Mademoiselle

REVIEW
Genet is credited with this scenario in this atmospheric drama although reportedly several others were involved (including Richardson) at some point in the writing. The story unfolds in a French farming village which has seen its tranquility upset by a series of floods, fires and poisoning of animals. No one suspects the real culprit- the classy spinster schoolteacher (Jeanne Moreau) who, under the mask of respectability, is a sexually repressed, emotionally disturbed and malicious creature. The townspeople come , instead, to suspect a virile, pleasant Italian woodcutter (Ettore Manni) who is also the object to Moreau's sexual scheming and bridled lust. A quietly brooding tale of evil and the suffering of the innocent.