Judith Therpauve (1978) - film review

In her 50s, Judith Therpauve lives alone in the country, in a house inherited from her husband, a resistance fighter who died during the War.  One day, she is visited by some old friends who ask her to take on the management of a newspaper they founded just after the war.  The current manager is dying in hospital and the newspaper, running into financial problems, could be bought up by a competitor.  Judith agrees to take on the challenge and tries to reverse the fortunes of the newspaper.  Not all of her staff agree to the changes she imposes, and one of her editors quits and helps to set up a rival newspaper...

Patrice Chéreau’s second film is this heavy social realist drama featuring a former legend of French cinema, Simone Signoret (now sadly past her best).  The film is a depressing study about the futility of trying to apply the ideals of the past in the modern world.  In spite of the generally good production values, the film cannot be classed as one of Chéreau’s better works.  It is ponderously slow in places and has great difficulty engaging its audience.  One major fault is that the characters are not fully developed and seem to just pop up from nowhere without much explanation of the their background.   The film’s message is also frustratingly ambiguous and the tragic ending has surprisingly little impact, probably because of its inevitability.  Signoret’s performance is typically charismatic but lacks the intensity and pathos needed for the film to have any real impact on its spectator.

© James Travers 2001

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