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THE SOFT SKIN, from one of the New Wave's most prolific directors, François Truffaut, is a brilliant classic replete with intrigue, emotion, and stunning imagery. This anatomy of an affair between successful publisher and novelist Pierre Lachenay (Jean Desailly), and airline stewardess Nicole (Françoise Dorléac), begins on Lachenay's trip to Lisbon for a lecture. On the airplane he watches, enraptured, as Nicole changes out of her work shoes and into sexy, sling-back pumps. From there, his lust for her only grows, and he begins a deeply involved affair with her that continues back in Paris. Meanwhile Lachenay's perfect bourgeoise wife, Franca (Nelly Benedetti) is entertaining friends and playing with their cute five-year-old daughter, Sabine (Sabine Haudepin), seemingly unaware of her husband's strange behavior. But when Franca discovers that he's been cheating and may even be in love, she reacts irrationally. THE SOFT SKIN's surprising finale is one of the most memorable in film history.
Perhaps it is Truffaut's attention to detail that builds so much tangible emotion into his films. The camera seems to skim over sufaces, examine the unattractive angles of people's faces, read street signs. In the car, the camera is riding in the back seat, but as the car speeds up, it's pressed against the windshield. In THE SOFT SKIN, Truffaut expresses a precise emotion with each sequence. Viwers of the film are so often nervous because of the way Lechenay's gaze flits around, blurring up the scenery, frantically. Then, when Lechenay is with his lover, Nicole, the light is bright, the gaze is steady, the mood is triumphant. In the final scenes, as the cobblestones of Parisian boulevards whizz by chaotically, we are reminded of the suspenseful clues given in Hitchcock movies, and we know what is about to happen. At once beautiful and hilariously observant, Truffaut's expressive visuals make THE SOFT SKIN an inarguable masterpiece.
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