''A Very Curious Girl'' (french: La Fiancée du pirate) is a 1969

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film directed, edited and co-written by

Nelly Kaplan Nelly Kaplan (11 April 1931 – 12 November 2020) was an Argentina, Argentine-born French writer and film director who focused on the arts, film, and filmmakers. She studied economics at the University of Buenos Aires. Passionate about cinema, ...

. Other English titles are ''Dirty Mary'' and ''Pirate's Fiancée''.

Plot

Marie is a young woman who lives in sheer poverty in the fictional village and ''

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

'' of Tellier (an allusion to '' La Maison Tellier'') with her mother, a woman of obscure origins suspected to be a Romanichel sorcerer, and her pet buck. Marie and her mother are despised by the locals although Marie is also a sexual object for them, including her lesbian boss Irène. One day, when her mother dies after a hit-and-run accident and the locals do not even bother to bury her, Marie decides that things have to change and starts to charge people who have sex with her. Eventually, she plans to take revenge on those people who take advantage of her.

Cast

Bernadette Lafont Bernadette Lafont (28 October 1938 – 25 July 2013) was a French actress who appeared in more than 120 feature films. She has been considered "the face of French New Wave". In 1999 she told ''The New York Times'' her work was "the motor of my e ...

as Marie *

Georges Géret Georges Géret (18 October 1924 – 7 April 1996) was a French film actor. He appeared in over 80 films between 1954 and 1992. He was born in Lyon, France. Selected filmography * ''The Unfrocked One'' (1954) - Un militaire à l'Oflag et à ...

as Gaston Duvalier, the village guard *

Michel Constantin Michel Constantin (born Constantin Hokhloff, 13 July 1924 – 29 August 2003) was a French film actor. Biography Born to a Russian father and a Polish mother in Billancourt (near Paris), Constantin made his first film appearance in 1956. Hi ...

as André, the projectionist *

Julien Guiomar Julien Guiomar (3 May 1928 in Morlaix, Finistère, Brittany – 22 November 2010 in Agen, Lot-et-Garonne, Aquitaine), was a French film actor. The actor had retired to the Dordogne at Monpazier. The person who incarnated Colonel Vincent in " ...

as the Duke *

Jean Parédès Jean Parédès (1914–1998) was a French film actor.Hayward p.145 Selected filmography * ''Three from St Cyr'' (1939) - Bréval * ''The Fatted Calf'' (1939) - Albert - le garçon de café * ''La Charrette fantôme'' (1939) - Un salutiste (uncre ...

as Monsieur Paul, the herbalist *

Francis Lax Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places *Rural Mu ...

as Émile, the ''commune'' council member *

Claire Maurier Claire Maurier (born Odette-Michelle-Suzanne Agramon; March 27, 1929) is a French actress who has appeared in more than 90 films since 1947. Life and career Maurier was born Odette-Michelle-Suzanne Agramon on March 27, 1929 in the French commune ...

as Irène, Marie's boss *

Marcel Pérès Marcel Pérès (born 15 July 1956, Oran, Algeria) is a French musicologist, composer, choral director and singer, and the founder of the early music group Ensemble Organum. He is an authority on Gregorian and pre-Gregorian chant. Pérès was ...

as Grandpa *

Pascal Mazzotti Pasquale "Pascal" Mazzotti (16 December 1923 in Saint-Étienne-de-Baïgorry – 19 June 2002 in Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône) was a French actor who has appeared in film, television, and theater. He is known for having played a role in ''Hibernatus'' ...

Abbé ''Abbé'' (from Latin ''abbas'', in turn from Greek , ''abbas'', from Aramaic ''abba'', a title of honour, literally meaning "the father, my father", emphatic state of ''abh'', "father") is the French word for an abbot. It is the title for lowe ...

Dard * Jacques Masson : Hippolyte Duvalier, Gaston's son * Henry Czarniak : Julien, Irène's farmhand *

Jacques Marin Jacques Marin (9 September 1919 – 10 January 2001) was a French actor on film and television. Marin's fluency in English and his instantly recognisable features made him a familiar face in some major American and British productions (''Cha ...

: Félix Lechat, the café owner *

Micha Bayard Micah (; ) is a given name. Micah is the name of several people in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), and means "Who is like God?" The name is sometimes found with theophoric extensions. Suffix theophory in '' Yah'' and in ''Yahweh'' results in M ...

: Mélanie « La Goulette » Lechat, Félix's wife *

Fernand Berset Fernand is a masculine given name of French origin. The feminine form is Fernande. Fernand may refer to: People Given name * Fernand Augereau (1882–1958), French cyclist * Fernand Auwera (1929–2015), Belgian writer * Fernand Baldet (1885 ...

: Jeanjean, the lingerie salesman * Renée Duncan : Fifine (Delphine), Émile's wife *

Gilberte Géniat Gilberte Géniat (February 17, 1916 – June 28, 1986) was a French film actress.Chiesi p.122 Selected filmography * ''Hélène'' (1936) * ''The Citadel of Silence'' (1937) - Catherine * '' Mademoiselle ma mère'' (1937) - Louise, la bonne * ''L ...

: Rose, the Duke's wife * Claire Olivier : Marie's mother *

Louis Malle Louis Marie Malle (; 30 October 1932 – 23 November 1995) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in both Cinema of France, French cinema and Cinema of the United States, Hollywood. Described as "eclectic" and "a fi ...

: Jésus, the Duke's Spanish farmhand * Claude Makovski : Victor, the shop owner

Score

Georges Moustaki Georges Moustaki (born Giuseppe Mustacchi; 3 May 1934 – 23 May 2013) was an Egyptian-French singer-songwriter of Jewish Italo-Greek origin. He wrote about 300 songs for some of the most popular singers in France, including Édith Piaf, Dalida, ...

's soundtrack was released in the same year as the film. # Histoire du Cirque (1:22) # Duo (2:21) # La Mort (2:08) # Pierre et Nicole (2:44) # Thème de Franca (1:37) # A Lisbonne (

fado Fado (; "destiny, fate") is a music genre that can be traced to the 1820s in Lisbon, Portugal, but probably has much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar Rui Vieira Nery states that "the only reliable information on the history of fado was ...

) (1:37) # Retour à L'hôtel (2:18) # Le Scandale / Suite (11:40) # Mona (1:31) # Anne et Claude au Musée (2:27) # Le Désespoir de Muriel (3:52) # La Déclaration d'Amour (2:25) # La Rupture (3.46) # Epilogue (2:25) # Une Petite Ile (1:30) # Anne et Claude (2:05) # Moi, Je Me Balance (2:46) # Marche de Marie (2:35)

Critical reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' listed ''A Very Curious Girl'' as one of Bernadette Lafont's most notable films. The website filmfanatic.org put this film into the category "Foreign Gem".

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

mentions "A curious girl" in her obituary and states Lafont's performance had been "brilliant".

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Very Curious Girl, A 1969 films 1969 comedy-drama films French comedy-drama films 1960s French-language films Films shot in France Films about prostitution in France 1960s French films