La proie pour l'ombre

Alexandre Astruc is very hard to find in English speaking countries. I have no idea why. Both ' Le Rideau Cramoisi ' and ' Une Vie ' are masterpieces, and if we had any real consideration for our cinematic heritage they would be out there and available. He also made a fine film of Flaubert's ' L'Education Sentimentale ' and like Flaubert he is a dissector of human behaviour. He is both exact and classical in the way he presents character and in ' La Proie pour l'ombre ' he is razor sharp on Annie Girardot and her tormented fluctuation between an over dominant husband and an equally dominant lover. She seeks freedom to be herself, but men force her into either sexual submission or to use her as a trophy for respectability. Set against cold decors, and here there are traces of Antonioni in the ' modern ' and functional buildings which surround her. In one tremendous scene she rescues a statuette of an angel from one destroyed building, as her husband played well by Daniel Gelin looks on. It just shows how a scene with little dialogue speaks volumes. Christian Marquand plays the lover and he is her equal in so many ways, and yet is not. A fine film to see how the cliche of adultery can be portrayed in terms that are both adult and looked at with a clear eye.