The Adultress

I consider The Adultress to be one of the most interesting French films of the first half of the 1950s, with the perspective of time having gone by. This title is fully functional even today. By shifting Zola's original book half a century ahead, the motivations and mental processes of the (anti)heroes may seem a bit strange, but at least one realizes how fundamentally social morality has changed over the past few decades. Divorces and the general breakdown of families were considered serious failures, a disgrace during Zola's time, which everyone tried to avoid at all costs. Then, the two world wars shook society so much that divorce quickly became something acceptable and common. Overall impression: 80%. (13.02.2013)