L'Histoire d'Adèle H.
François Truffaut
In 1863, concealing her identity, Adèle Hugo goes off to Halifax in search of an English soldier, the Lt. Albert Pinson, whom she considers to be her fiancé. Through the husband of her landlady she gets in contact with the young man who rejects her. Obsessed by the idea of marriage, Adèle begs her father to send his consent in writing. While waiting for his reply, she desperately tries to win back Albert's heart.
With : Isabelle Adjani, Bruce Robinson, Sylvia Marriott, Reubin Dorey, Joseph Blatchey
Screenplay : François Truffaut, Jean Gruault, Suzanne Schiffman, Frances Vernor Guille (Jean Dowson pour l'adaptation anglaise) d'après "Le Journal d'Adèle Hugo" de Frances Vernor Guille
Image : Nestor Almendros
Sound : Jean-Pierre Ruth
Music : Maurice Jaubert
Editing : Yann Dedet et Martine Barraqué
Screenplay : François Truffaut, Jean Gruault, Suzanne Schiffman, Frances Vernor Guille (Jean Dowson pour l'adaptation anglaise) d'après "Le Journal d'Adèle Hugo" de Frances Vernor Guille
Image : Nestor Almendros
Sound : Jean-Pierre Ruth
Music : Maurice Jaubert
Editing : Yann Dedet et Martine Barraqué
Production : Les Films du Carrosse, Les Productions Artistes Associés
Distribution: MK2
Distribution: MK2
The screenplay for The Story of Adèle H. was started before Anne and Muriel and had a long gestation period. It was based on Victor Hugo's youngest daughter's correspondence. "I took The Story of Adèle H. and got rid of everything that was exterior to Adèle. I didn't want to talk about the sun or the sky, for that matter, in a period piece. The film became more and more cramped, claustrophobic: the story of a face... (...) It's nothing but one long traveling close-up for the duration of the film. I wanted the public to see nothing but that face, to be interested in nothing but it, and to not be distracted by all that is picturesque. All the effects and my directing went toward this sense of seeing, hearing, rendering more intriguing, and eliminating everything decorative. (...) What interested me here was the possibility of telling the love story of one person." (F. Truffaut)