La Peau Douce / The Soft Skin - 1964 - Francois Truffaut
Of the seven Truffaut films I’ve seen, I still relish my memories of Jules et Jim.
That film, like la Peau Douce, is centred in polite, 60s France, where a spurned woman takes extreme action.
But while Jules et Jim draws us into the quaint lives of fun loving frenchmen frolicking in the countryside, la Peau Douce follows a much more restrained lead character.
Jean Desailly’s middle-aged character falls in love with a young, beautiful air-hostess.
The question it poses is,
“How does a sensible man end up ruining his life with an extra-marital affair?”
This all takes place in a world where dodgy men hound attractive women on the street, whispering into their ears, and films show at the cinema are introduced by hour long speeches about the director.
