Julie Kohler is prevented from suicide by her mother. She leaves the town. She will track down, charm and kill five men who do not know her. What is her goal? What is her purpose?
Truffaut suggests a nation straining to burst its carapace of moralism. The film's subject and its object converge in the same self-liberating social revolution that would shake the country the following year.
– Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
11 Mar 2013
fresh:
With its summery, Mediterranean surface, Jeanne Moreau as the ultimate femme fatale heroine and a knife-twisting tale of murderous revenge and unexpected romance, "The Bride Wore Black" is well worth rediscovering.
– Andrew O'Hehir,
Salon.com,
6 Nov 2011
rotten:
For all of Truffaut's digressive asides, deadpan gags, and lyrical cinephiliac touches, his slow-starting movie is overly schematic, emotionally shallow, and not so much fun.
– J. Hoberman,
Village Voice,
1 Nov 2011
rotten:
Unfortunately, Truffaut fell into a pit of awkwardness on the project; editingwise, he's hardly in the league of Hitchcock, his sequences rushing ahead, his ironies too obvious.
– Joshua Rothkopf,
Time Out New York,
1 Nov 2011
fresh:
Miss Moreau remains one of the screen's great actresses, and there is a supporting cast of unusual quality.