SPOILERS;SPOILERS
"The other side of midnight" is the melodrama of Sirk and Stahl in the seventies ;the only thing that is new is nudity .In "leave her to Heaven " there was self-induced abortion, and suicide disguised as homicide;in "midnight" ,Marie -France Pisier is more practical -minded :she uses a coat hanger;and Raf Vallone does not even need a dead body to make sure his lover will be sentenced to death.
Marie-France Pisier,who is considered in her native France an intellectual actress ,and thus is cast against type ,was never as attractive as in "midnight" .At the beginning of WW2,a fighter pilot (John Beck)got her pregnant and left her .As many heroines of melodrama ,she becomes wealthy and famous and revenge is a dish best eaten cold.
The movie includes all the available clichés and for kitsch lovers it is a true delight:Paris Romantique with the usual Quais De La Seine and the Eiffel Tower and the Trocadero ,Greece and the tycoons (Raf Vallone 's character was probably inspired by Aristote Onassis :don't we learn he left a diva for Noelle?),Cathy (Susan Sarandon)drinking like a fish -her "death" in a pasteboard and plastic sea is a great moment as is the scene of the caves,the landing in Zurich ,and to top it all ,the sinner in her wedding gown facing the fire squad .It has to be seen to be believed !
And do not tell that Charles Jarrot is not a true art house movies maker. In his 1971 movie,he told the story of two women who did not live in the same country whose destinies met ,Mary Stuart and Elizabeth the First. Here ,a French girl and another one,who lives on "the other side of midnight" ...like Mary and Elizabeth ,they never really met ,but their lives were closely linked .
"The other side of midnight" is the melodrama of Sirk and Stahl in the seventies ;the only thing that is new is nudity .In "leave her to Heaven " there was self-induced abortion, and suicide disguised as homicide;in "midnight" ,Marie -France Pisier is more practical -minded :she uses a coat hanger;and Raf Vallone does not even need a dead body to make sure his lover will be sentenced to death.
Marie-France Pisier,who is considered in her native France an intellectual actress ,and thus is cast against type ,was never as attractive as in "midnight" .At the beginning of WW2,a fighter pilot (John Beck)got her pregnant and left her .As many heroines of melodrama ,she becomes wealthy and famous and revenge is a dish best eaten cold.
The movie includes all the available clichés and for kitsch lovers it is a true delight:Paris Romantique with the usual Quais De La Seine and the Eiffel Tower and the Trocadero ,Greece and the tycoons (Raf Vallone 's character was probably inspired by Aristote Onassis :don't we learn he left a diva for Noelle?),Cathy (Susan Sarandon)drinking like a fish -her "death" in a pasteboard and plastic sea is a great moment as is the scene of the caves,the landing in Zurich ,and to top it all ,the sinner in her wedding gown facing the fire squad .It has to be seen to be believed !
And do not tell that Charles Jarrot is not a true art house movies maker. In his 1971 movie,he told the story of two women who did not live in the same country whose destinies met ,Mary Stuart and Elizabeth the First. Here ,a French girl and another one,who lives on "the other side of midnight" ...like Mary and Elizabeth ,they never really met ,but their lives were closely linked .