As Dominique Marceau is being tried for the murder of Gilbert Tellier, accounts by different witnesses paint a picture of the kind of relationship the two used to share.
Acting
Bardot's raw unraveling — she IS the unreliable narrator.
Direction
Clouzot's surgical control, every flashback a trap.
Writing
Testimonies collide until truth becomes impossible.
Director
Henri-Georges Clouzot
Brigitte Bardot
Dominique Marceau
Sami Frey
Gilbert Tellier
Charles Vanel
Maître Guérin
Louis Seigner
Le président des assises
Paul Meurisse
Maître Éparvier
Marie-José Nat
Annie Marceau
André Oumansky
Ludovic
Claude Berri
Georges
Jacques Perrin
Jérôme
Barbara Sommers
Daisy
René Blancard
L'avocat général
Raymond Meunier
Le cuistot du 'Spoutnik'
Paul Bonifas
Un greffier
Hubert de Lapparent
Un avocat
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released at peak Bardot mania, the film weaponized her public image — audiences couldn't separate star from character, which Clouzot absolutely counted on.
The multiple flashback structure was so structurally demanding that Clouzot storyboarded every shot — yet Bardot improvised her breakdown scene, making the rawest moment the most unplanned.
FR
