La Française et l'amour (1960)
Directed by Michel Boisrond, Christian-Jaque

Film Review

La Française et l'amour is one of those star-studded anthology extravaganzas that flooded the European market in the 1950s and 60s.  Dealing with the illusions and tribulations of conjugal life, this episodic comedy of manners was a box office hit (it drew an audience of 3.1 million in France alone) but it garnered mixed reviews from the critics.  Some reviewers found the actors unconvincing, others found the film pertinent for the times.  Without doubt, its main appeal is the cavalcade of familiar names - actors and directors - who lent their collective efforts to the film.

It is of course inevitable that the quality varies across the seven instalments that make up the film, and no one expects each of these twenty minute episodes to be a classic.  La Française et l'amour is by no means a masterpiece but it is a pleasant enough timewaster.  Part of its charm is the amusing animation in the narrated linking sequences.

The versatile director Henri Decoin opens the film with a childhood dilemma featuring Jacqueline Porel and Pierre-Jean Vaillard.  This is followed by Sophie Desmarets and Pierre Mondy (under the direction of Jean Delannoy) worrying about their teenage daughter.  Next, Michel Boisrond guides Valérie Lagrange and Pierre Michaël as they hesitate over losing their virginity.  René Clair then steps in as Marie-José Nat and Claude Rich head tentatively towards marriage.  The fifth story (directed by Henri Verneuil) is about adultery - just what should Paul Meurisse do when Dany Robin is courted by Jean-Paul Belmondo? Twenty minutes is enough for Christian-Jaque to display all his savoir-faire as Annie Girardot and François Périer face up to the realities of divorce.  In the last segment (from Jean-Paul Le Chanois), Martine Carol must learn how to defend herself against the charms of Robert Lamoureux.

With the screenwriting duties in the hands of such competent masters as Michel Audiard and Charles Spaak, the dialogue is fierce and feisty, and further pleasure is to be gained from the ample supporting cast which includes such luminaries as Darry Cowl, Noël Roquevert, Yves Robert, Denise Grey, Jean Poiret, Michel Serrault and Francis Blanche.  Sadly, the film is currently only available on DVD in a hard-to-find Jean-Paul Belmondo collection.

Film Synopsis

As any woman knows, the process of discovering love is one that takes a lifetime, each season of life revealing a different facet of this most mysterious of phenomena.  Here are seven tales representing the key stages on the sentimental journey experienced by women in modern-day France.  In Childhood, an inquisitive seven-year-old, Gisèle, is curious to discover where babies comes from.  Her parents are unsure how to respond to her continual questions on the matter.  In Adolescence, 16-year-old Bichette has no shortage of admirers, boys of her own age who shower her with compliments that feed her vanity.  Fortunately, she has a sensible mother who can steer her through this hormonal minefield.

In Virginity, a young man named François is desperate to spend his first night with his fiancée Ginette.  Their engagement is longer than he had hoped, and he can contain his passion no longer.  When her future husband threatens to take a mistress, Ginette has no choice but to give in to his demands.  They agree to meet in a hotel, but the encounter does not pass off as expected.  In Marriage, a couple of newlyweds can hardly wait to get away for their honeymoon.  With the ordeal of the wedding behind them, the groom is looking forward to a relaxing holiday with his beloved, but the bride's jealousy is too easily piqued and threatens the marriage even before it has got underway.

In Adultery, Nicole, a married woman, attracts the attentions of another man.  The lover turns out not to be as attentive as he first seems, but worse still, the husband appears totally unconcerned by his wife's infidelity.  In Divorce, a couple decide to separate after ten years of conjugal life.  They still remain the best of friends and agree on an amicable parting of the ways, but their interfering entourage appears determined to drive them apart completely.  In The Single Woman, an agreeable conman named Monsieur Désiré has a habit of preying on vulnerable single women. In the end, one of his unsuspecting victims will out-manoeuvre him...