''Le Miroir à deux faces'' is a 1958 French drama film directed by André Cayatte who co-wrote screenplay with

Gérard Oury Gérard Oury (born Max-Gérard Houry Tannenbaum; 29 April 1919 – 20 July 2006) was a French film director, actor and writer. Life and career Max-Gérard Houry-Tannenbaum was the only son of Serge Tannenbaum, a violinist of Russian-Jewish orig ...

, Jean Meckert and Denis Perret. The film stars Michèle Morgan, Bourvil and

Ivan Desny Ivan Desny (born Ivan Nikolaevich Desnitskij; 28 December 1922 – 13 April 2002) was a Chinese-born actor of Russian descent. Early life Desny was born in Peking, China. Career Desny was a film actor. Bilingual in French and German, he acted ...

. It was called ''The Mirror Has Two Faces'' in English, but this is not the literal translation; the word is ''à'' ("with") not ''a'' ("has"), and so would be better translated as ''The Two-Sided Mirror''. The film was loosely remade in the U.S. as '' The Mirror Has Two Faces'' (1996) adapted by Richard LaGravenese, and starring Barbra Streisand and Jeff Bridges.

Synopsis

Pierre Tardivet, a professor, marries Marie-José Vauzange, a sensitive and intelligent girl who is physically unattractive. Tardivet soon begins to treat Marie-José cruelly, making her life very unpleasant and joyless. Two children are born from the marriage. Then, Tardivet suffers a car accident and is tended by Dr. Bosc, a famous plastic surgeon. Bosc operates on Marie-José and transforms her into a beautiful woman. Tardivet then begins to treat her even more cruelly. He becomes embittered and hateful towards Marie-José because her changed appearance makes him think she is no longer his. Marie-José and her sister's husband, Gérard Durieu, want to elope and restart their lives, but they are stopped when Pierre Tardivet kills Dr. Bosc. This dramatic act recalls Marie-José to her duties as a wife and mother, and she renounces her happiness to tend to her husband and children.

Cast

*Michèle Morgan - Marie-José *Bourvil - Tardivet *Ivan Desny - Gérard *

Elizabeth Manet Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

- Véronique *

- Dr. Bosc * Sandra Milo - Ariane * Georgette Anys - Mme. Benoit * Julien Carette - M. Benoit * Georges Chamarat - M. Vauzanges *

Jane Marken Jane Marken (born Jeanne Berthe Adolphine Crabbe, sometimes credited as Jeanne Marken, 13 January 1895 in Paris 10th arrondissement – 1 December 1976 in Paris 4th arrondissement) was a French actress. She was the first wife of the actor Ju ...

- Mme. Vauzanges * Sylvie - Mme. Tardivet

Critical reception

''Time Out'' wrote: "Interesting to re-view this in the light of the Streisand 'remake', though any resemblance are so superficial as to appear coincidental," and added that "Cayatte shows his customary relish for the unpleasant: the nightmare honeymoon in Venice is richly detailed and Sylvie sketches in the quietly venomous mother-in-law with her usual economy. If Streisand's film was quintessential '90s Hollywood feel good, this is equally characteristic '50s French astringency." ''TV Guide'' commented: "The filmmakers do a fine job of delving into the problems people face when a fairy tale-like transformation takes place, though the film suffers from an over-analysis of the situation. Also, Morgan is too glamorous to pull off the type of physical transformation that occurs."

References

External links

''Le Miroir a deux faces''
at Films de France
''Le Miroir a deux faces''
at Alice Cineme * * 1958 films Films directed by André Cayatte French drama films 1950s French-language films 1950s French films {{1950s-France-film-stub