La Vérité

Brigitte Bardot gives the most complex and committed performance of her career in this film by Henri-Georges Clouzot, a mix of courtroom drama and romantic melodrama set in the collision between conservative morality and the young adult culture of bohemian Paris. Bardot is Dominique Marceau, a wild child from the provinces who is on trial for murder. Witness testimony paints her as a "bad girl" indulging in the decadence of Paris nightlife while her serious sister Annie (Marie-José Nat) studies music, but dramatic flashbacks reveal that she is a free-living young woman who embraces the beatnik culture of casual sex and social engagement without judgment or pretense. French New Wave icon Sami Frey plays the devoted music student dating Annie who falls hard for the uninhibited Dominique and becomes pathologically jealous over her flirtatious behavior. Clouzot weaves in multiple storytellers through the witness statements and extended flashbacks, making the dense narrative look effortless while also pulling strong performances from the entire cast. And in keeping with Bardot’s sex kitten image, Clouzot offers teasing shots of an undressed Bardot just shy of explicit nudity. La Vérité is a film that dangles a lurid crime of passion in front of the audience but ends up being a character portrait of a woman in an unsympathetic world. Largely overshadowed by Clouzot’s more famous films, notably The Wages of Fear and Diabolique, it was nominated for an Academy Award and won a Golden Globe in 1961. Extras include a 2017 documentary on Clouzot, archival interviews with Bardot and Clouzot, and a booklet with an essay by film scholar Ginette Vincendeau. Highly recommended. (S. Axmaker)