Moderato cantabile (original) (raw)

A wealthy and bored woman (Moreau) is witness of a murder in affection and meets another witness (Belmondo). She asks him about the history of the victim and falls in love with him.

Film Details

Genre

Release Date

Jan 1964

Premiere Information

New York opening: 6 Jan 1964

Production Company

Documento Film; Iéna Production; Productions Jacques Companeez

Distribution Company

Royal Films International

Country

France

Screenplay Information

Based on the novel Moderato cantabile by Marguerite Duras (Paris, 1958).

Technical Specs

Duration

1h 35m

Sound

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color

Black and White

Theatrical Aspect Ratio

2.35 : 1

Synopsis

Anne Desbaredes is the bored wife of a steel industrialist in the half-forgotten village of Blaye on the Gironde estuary in southwest France. Typical of her unchanging and placid existence is her weekly accompaniment of her precocious son, Pierre, to his music teacher's. One day, while listening to the uninterested child practicing scales, she hears a woman scream from the cafe below the teacher's studio. Anne looks down upon the scene and witnesses a frightened man being taken away from the side of a dead woman. Curious about the passions that must have motivated the crime, she visits the cafe and encounters an employee of her husband's, Chauvin, whose inquisitive and reflective mood mirrors her own. For the next few days they meet often, discussing not only the murder but also their own lives. When Chauvin eventually realizes that Anne's morbidness stems from her own death wish, he rejects her offer of love and leaves her.

Director

Crew

Film Details

Genre

Release Date

Jan 1964

Premiere Information

New York opening: 6 Jan 1964

Production Company

Documento Film; Iéna Production; Productions Jacques Companeez

Distribution Company

Royal Films International

Country

France

Screenplay Information

Based on the novel Moderato cantabile by Marguerite Duras (Paris, 1958).

Technical Specs

Duration

1h 35m

Sound

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color

Black and White

Theatrical Aspect Ratio

2.35 : 1

Quotes

Trivia

Notes

Opened in Paris in May 1960; running time: 92 min; in Rome in September 1960; running time: 95 min. Also 92 min.

Miscellaneous Notes

Co-Winner of the Best Actress Award (Moreau) at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival.

Released in United States Winter January 1, 1963

Released in United States 1964

Released in United States 1994

Shown at MOMA (Jeanne Moreau: Nouvelle Vague and Beyond) in New York City February 18 - March 25, 1994.

Re-released in Paris October 2, 1991.

Released in United States Winter January 1, 1963

Released in United States 1964

Released in United States 1994 (Shown at MOMA (Jeanne Moreau: Nouvelle Vague and Beyond) in New York City February 18 - March 25, 1994.)