The Bride of Darkness (1945)
Sylvie, a young woman who believes to be cursed, lives in the town of Carcassonne with her guardian, Mr. Toulzac. He is a retired teacher who wishes to discover the secret of the Cathars, a Christian sect of the Middle Ages that glorified death over life. Sylvie meets Roland, a composer who instills new hope into her troubled mind. Mr. Toulzac then asks her then to renounce the world and go down a secret tomb he has just found.
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Reviews
Good concept, poorly executed.
This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
So many good ideas at a time when France was still under the German occupation;the director was constantly watched by an officer who used to keep a close watch on his shooting."La fiancée des ténèbres" belongs to the fantasy genre ,with such works as Carné 's "les visiteurs du soir" (1942) and Delannoy-Cocteau's "l'éternel retour" (1943), escapist cinema ,although "les visiteurs" featured veiled hints at resistance and "l'eternel retour",on the other hand, was accused of germanophilia."La fiancée des ténèbres" could have surpassed those two works but it did not.The problem lies in the fact that Poligny did not correctly connect all the links of the chain.And however the screenplay opened huge opportunities:Set in Carcassone,with its ramparts of the MIddle Ages ,filmed on location,the pictures were splendid.The "Cathares" ,these "heretics " who were burned alive by King Saint (sic) Louis provided the movie with an unusual historical subject.The schoolteacher's adoptive daughter,who thinks she brings bad luck to anyone -and a lot of bizarre events tend to prove her right-.The darkness in the subterraneans and then the luminous landscapes where the lovers find a fleeting refuge."La fiancée des ténèbres" ('fiancée of darkness") could have been so much more.All the elements are scattered .A remake would not be a bad idea for a change.
Two exciting stories which became one (a lady who wants a lover but brought only death - a man who is looking for the Albigeois). Not very spectacular, nicely directed but the author seems to be afraid of the genre. It's a pity.