''The Woman Next Door'' () is a 1981 French
romantic drama film directed by
François Truffaut. Reminiscent of the medieval legend of
Tristan and Iseult
Tristan and Iseult, also known as Tristan and Isolde and other names, is a medieval chivalric romance told in numerous variations since the 12th century. Based on a Celtic legend and possibly other sources, the tale is a tragedy about the illic ...
but set among young middle-class people in a provincial city, it tells the story of a fatal romance between a loving husband (
Gérard Depardieu) and the attractive woman (
Fanny Ardant
Fanny Marguerite Judith Ardant (born 22 March 1949) is a French actress and film director. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two César Awards and a Lumières Award.
Early life
Ardant was born in Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, ...
) who moves in next door. The last of Truffaut's serious films, being followed by the more light-hearted ''
Vivement dimanche!'', it was the 39th highest-grossing film of the year, with a total of 1,087,600 admissions in France.
[''La Femme d'à côté''](_blank)
at JP's Box-Office.
Plot
Bernard lives happily with his wife Arlette and young son Thomas in a village outside
Grenoble
lat, Gratianopolis
, commune status = Prefecture and commune
, image = Panorama grenoble.png
, image size =
, caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...
. One day a married couple, Philippe and Mathilde, move into the house next door. Bernard and Mathilde are shocked at meeting each other because years before, when both single, they had a stormy affair that ended painfully. At first Bernard avoids Mathilde, until a chance meeting in a supermarket reawakens long-buried passions and soon, while openly good neighbours, in secret they pursue an affair. Though both find the strain of living their normal family and working lives unbearable, it is Bernard who cracks first. After publicly revealing his violent passion for Mathilde at a garden party, he keeps away from her and the two households try to get on with their lives. But the rejected Mathilde then cracks and, after publicly collapsing at the tennis club, is hospitalised with depression. When she is released, she finds that to get far away from Bernard her husband has moved them out of the village. One night Bernard is woken by a banging shutter on the empty house next door and gets up to investigate. In the house, he spots Mathilde in the darkness. After they have made love on the bare floor, taking a gun out of her handbag she shoots first him and then herself.
Cast
*
Gérard Depardieu as Bernard Coudray
*
Fanny Ardant
Fanny Marguerite Judith Ardant (born 22 March 1949) is a French actress and film director. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two César Awards and a Lumières Award.
Early life
Ardant was born in Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, ...
as Mathilde Bauchard
*
Henri Garcin
Henri Garcin (born Anton Albers; 11 April 1928 – 13 June 2022) was a Belgian film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films from 1956 to 2022.
Selected filmography
* ''Mademoiselle and Her Gang'' (1957)
* '' Mata Hari, Agent H21'' (1964)
* ' ...
as Philippe Bauchard
* as Arlette Coudray
* as Roland Duguet
*
Véronique Silver
Véronique Silver (September 2, 1931 – July 24, 2010) was a French actress. as Madame Odile Jouve
*
Philippe Morier-Genoud as doctor
* Olivier Becquaert as Thomas Coudray
[Allen, Don. ''Finally Truffaut''. New York: Beaufort Books. 1985. . . pp. 239.]
References
External links
*
*
*
1981 films
1981 romantic drama films
1980s French-language films
Adultery in films
Films directed by François Truffaut
Films scored by Georges Delerue
Films set in France
Films shot in Isère
Films with screenplays by François Truffaut
French romantic drama films
TF1 Films Production films
1980s French films
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