Jean Pierre Blanc is not a very famous name for most viewers who have seen French films.However,after watching "La Vieille Fille"/The Old Maid it is hoped that audiences interested in serious cinema would be tempted to discover not only Jean Piere Blanc and his films but also many other unknown directors who have made meaningful,entertaining films.The theme of lonely people depicted in "The Old Maid" remains relevant even for contemporary audiences.However,the major difference is that the films about lonely people of the past relied more on imagination whereas the same films set in present times tend to be based on gimmicks and hype.By giving roles to Annie Girardot and Philippe Noiret,two of French cinema's most talented as well as known faces,a tender look at male/female relationships has been cast.Although the film is about some secondary characters with weak qualities,there is absolutely no hint of any mocking tone.Lastly,some sensitive observations about various facets of life especially in the context of human relations and love have been honestly presented in this film.This is a film to be watched if one is patient enough to let human sentiments rule over human reason.
8 Reviews
Summertime
jotix10025 August 2012
Warning: Spoilers
The quiet Mediterranean resort of Cassis is the setting for this story. Gabriel Marcassus, a man traveling to Spain in his Cadillac has car troubles. He happens to be right in front of a small tourist hotel and goes for help. His car needs to be checked because transmission problems. He has no choice but to stay at the hotel.
For lunch, Gabriel comes to the dining area, but all tables are taken. The man in charge goes to a woman to ask if Gabriel can share her table. It is clearly this woman wants no contact with other guests; she even eats sitting with her back to the rest of the dining room. When asked, she decides to let Gabriel sit with her. The experience is not a happy one for her.
The lady turns out to be Muriel Bouchon, a Parisian on vacation. She is rather shy and into herself. Muriel stays away in the beach area, but Gabriel finds his way to bring his towel close to where she sunbathes. The two form a strange bond, staying away from most public contact, but it is inevitable they will be seeing a lot of each other in such a small place.
The hotel is peculiar. The maids wear a mini dress that is revealing. Gabriel's maid is Vicka, a vivacious young woman whose good looks charm him. Being in close proximity gives him a heady feeling, although nothing improper goes between them. Another guest is a pastor whose sits on the table next to Gabriel. His wife is odd. She sports wounds in her feet and hands, perhaps a sign of being a stigmata.
In the end, Muriel accepts the idea of being with Gabriel, a good natured man who does not want to force her into a sexual relationship, and as a fellow Parisian, he is someone she might like to see when the vacation is over. As the end of her stay nears, Gabriel asks for an address and phone number, and to his amazement he is rewarded.
A delightful French comedy from 1972. Directed by Jean-Pierre Blanc, the film brings us to share a few summer days in good company. M. Blanc also wrote the screenplay, which is pleasant, like a summer day at the beach. Muriel is a shy woman who wants to stay by herself. She comes to accept the presence of Gabriel because she realizes he is a good guy who does not threaten her in any way. Gabriel, in turn, while liking Muriel, is unable to be forward enough to ask for something he will be turned down. Politeness reigns during the time they spend together.
An impressive Annie Girardot, an actress who was a favorite during the 1960s and 70s in the French cinema. She does not disappoint with her Muriel, whom she has fun while she was playing her. Philippe Noiret, a colossal figure in the last half of the French cinema makes an adorable Gabriel, a man any woman would love to have around because of his kindness. There is an undercurrent going on between the two main characters that work fine within the context of the film. The excellent supporting cast includes the great Michel Lonsdale, Marthe Keller, Edith Scob and a glimpse of Maria Schneider.
For lunch, Gabriel comes to the dining area, but all tables are taken. The man in charge goes to a woman to ask if Gabriel can share her table. It is clearly this woman wants no contact with other guests; she even eats sitting with her back to the rest of the dining room. When asked, she decides to let Gabriel sit with her. The experience is not a happy one for her.
The lady turns out to be Muriel Bouchon, a Parisian on vacation. She is rather shy and into herself. Muriel stays away in the beach area, but Gabriel finds his way to bring his towel close to where she sunbathes. The two form a strange bond, staying away from most public contact, but it is inevitable they will be seeing a lot of each other in such a small place.
The hotel is peculiar. The maids wear a mini dress that is revealing. Gabriel's maid is Vicka, a vivacious young woman whose good looks charm him. Being in close proximity gives him a heady feeling, although nothing improper goes between them. Another guest is a pastor whose sits on the table next to Gabriel. His wife is odd. She sports wounds in her feet and hands, perhaps a sign of being a stigmata.
In the end, Muriel accepts the idea of being with Gabriel, a good natured man who does not want to force her into a sexual relationship, and as a fellow Parisian, he is someone she might like to see when the vacation is over. As the end of her stay nears, Gabriel asks for an address and phone number, and to his amazement he is rewarded.
A delightful French comedy from 1972. Directed by Jean-Pierre Blanc, the film brings us to share a few summer days in good company. M. Blanc also wrote the screenplay, which is pleasant, like a summer day at the beach. Muriel is a shy woman who wants to stay by herself. She comes to accept the presence of Gabriel because she realizes he is a good guy who does not threaten her in any way. Gabriel, in turn, while liking Muriel, is unable to be forward enough to ask for something he will be turned down. Politeness reigns during the time they spend together.
An impressive Annie Girardot, an actress who was a favorite during the 1960s and 70s in the French cinema. She does not disappoint with her Muriel, whom she has fun while she was playing her. Philippe Noiret, a colossal figure in the last half of the French cinema makes an adorable Gabriel, a man any woman would love to have around because of his kindness. There is an undercurrent going on between the two main characters that work fine within the context of the film. The excellent supporting cast includes the great Michel Lonsdale, Marthe Keller, Edith Scob and a glimpse of Maria Schneider.
The old maid
dbdumonteil14 February 2005
Annie Girardot was THE French actress of the seventies .An outspoken nice personality ,she's cast against type as an old maid.But she's so good a thespian that she pulls it off with gusto,abetted by an excellent Philippe Noiret ,himself cast as a bachelor.Both are having a vacation at the seaside in a hotel .The man tries to make friend with her but it's a hard task because Mademoiselle Bouchon (=Miss Cork!!!)is an inhibited prudish woman .The dialog between them is intentionally down-to earth,dealing with "Oh What a lovely pebble!" "These are souvenirs for my family" .Only once they broach sexuality and not for a long time.Noiret and Girardot were such a wonderful couple that Philippe De Broca used them again in two of his late seventies movies .
But there 's a big flaw:the supporting characters are caricatures ,and although they are played by talented actors (Michel Lonsdale,Edith Scob,Marthe Keller) ,they really get in the way.That's why "la vieille fille" is only a good movie whereas it could have been a truly great one.
But there 's a big flaw:the supporting characters are caricatures ,and although they are played by talented actors (Michel Lonsdale,Edith Scob,Marthe Keller) ,they really get in the way.That's why "la vieille fille" is only a good movie whereas it could have been a truly great one.
Underappreciated French germ from the '70s
geister_faust6 November 2021
Likeable main characters played by amazing actors of the time, easy to follow and digest story and pleasant location are forming quality package for this amazingly low-profile French comedy from the seventies. Noire and Girardot are actually aged only one year apart and forming a beautiful leading couple, while supporting characters are also surprisingly interesting, although not very deep.
useful
Vincentiu18 September 2013
a love story. or only drawing of deep solitude. few portraits. meetings. and the salt air of a holiday.a film about common events, old words, not surprising choices. minimalist and honest. nothing strange, nothing unknown. almost a documentary.but it is different not only for dialogs or performance of lead actors, for mixture of characters silhouettes or for few scenes but for force of measure, for the isle of silences, for the skin of existences, fragile, strange, gauzy. collection of faces, gestures and search to escape from yourself, useful art lesson, demonstration of great importance of small things, bitter, nice, cold, it is, like each good movie, only a mirror.
A chronological jig-saw puzzle
franzerik12 February 2007
This is a story about "fitting in" where you (and everyone else for that matter) are the odd man.
"La Vieille Fille" is a chronological jig-saw puzzle. You get all the pieces in their proper order but as they are all laying "face down" you never know what the next piece will be until it's turned over and inserted into its' place. That's the way the story plays out.
Each scene is more like a series of still-photographs rather than a motion picture. Dialog is sparse. Actually, "dialog" is a bad choice of expression, as most scenes consist of a monologue. It must have been a very difficult film to direct. But as daunting a task in creating this film, as it must have been - it has succeeded! The short scenes and long, silent spaces give the male thinker time to identify himself. The mood is tangible.
Philippe Noiret has been around for a long time and he's always a welcomed contributor to any film. He does very well in "La Vieille Fille". If you choose to see this film your eye will be upon him the whole length of it and once you get settled into the story you'll begin to think it is you (yourself) prodding along, scene after scene - not Noiret right to the final, parting shot.
WARNING: "Matrix" and "Die Hard" fans - look elsewhere. You'll find no exploding automobiles and ticking bombs here and you'll end up slitting your wrists or stringing yourself up before the film is half-way through.
"La Vieille Fille" is a chronological jig-saw puzzle. You get all the pieces in their proper order but as they are all laying "face down" you never know what the next piece will be until it's turned over and inserted into its' place. That's the way the story plays out.
Each scene is more like a series of still-photographs rather than a motion picture. Dialog is sparse. Actually, "dialog" is a bad choice of expression, as most scenes consist of a monologue. It must have been a very difficult film to direct. But as daunting a task in creating this film, as it must have been - it has succeeded! The short scenes and long, silent spaces give the male thinker time to identify himself. The mood is tangible.
Philippe Noiret has been around for a long time and he's always a welcomed contributor to any film. He does very well in "La Vieille Fille". If you choose to see this film your eye will be upon him the whole length of it and once you get settled into the story you'll begin to think it is you (yourself) prodding along, scene after scene - not Noiret right to the final, parting shot.
WARNING: "Matrix" and "Die Hard" fans - look elsewhere. You'll find no exploding automobiles and ticking bombs here and you'll end up slitting your wrists or stringing yourself up before the film is half-way through.
Disrespectful
luisab9926 December 2020
A man and a woman meet in the same hotel in the south of France, while spending their respective holidays alone.
The movie was released in 1972, when an unmarried woman of 30 was still called "spinster" and people, either men or women, were mocked for their being single, in two different ways.
Several moments of inappropriate humor follow each other: "Do you want a room in order to sleep or to make love?" asks the receptionist, and suddenly shows a false embarrassment, hiding some mockery, when he sees that the man who has just asked for a room is alone.
The woman is constantly shown on her own on the beach, making clumsy moves inside a big poncho to change out of her wet swimsuit, while around her, groups of people chat, flirt, and enjoy happily.
In this movie (and the French should be known for being open-minded and avant-garde...) single people are sort of "aliens", lonely, goofy and pitiful and, when a man and a woman of that kind meet, it seems they are required to "combine their loneliness", no matter if they might not like each other completely.
The same mocking humor invests the minor characters, no more than caricatures (the nymphomaniac chambermaid, the Anglican priest always talking of death, his wife who fasts and has stigmata drawn on her hands and feet...). Nothing happens, except for some stupid dialogues and some small awkward incidents, the background of the two characters is not revealed and a possible relationship between the two is just a (future) possibility.
And what does the ending mean, with the two young girls, the same who talk nonsense in the first scene, now missing their train?
If the original title is disrespectful, the Italian one, "La tardona", is highly offensive.
What a sensitive little film
searchanddestroy-11 April 2024
I discovered this French drama back in the late seventies, on TV. I was still a kid but already loved it for its sensitivity, so fragile touch to describe human relations, and in a so realistic, accurate way. Both Philippe Noiret and Annie Girardot are absolutely stunning, terrific here, moving. I can't imagine anyone to remain cold in front of such a story. It is never lame, cheesy, dumb.... It reminds me a bit MADEMOISELLE CHAMBON , back in 2009, starring Vincent Lindon and Sandrine Kiberlain. Not the same story, not the same plot, but same character symphony and powerful way of showing it. Only an excellent film director could do it.
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