La sirène du Mississipi / Mississippi Mermaid (1969)
Last night I saw La sirène du Mississippi ( 1969 ) at BAM with a friend who is much more knowledgeable about French cinema than I. Another friend had recently recommended François Truffaut 's Jules and Jim ....and since then it is always on my mind. Mississippi Mermaid left me reeling. It had elements of Mulholland Drive (beautiful blonde woman who changes name/character, yet remains the same multi-faceted woman), and the lyrics of Tina Turner ("Whats Love Got To Do With It?" + "Private Dancer"). That sounds messy, and it is. But it has searing flashes of brilliance that burned me with its emotional stabs. Jules and Jim was all about kindness, fragility, sexual exploration, and honesty. Mississippi Mermaid is all about cruelty, coarseness, sexual exploitation, and deception. Both movies tell a fascinating story about human nature. Wikipedia info : Mississippi Mermaid ( French : La sirène du Mississippi) ( 1969 ) is a French film directed by François Truff...