. In this scene completing her evil plans does bot give Helene satisfaction. On the contrary, her revenge hits her like a boomerang.

The Fires of Love

[andrabem · 10/10 · 9 April 2007]

"Le Dames de Bois de Boulogne" is a very beautiful and rich love story. Bresson was a painter before becoming a director and he thought that images could convey feelings more purely than words. Contrary to many other films in which the words are the main tools used to describe feelings and love, the films of Bresson rely on the power of images. That is why "Les Dames de Bois de Boulogne" can have such an emotional impact on the sensitive viewer. In some ways Bresson reminds me of Antonioni (only visually speaking). Bresson is what I would call an idealist and Antonioni, maybe a relativist? (It is difficult to put a label on people or peoples ideas), but anyway both of them are visual masters.

"Le Dames de Bois de Boulogne" describes the many stages of a love relationship very subtly - a never-ending passion (but the fire is slowly going out) and the couple, Jean (Paul Bernard) and Helene (Maria Casares) decides (by suggestion of Helene) that it's time for them to end their love relationship but to remain faithful friends for life. Everything seems to be alright till Jean knows Agnès (a Helene protégée) and falls in love with her. But in Helene the remaining embers of the old passion are enough to rekindle the fire (not of love, but of jealousy) and she plans revenge.........

This is the classic love triangle story, but it is told without fanfares in a minimalistic way, and therefore it has a strong effect. At the end of the film we are esthetically and emotionally moved. We saw beauty.

Surprisingly good.

[jackasstrange · 7/10 · 8 July 2014]

A minor film in Bresson's filmography, still surprisingly good though. There is really a lot of craft put in the film, the shaping of the lights and shadows, if you pay attention, various objects are put purposefully next to the characters to represent their current emotional state (the flowers, ivory jars etc.) . 

Is a story mainly about revenge, but also deals with subjects such as oppressive exterior forces vs the individuals will, manipulation, and a very obvious critic to the socialites and their behavior. Interesting I'd say, though it kinda drag at times. Oh, and I liked very much Maria Casares acting too. By far the best of the entire cast. 

This is also the last Bresson's film to feature a cast entirely composed of professional actors. 

A 7.5 is a fair rating.

True love

[LeRoyMarko · 8/10 · 22 April 2001]

Very good movie by Robert Bresson. After two years with Jean, Hélène tells him that she's not in love with him like at the beginning and that the love that she still have for him is fading away. What a surprise and a sense of betrayal when Jean tells Hélène that he was feeling the same way. So, as a revenge, Hélène manage to get Jean and Agnès together. Agnès is an ex-dancer from the Bois de Boulogne. Without knowing her past, Jean will marry her. Then, when he discovers the secret, he's got a choice, leave or prove his love for Agnès.

Very well done. The cinematography is very good, so is the acting.

Out of 100, I gave it 80.

A cruel picture

[sveinpa · 8/10 · 29 April 2011]

This picture always had a great effect on me. It was the first Bresson I saw, some twenty-five years ago as the opener of a Bresson season at the local Cinemateque. Even all the masterpieces that followed could not quite erase the effect of Les dames du Bois de Boulogne as a very special picture on its own terms. It was cruel, certainly. And I liked that. With the luxury of the Criterion DVD I have seen it again a handful of times, but fail to find out exactly why it still affects me so. But then exactitude may not be what the picture is about. It is more the creeping up on you of some unknown animal. So no plot spoilers here, instead a metaphor warning might be called for.

I think it is the tone of the picture that affects me. It is a subdued tone, lushly orchestrated as if from a distance. Not only by the discrete soundtrack of Jean-Jacques Grünewald - always playing softly in the background, yet always insistent - but by the devilishly clever way Helene designs her revenge on Jean. She is in no hurry and can afford the luxury of seeing her plot slowly starting to work. It is a cruel plot and it is cruel on the spectator as well. But along with the cruelty comes the dark pleasure of being confined and controlled by remote. It is a modern tragedy. No grand Aristotelian scenes but a steadily forward moving machine that works its evil wonders with great precision. If we allow ourselves to let go and face the music we are just as much in the power of Bresson as Jean and Agnes are in the power of Helene. It is almost as if you can hear the dissonant Tristan chord but distanced, lost or stuck somewhere, never being able again to give the emotions free reign. There is no magical potion. Instead there are the uncalled for flowers and the four enclosed walls that confine Agnes. She can still breathe in the stuffed air and dance within her small room, but it is exactly her former flowery and dancing days that now make her life outside seem impossible. Most of us do not share such a dilemma. Some get bored. It is to Bresson's credit that some of us still sense the tone.

In Les anges du peche it was the convent that was an asylum from the outside world, in Les dames du Bois de Boulogne it is the barren apartment that, like the convent, is not quite the shelter the heroine would like it to be. In both these films the outside is closing in, but in Les dames it is helped on its way by the true femme fatale of Helene. Helene's design makes it the cruel picture it is. It also makes the second picture the more captivating of the two.

Not Bresson

[zetes · 5/10 · 24 August 2002]

Disappointing on a couple of major fronts, as a Bresson film and as a Cocteau script. This was Bresson's second film. Five years later, he made the first film in his signature style, Diary of a Country Priest. Dames is much more conventional in its style and content. A society woman tricks her former lover into falling in love and marrying a former cabaret dancer (a Hollywood-like front for prostitution). The film is pretty, but dull as Hell. Elina Labourdette, who plays Agnes the dancer, is excellent (and she sure can dance), but the rest of the cast is lifeless. I can't believe Jean Cocteau worked on this script. For curiosity's sake only. 5/10.

'Je revengerai'

[brogmiller · 10/10 · 15 January 2020]

Director Robert Bresson made his first film, the excellent 'Anges du Peche' in 1943. He followed up with the film under review. To say he went one better is something of an understatement as this film is nothing short of miraculous. Here he has adapted a segment of Diderot's 'Jacques le Fataliste' of 1796 which deals with the revenge wrought by the scorned Madame de la Pommeraye. This is one of three versions on film, the first being a silent version from 1922 and more recently a stylish version by Emmanuel Mouret starring the excellent Cecile de France. In Bresson's updated version the role is played by the magnificent Maria Casares, one of the greatest tragediennes of her generation. This is definitely an ensemble piece in which Elina Labourdette, Lucienne Bogaert and Paul Bernard are all superb. How privileged these actors are to have the dialogue of Jean Cocteau, the cinematography of Philippe Agostini, the art direction of Max Douy and a score by Jean-Jacques Grunenwald. This is a mesmerising, totally absorbing film which achieves a perfect balance between passion and restraint. Anyone left unmoved by the final scene has a heart of stone. The premise behind 'Jaqcues le Fataliste' is that whatever happens to us is written above on a huge scroll that is unrolled a little at a time. Judging by Bresson's output this philosophy would not be a million miles away from his own view of the human condition which is no doubt what attracted him to Diderot's piece. This excellent film is also notable for being the last in which Bresson used an entirely professional cast.

Mesmerising Bresson.

[Amyth47 · 8/10 · 26 May 2020]

My Rating : 8/10

Movies like these are rare - luxurious, minimal and powerfully told.

'Les dames du Bois de Boulogne' is Bresson's second feature and the last one he worked with professional actors prominently. With all the conventional filmic tropes, like the use of dissolves and fades and the dialogue-driven rhythm of cuts, the film is very structuralized in contrary to the more austere and rigid manner Bresson gradually adapted. Philippe Agostini's expressive cinematography with light and shadow, and the 'acting' by the performers would be too emphatic retrospectively in view of Bresson's later works. Notwithstanding the spiritual sublime the story achieves by the ending, like Angels of Sin (1943), the film is mostly a melodramatic flair before Bresson extensively exercises his philosophy of cinematography. As a whole, it's merely a stepping stone for the birth of a legend.

the film bears testimony of Bresson's aptitude of grappling with something ablaze with connivance, melancholy and lachrymosity

[lasttimeisaw · 8/10 · 16 December 2017]

Bresson's second feature film, the plot is as simple as this: a woman takes revenge to her ex-lover by coaxing him into marry a young girl with an ill reputation, but the movie emanates a classical elegance through a meager four-player game.

A young socialite Hélene (Casarès), sensing that the romance between her and her lover Jean (Bernard) has plateaued out, weasels her way into the latter's blithe confession by feigning that she wants to take a step back from their liaison, a cunning move to elicit the truth without staging a scene, in fact, she completely gains Jean's trust and admiration by her ostensible munificence and sensibility, little does he know, the tidings is a hammer blow to her.

The best cure to overcome a broken heart is to retaliate, so Hélene plumps for a limber and comely cabaret dancer Agnès (Labourdette) as her bait to inveigle Jean into the trap, while keeping both oblivious of her true motive and the nexus is to keep a lid on Agnès' demimonde background from Jean until the wedding day. The whole plot is trenchantly actualized by a concatenation of conversations between various parties, playing up verbal interaction as an engaging fencing contest. Bresson lays bare its psychological signification through his able players (his last film cast by professionals). An inscrutable Maria Casarès oozes a stunning sophistication well beyond her age, every line she delivers can be savored with connotations ranging from manipulation to circumspectly veiled threats (dialogue is supervised by none other than Jean Cocteau), she revels in subtle moderations of her countenance and never lets up into theatricality.

Elina Labourdette's Agnès, by comparison, guilelessly wears her hearts on her sleeve and makes heavy weather of her resistance from Jean which belies her abject capitulation in the first place, there is no reason for a young girl balks at a suave suitor like Jean if not for her ignoble past, and Paul Bernard gaily epitomizes a man's naiveté and predictability despite the fact that it is after all, him who has the say-so in the fallout, not these two polarized lollapaloozas from the opposite sex, or Lucienne Bogaert's Madame D., Agnès' careworn mother. A microcosm of our patriarchal hierarchy is under Bresson's sober scrutiny here.

The ending is tinged with romanticism (through the illumining light on Agnès' impeccable visage), resuscitated by love over prejudice, the pair might indeed obtain true happiness after the event, the film sends a liberal-minded message and bears testimony of Bresson's aptitude of grappling with something ablaze with connivance, melancholy and lachrymosity, a rather disparate frontage, but not entirely less crafted, in juxtaposition with his more distinguished and groundbreaking masterworks.

How not to make a Melodrama

[sb-47-608737 · 9/10 · 13 September 2018]

Despite all the ingredients of Melodrama, the director, by his brilliance, converted it into a warm story, carefully avoiding tears.

The movie belonged to María Casares (Hélène) the scorned lover, who took upon herself to take revenge on Paul Bernard by carefully manipulating him into a mésalliance. As we watch the movie, the evil of Hélène gnaws into us, but we are as helpless as the protagonists themselves, to free off the carefully woven web. Naturally she not only achieves the revenge by them getting wedded, but also through a lavish ceremony, where, it is hinted by her, the guests included the bride's former flames. And to top it, she chuckles into telling the groom, of his supposedly innocent bride's past. I expected Jean to pull out a revolver, but thankfully he didn't carry one in his automobile.

There is of course one error in the main synopsis, the girl Agnès was cabaret dancer, a very famous (and adored) too - since when she tried a job as store clerk, she had been recognized not only by store staff, but many customers too, in the first day itself. But she was no street walker, at the most, may be the "Ten Cent A Dance" limit that she had put on. Her behavior during the dance at home indicate it, and even at the end of it, her locking herself in her room, and her mother's remonstrance "Gentlemen, it's my home". Her outburst "You have made me a whore" is just that, the outburst. Of course, even as a cabaret girl, she felt herself unsuitable to marry a upper class man, and clearly, she was not in a mood to be a mistress.

Watchable, simply to see the evil oozing out of Maria, and funnily, she kept a dog, almost like the Blofield's Cats in James Bond. Probably due to gender difference the specie changed, but the way of cuddling was almost similar, and especially at similar menacing moments.