Adorable menteuse (1962) - film review

Juliette is a young woman who just can’t help lying.  She lies to her sister, Sophie, to Sophie’s fiancé Martin, and to all the men she attracts with her womanly charms.  But when she falls for an older man, a 40-year old lawyer, her reputation as a liar precedes her and she cannot convince him that he really does love him…

This light romantic comedy has the allure and feel of New Wave cinema but appears pretty inconsequential besides the works of the masters such as Truffaut and Godard.

The film alternates between youthful exuberance, passionate romance and dark film policier without being convincing or satisfying in either mode.  Still, Marina Vlady is delightful as the compulsive liar who gets hoist by her own mendacious petard and the film makes a valid statement about the nature of human relationships, albeit in a tortuous and muddled way.

© James Travers 2000

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