Les Frères Bouquinquant (1948) - film review

Julie, a modest, hard-working maid, takes the fancy of her employer, Léon Bouquinquant.  A former military man, now the owner of a crane barge, Léon does not look like the ideal husband - he drinks too much and is too ready with his hand - but Julie agrees to marry him.  If she hopes that marriage will allow her to escape from a life of drudgery, Julie is sorely mistaken.  She soon realises what kind of man she has married, a mean-spirited bully who treats her with contempt.  It so happens that Léon has a brother, Pierre, who has none of his faults.  Good-looking, good-natured and hardworking, Pierre is moved by the miserable existence of his sister-in-law.  He befriends her, shows her kindness, and the two soon become the closest of friends.  Inevitably, they both get carried away on a tide of passion, and the result is that Julie ends up being pregnant with Pierre’s child.  Léon may be an alcoholic but he is not stupid.  When he realises what has happened, he turns on his brother and a violent confrontation ensues...
© Willems Henri (Brussels, Belgium)

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