Une vie / One Life

Alexandre Astruc: Une vie / One Life (IT/FR 1958) starring Maria Schell as Jeanne Dandieu.

Eräs elämäntarina / Mannen i mitt liv.
    IT/FR © 1958 Agnès Delahaie Productions. P: Annie Dorfmann [= Agnès Delahaie], Louis Wipf.
    D: Alexandre Astruc. SC: Alexandre Astruc, Roland Laudenbach – based on the novel (1883) by Guy de Maupassant – title in English: A Woman's Life – in Finnish: Elämän tarina. DP: Claude Renoir – Eastmancolor – 1,66:1. PD: Paul Bertrand. COST: Mayo, Lucilla Mussini. M: Roman Vlad. ED: Claudine Bouché.
    LOC: Normandie. Le film a été tourné en grande partie près de Cherbourg, dans les paysages de la Hague.
    CAST: Maria Schell (Jeanne Dandieu épouse de Lamare), Christian Marquand (Julien de Lamare), Pascale Petit (Rosalie, the maid), Louis Arbessier (M. Dandieu, the father), Marie-Hélène Dasté (Mme. Dandieu, the mother), Antonella Lualdi (Gilberte de Fourcheville), Ivan Desny (De Fourcheville).
    85 min.
    Finnish premiere: 20 Oct 1961 Elysée, released by Pons-Filmi.
    A vintage KAVI 35 mm print with Finnish / Swedish intertitles viewed at Cinema Orion, 17 June 2009.

A good vintage print with the colour pretty ok, intact.

A visually dynamic adaptation of Maupassant's first novel. There is a surge of consistent movement in this story filmed on location in Normandy.

In marriage, the woman finds herself. In marriage, the man loses himself, being an eternal seeker, a wanderer. The man's wild, untamed sexuality brings forth tragedy. The sex scenes are strong and original. His three women: Jeanne, his wife. Rosalie, the maid, who gets pregnant. Gilberte, the wife of his best friend.

The Normandy location is vivid. The sea, the beach, the wind are important. Expressive cinematography by Claude Renoir. A dynamic score by Roman Vlad. The actors are fine. Antonella Lualdi is capable of implying a lot in just one look.