Mississippi Mermaid

Director: François Truffaut

1969 / 123min / 35mm

Adapted, like Truffaut’s The Bride Wore Black, from a crime novel by “William Irish” (a pseudonym of Cornell Woolrich), Mississippi Mermaid’s location-hopping tale of catastrophic amour fou begins on the Island of Réunion, where Jean-Paul Belmondo awaits the arrival of a mail order bride who might not be what she seems—though he doesn’t ask too many questions, since she’s Catherine Deneuve. A rueful and romantic journey in splendid widescreen from tropical heat to Mediterranean bliss to remote, snow-blown Alpine passes, featuring two of the most charismatic of French screen actors at peak power.

“St. Laurent and Deneuve’s third collaboration in 1969 has the star dressed to kill. Taking place partly on the island of Réunion, the film was the perfect vessel to highlight the designer’s vision for his 1968 Spring/Summer Rive Gauche collection, which drew heavily from safari and military dress aesthetics. Truffaut said of St. Laurent: ‘Of all the major couturiers, he is the biggest cinephile; he understood what film costumes were supposed to be and was able to conceive them in a way that could be adapted to different movements and styles.’” —David Campany, Creative Director, International Center of Photography

Distributor: The Film Desk

Part of Dressed by Yves Saint Laurent