The Woman Next Door

Unrated

10/10/19811h 46m

Premiere Release (US)

~ A destructive passion between desire and madness. ~

Overview:

Madame Jouve, the narrator, tells the tragedy of Bernard and Mathilde. Bernard was living happily with his wife Arlette and his son Thomas. One day, a couple, Philippe and Mathilde Bauchard, moves into the next house. This is the accidental reunion of Bernard and Mathilde, who had a passionate love affair years ago. The relationship revives... A somber study of human feelings.

Director:

François Truffaut

Status:

Released

Language:

French

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

france
wife
deceived husband
neighbor
extramarital affair

Cast

Gérard Depardieu

~ as ~

Bernard Coudray

Fanny Ardant

~ as ~

Mathilde Bauchard

Henri Garcin

~ as ~

Philippe Bauchard

Michèle Baumgartner

~ as ~

Arlette Coudray

Roger Van Hool

~ as ~

Roland Duguet

Véronique Silver

~ as ~

Madame Odile Jouve

Philippe Morier-Genoud

~ as ~

Doctor

Nicole Vauthier

~ as ~

Muriel Combe

~ as ~

Olivier Becquaert

~ as ~

Thomas Coudray

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 10 month(s) ago
7
You can just imagine the scenario. "Bernard" (Gerard Depardieu) is living quite contentedly with his wife "Arlette" (Michèle Baumgartner) and their young son when they get new next-door neighbours. "Philippe" (Henri Garcin) and wife "Mathilde" (Fanny Ardant). Well ardent might have been a more appropriate spelling as it turns out that "Bernard" and "Mathilde" have a bit of history that time hasn't quite satiated. Ostensibly, they present a friendly front to their respective families and neighbours, but we soon appreciate the things are smouldering and that events eight years ago did not end well - for either of them. With their behaviour becoming more erratic and tensions mounting, well who knows what's going to happen next. This might be my favourite Depardieu performance as he really does thrown himself into the role body and soul, and with Ardant delivering an equally impassioned characterisation we are presented with a lively, tempestuous and at times quite visceral series of scenes as things spiral out of control. I'm not always a fan of narration but here, the sparing use of commentary from local tennis club boss "Madame Jouve" (Véronique Silver) helps fill in the gaps but also lets off some of the steam - physically and metaphorically, as the story becomes more involved. Talk about neighbours from hell...!