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Quand tu liras cette lettre (1953) More at IMDbPro »

3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Interesting melodrama from Melville's early career, 10 November 2005
Author: kinsayder from United Kingdom

Max Trivet is a garage mechanic, boxer, thief and local gigolo. When his seduction of a young shop girl turns to rape, the girl's sister Thérèse, an ex-nun, plans her revenge. However, it appears that even the austere Thérèse may not be immune to his charms...

Many of the iconic Melville elements are present already in this early film: the big American cars, the scenes with night club dancers rehearsing their act, the long raincoat and hat which Max wears... The plot is more melodramatic than we would expect from the director's later work, but Melville complicates this with ambiguities that add considerably to the interest of the story: Max is portrayed as cruel and cynical, yet also sympathetic; while Thérèse, played by the singer Juliette Greco, is so cold and impassive it is hard to guess, even at the end of the film, what her feelings and intentions have been towards Max.

The use of music is very interesting in this movie, each of the main characters being given not just their own theme but their own instrument: an accordion for Max, a church organ for Thérèse, a harpsichord for her sister Denise, and a piano for the married woman whom Max seduces. There is some striking cinematography, too, notably in the scene on the beach at night, with Thérèse and Max appearing as silhouettes against the turbulent sea.

1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
When you read this letter...., 31 July 2009

Author: dbdumonteil

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This title is tailor made for a melodrama,which "Quand Tu Liras Cette Lettre" is ,no more,no less.No matter if it's JP Melville's third movie ,even if the precedent user,a connoisseur of the French cinema could find some of the director's permanent features.As for myself,I did not find any but I must confess Melville is not my cup of tea.

First thing to bear in mind is that the two leads,Philippe Lemaire and Juliette Greco,got married the very year of Melville's "oeuvre" ,the marriage only lasted three years.But seeing them together is pretty odd,considering the chanteuse's -for Greco was first a singer- role:she is thoroughly cast against type ,this actress known for a her parts of good time gals or delinquents -her real debut was Duvivier's "Au Royaume Des Cieux",Cocteau's "Orphée" does not count -.Another extraordinary thing for the audience of 1953 -who probably knew all about the two leads' relationship-is that it takes one hour (you read well) before they share a scene!And when they finally "meet" ,it's not what the audience is expecting.As Kinsayder wrote it,Greco uses an impassible almost frightening Bressonesque delivery and easily steals the show ,if there is something to steal.The users who saw Melville's "Leon Morin Pretre" will notice the similitude between Greco's and Emmanuelle Riva's acting in the 1961 effort.Lemaire plays a mechanic and a gigolo ,but his character is too underwritten to suggest the "tormented soul" Therese commends to God .Boyish Daniel Cauchy,who would be Paulo in "Bob Le Flambeur" ,the follow-up ,appears as a bellboy (who's also a crook).

A desultory script and a story close to Harlequin romance do not amount to much .Only Greco's portrayal in the second part is worth the price of admission;it's much more stunning if you've seen the actress in her other parts ("The roots of Heaven", " The Sun also rises" ,"Au Royaume Des Cieux","Maléfices" and the excellent made-for-TV "Belphégor") As for Philippe Lemaire ,his career was tragic:in the sixties ,he was only offered lousy supporting parts in Bernard Borderie's movies ("Angélique" and "Pardaillan" );by the eighties ,he had stopped playing.His come back in a small part in "Arsene Lupin " circa 2004 was short-lived:the same year,he threw himself under the metro (subway).

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