Mississippi Mermaid (35mm)

Based on a novel by Cornell Woolrich, whose stories also inspired Rear Window and The Bride Wore Black, Mississippi Mermaid finds François Truffaut returning to one of film noir’s great writers. Jean-Paul Belmondo and Catherine Deneuve play against the glamorous images that made them stars in a story of deception, obsession, and destructive love. Moving from the tropical island of Réunion to the wintry French countryside, Truffaut turns the conventions of American noir into something distinctly his own.

Lonely on the island of Réunion, tobacco planter Louis Mahé (Jean-Paul Belmondo) decides to wed a mail-order bride. Although the woman who arrives off the ship, Julie Roussel (Catherine Deneuve), looks nothing like her picture, she’s still gorgeous. Their marriage seems to be going fine until Julie empties his bank accounts and disappears. This should be the end of Louis’ obsession — but then he spots Julie in the south of France and falls under her spell once more.