I'm a big fan of French cult cinema, I'm a huge admirer of director François Truffaut and I'm truly keen of actress Jeanne Moreau
And yet, the absolute number one reason why I desperately wanted to see "The Bride Wore Black" is because it formed one of the main influences for Quentin Tarantino's ultimate masterpiece "Kill Bill". The epic features ideas and elements from all kind of cult treasures, but a selected few titles were genuine role models for QT, like "Lady Snowblood" and this "The Bride Wore Black". The plot of this late 60's original is simple but efficient, and although containing quite a number of holes and improbabilities, it's still massively compelling after more than forty years. We follow the bride – Julie – on her journey to kill four seemingly random males. Men that initially comes across as innocent and harmless, and even amiable or pitiful, but they all share a dark secret that irredeemably ruined Julie's life and that's why they must be killed without exception. "The Bride Worde Black" is primarily an exercise in style and Truffaut's own personal homage to the work of other cinematic masters, particularly Alfred Hitchcock. The director plays and experiments with camera angles like he witnessed in the repertoire of Hitch, still the occasionally very dark and unsettling atmosphere is entirely Truffaut's very own accomplishment. The film definitely stands on its own as a solid and worthy cult classic. It also owes a great deal of its unique impact to the dazzling performance of Jeanne Moreau as the titular bride, as seldom I've seen such an embittered and vengeance-personified character on screen. Now here's a lady who will truly stop at nothing to extract her revenge! Unfortunately, as indicated before, there are a few too many plot holes for the film to be even remotely plausible. Without going into detail too much, it's never properly clarified how Julie manages to trace down her targeted victims and it's definitely curious how she manages to remain at large for so long. Under more realistic circumstances, she wouldn't even be able to escape from the scene of her first crime without being apprehended. But you gladly forgive the flaws and shortcomings, as "The Bride Wore Black" is – and will always remain – an inventive and suspenseful 60's thriller. Loved the soundtrack, too!
Review of The Bride Wore Black
