Review of Mississippi Mermaid (1969) by Walter M — 04 Feb 2005

[font=Century Gothic][color=blue]"Mississippi Mermaid" starts out on the Isle of Reunion as cigarette factory owner, Louis Mahe(Jean Paul Belmondo) waits for his fiancee as the eponymous boat is docking. He met her through a personal ad.(During the opening credits, various voices read out personal ads.) The woman who shows up does not resemble the photo he was sent but he does not mind since the woman is played by the beautiful Catherine Deneuve. As he gets to know her, he becomes suspicious that things are not exactly right. This is not one of Francois Truffaut's better movies but it is still entertaining due to the talents of its two stars.(According to Wikipedia, the Isle of Reunion is still under the government of France which lends an uncomfortable air of colonialism to the proceedings.)[/color][/font].

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[font=Century Gothic][color=red]I had hesitated in seeing "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" before because when I had seen the trailer, it had looked very corny, especially the scene at the train station where the two lovers part. But since I have now seen the film, I have come to a different conclusion. Watching Genevieve(Catherine Deneuve) and Guy(Nino Castelnuovo) in love for the first thirty minutes makes that scene in the context of the film powerfully emotional. Guy is getting drafted into the army and they are not sure when they will be reunited. What makes this film unique is that all of the dialogue is sung(early in the film, the couple mention they are going to go see the opera, Carmen) and the film is absolutely beautiful to look at. This is an excellent film about the idealism of youth as compared to the compromises of being a grown up.(Roland Cassard(Marc Michel) who was a character in Jacques Demy's Lola(1961) makes a return appearance here.)[/color][/font].

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