La vieille qui marchait dans la mer [The Old Lady Who Walked in the Sea] **** (1991, Jeanne Moreau, Michel Serrault, Luc Thuillier) – Classic Movie Review 5834

The old woman who walked in the sea at Guadeloupe is played by Jeanne Moreau, come there, along with her faithful companion Pompilius (Michel Serrault), to cure her arthritis and blackmail a businessman.

Lady M’s weakness is collecting expensive jewels and young men, the test being a handsome beach boy called Lambert (Luc Thuillier), whom she ensnares in her new gem heist.

Director Laurent Heynemann’s odd 1991 French black comedy provides a whopping great part for Moreau, who is touching as the sad, pathetic, vicious old baggage, trying to recapture her lost beauty and youth and behaving abominably to the two men who love her.

Written by Dominique Roulet, based on a novel by San-Antonio [aka Frédéric Dard], the story loosely holds the attention, though it does not cut very deep. But the unusual character whom Moreau is playing and the actress’s striking performance are the film’s real and true fascinations.

Moreau was the winner of the 1992 Best Actress award for La vieille qui marchait dans la mer (1991) at the César Awards.

Also in the cast are Géraldine Danon, Jean Bouchaud, Marie-Dominique Aumont, Hester Wilcox, Léa Gabriele and Lara Guirao.

RIP the legendary Jeanne Moreau. She also won the 1960 Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival for Moderato cantabile (1960) and the 1967 BAFTA Film Award as Best Foreign Actress for Viva Maria!

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5834

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com