Movie Mahal

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Danièle Delorme’s Catherine is a devilishly twisted take on the femme fatale but this isn’t strictly a noir in the traditional sense of the genre; more of a revenge thriller gone awry with Jean Gabin’s Andre as the target for their scorn. Julien Duvivier’s 1956 film Voici Le Temps Des Assassins (This is the time for murderers) is part of a paradigm of international or global film noir that makes for essential viewing for anyone striving for a broader geographical context of film genres and intertextual threads that bind them together. If I found myself teaching noir again then Danièle Delorme’s Catherine is certainly a variation of the femme fatale that I would consider situating and valuing alongside the iconic figures such as Phyllis (Double Indemnity) and Bridget (The Last Seduction).

Arguably what makes Catherine such an unconventional variation on the femme fatale trope is the unusually high levels of sympathy we have for her character. Despite Catherine’s cunningness, I found myself fervently hoping that she would navigate her way through the consequences of her scheming. Whereas Phyllis and Bridget evidence a sadistic streak, taking pleasure in their machinations, Catherine seems altogether benign and increasingly guilt ridden, unable to reconcile her sentiments for Gerard (Gerard Blain) whom she loves. Nevertheless, where Duvivier’s work does remain in line with the computations of the noir universe is in the doomed trajectory of Catherine who spirals out of control, unable to contend with nor contain the momentums of fatalism that eventually consume her.