There is a lot of darkness in Francois Truffaut’s films, but he never had a well-developed sense of tragedy.  We see that in 1972’s Two English Girls.  He could certainly handle pathos, though, and we see this too in Girls’ terrifically lyrical framework.  The film tells of Claude, a Frenchman who slowly becomes amorously and then sexually involved with Muriel and Anne, the two English girls of the title.  It’s a lesser movie than Jules and Jim and even The Story of Adele H. (both by Truffaut) because it’s rather talky and most of the acting ranges from bad to mediocre.  But, like other Truffaut films, it is guileless, humane and personal—in its own way, rewarding.

Two English Girls (Les Deux Anglaises) is based on a novel by Henri-Pierre Roche.

(In French with English subtitles)

Two English Girls

Two English Girls (Photo credit: Wikipedia)