''Mademoiselle'' is a 1966 French–

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Tony Richardson Cecil Antonio "Tony" Richardson (5 June 1928 – 14 November 1991) was an English theatre and film director and producer whose career spanned five decades. In 1964, he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film ''Tom Jones''. Early ...

. The dark drama won a BAFTA award and nomination and was featured in the 2007 Brooklyn Academy of Music French film retrospective. Jeanne Moreau plays an undetected

sociopath Psychopathy, sometimes considered synonymous with sociopathy, is characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, disinhibited, and egotistical traits. Different conceptions of psychopathy have been u ...

arsonist Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

and poisoner, a respected visiting schoolteacher and sécretaire at the

Mairie In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

in a small French village.

Synopsis

As the film begins, Mademoiselle is shown opening

floodgate Floodgates, also called stop gates, are adjustable gates used to control water flow in flood barriers, reservoir, river, stream, or levee systems. They may be designed to set spillway crest heights in dams, to adjust flow rates in sluices a ...

s to inundate the village, so there's never a moment in the film that the audience believes she's a normal upstanding citizen, as the villagers do. But the film provides little insight into her motivation; she has no cause for revenge, and acquires no material gain or increased standing in the community from her furtive crimes. Later, she sets fire to houses and poisons the drinking troughs, causing the death of farm animals. Out of pure prejudice, an Italian woodcutter (Manou, played in Italian by

Ettore Manni Ettore Manni (6 May 1927 – 27 July 1979) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1952 and 1979. Life and career Born in Rome, Manni debuted as an actor in 1952, when in spite of his acting inexperience he wa ...

) is the chief suspect. Sexual tension arises between Mademoiselle and Manou during a series of encounters in the forest. Finally, after a night of somewhat perverse intimacy in the fields, she falsely denounces him and the villagers hack him to death. In the final scene, as Mademoiselle is leaving the village for ever, it is made obvious that the woodcutter's son (and Mademoiselle's former pupil) knows the secret.

Cast

* Jeanne Moreau – Mademoiselle *

– Manou * Keith Skinner – Bruno *

Umberto Orsini Umberto Orsini (born 2 April 1934, in Novara) is an Italian stage, television and film actor. Born in Novara, Orsini gave up his career as notary to attend the Accademia Nazionale di Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico. In the late 1950s, he emerged ...

– Antonio *Georges Aubert – René *Jane Beretta – Annette (as Jane Berretta) *Paul Barge – Young Policeman *

Pierre Collet Pierre Collet (10 March 1914 – 30 October 1977) was a French film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films and television shows between 1943 and 1977. Selected filmography * ''Goodbye Leonard'' (1943) - Le marchand d'habits (uncredite ...

– Marcel *

Gérard Darrieu Gérard Darrieu (1925–2004) was a French actor. Selected filmography *1950: ''Three Telegrams'' (directed by Henri Decoin) - Jeune dragueur *1951: '' Juliette, or Key of Dreams'' - Un prisonnier (uncredited) *1951: ''Boîte de nuit'' - Le g ...

– Boulet * Jean Gras – Roger * Gabriel Gobin – Police Sergeant * Rosine Luguet – Lisa *Antoine Marin – Armand *

Georges Douking Georges Douking (born Georges Ladoubée; 6 August 1902 – 20 October 1987) was a French stage, film, and television actor. He also directed stage plays such as the premier presentation of Jean Giraudoux's ''Sodom and Gomorrah'' at the Thé ...

– The Priest *

Jacques Monod Jacques Lucien Monod (February 9, 1910 – May 31, 1976) was a French biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1965, sharing it with François Jacob and André Lwoff "for their discoveries concerning genetic control of e ...

– Mayor

Production

The film was shot on location in and around the tiny village of Le Rat, in the

Corrèze Corrèze (; oc, Corresa) is a department in France, named after the river Corrèze which runs through it. Although its prefecture is Tulle, its most populated city is Brive-la-Gaillarde. Corrèze is located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region ...

département of central

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. The entire production team stayed in what accommodation they could find locally for the duration of the shoot. The director always saw Jeanne Moreau as the lead. He originally wanted Marlon Brando for the male lead, but scheduling could not be arranged.

Release

The film was released on VHS and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

MGM Home Entertainment Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment LLC ( d/b/a MGM Home Entertainment and formerly known as MGM Home Video, MGM/CBS Home Video and MGM/UA Home Video) is the home video division of the American media company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. History ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in 1994 and 2002 respectively.

Awards

1967 - Won: BAFTA award for Best Costume Design in B&W ritish(Costume designer Jocelyn Rickards won). 1968 - Nominated: BAFTA Film Award: BAFTA Best British Cinematography (B/W) (Cinematographer David Watkin nominated). The film was entered into the

1966 Cannes Film Festival The 19th Cannes Film Festival was held from 5 to 20 May 1966. To honour the festival's 20th anniversary, a special prize was given. The Grand Prix du Festival International du Film went to the '' Signore & Signori'' by Pietro Germi, in tie wit ...

References

External links

* *
Mademoiselle, The Belle From Hell (TCM's Movie Morlocks)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mademoiselle (1966 Film) British black-and-white films 1966 films 1966 romantic drama films French independent films BAFTA winners (films) Films directed by Tony Richardson British independent films British drama films 1960s English-language films 1960s British films 1960s French films