In this tragic tale of misunderstanding, obsession, and increasing madness, Eliane, a beautiful young woman settles into a small town in the south of France with her introverted mother and physically handicapped father, and soon becomes the subject of wild speculation because of her aloofness and at the same time, her obvious sexuality. The young woman is actually caught up in the desire to avenge the long-ago rape of her mother by three men who had arrived at her isolated house in a van which contained an old piano which they were delivering. A shy car mechanic becomes enamored of her, and the woman suddenly sees him in a different light when she learns that his father, now dead, was an Italian immigrant who had owned and tried unsuccessfully to pawn the piano. Intent on taking action against the mechanic's family to right the wrong suffered by her mother, the daughter begins to lose her grip on sanity when she finds out that the men she suspects of the rape are actually innocent. In fact, her father had long ago exacted his own vengeance on the real culprits. This knowledge pushes her over the edge, and she has to be institutionalized. Meanwhile, the young mechanic misunderstands what happened and that leads to tragedy; he tracks down and kills the innocent men Elle had suspected of raping her mother, believing them to be responsible for Elle's current condition.
Cast
Isabelle Adjani as Eliane Wieck, known as "Elle"; she is known by her German mother's maiden name rather than by the surname of her de facto father, because she is the product of rape. However, Gabriel subsequently comes to accept Eliane and brings her up as his child.
Alain Souchon as Fiorimonto "Florimond" Montecciari, known as "Pin-Pon"; he is a volunteer firefighter and "pin pon" is an onomatopoeiac version of a firetruck siren.
The film was shot in the villages around Gordes: Saint Saturnin d'Apt, Murs, and Villars.
Soundtrack
The original music was written by Georges Delerue. Yves Montand sings his Trois petites notes de musique, a song that was originally performed by Cora Vaucaire in The Long Absence.
Reception
The film was a massive hit in France gaining 5,137,040 admissions and was the 2nd highest-grossing film of the year. It received four César awards. The film received mixed reviews from English-speaking critics. Variety said that "often questionable in matters of credibility and wobbly in its dramatic conception, pic is nonetheless fairly engrossing, thanks to Isabelle Adjani, astonishing in the central role." The New Times remarked that Adjani "looks smashing in a series of flimsy little dresses" but "the plot... is less complicated than devious." Time Out said the film was "directed with verve," and though it "rarely departs from the commercial mainstream, but within those conventions it operates with assurance, subtlety and plenty of surprises."
