The Bride Wore Black (1968)

Directed by François Truffaut. Starring Jeanne Moreau, Charles Denner, Michel Lonsdale, Michel Bouquet, Daniel Boulanger, Jean-Claude Brialy, Claude Rich, Serge Rousseau, Alexandra Stewart.

Truffaut’s homage to Alfred Hitchcock borrows the tropes and iconography but sidesteps the technique (both its goosey manipulation and its vulgar contrivances) in creating an arthouse revenge picture of unexpected tones and delights. Having lost her husband on her wedding day to a gunshot, grief-stricken Moreau first attempts suicide, then chooses vengeance by tracking down the men responsible and killing them one by one. Short on logic (how does she find them, let alone know who they were in the first place?), as well as the sort of intimate character definition that Truffaut was known for, but it has some effectively chilling and melancholy moments, a few well-placed splashes of dark humor, and a memorable performance from Moreau. Warning: those looking for catharsis in their revenge fiction may find at least one aspect very frustrating after the film ends. Lush score by frequent Hitchcock collaborator, Bernard Herrmann. Inspired the Kate Bush song, “The Wedding List.”

69/100