film

Adapted from Henry Farrell’s 1967 novel Such a Gorgeous Kid Like Me, Une belle fille comme moi (1972) finds François Truffaut on satirical form and taking aim at gender politics, manipulation and the fickle, malleable nature of "truth". Camille Bliss (Bernadette Lafont), is a magnetic, forceful young woman serving time in prison for the murder of her lover who becomes a repeated interview subject for Stanislas Prévine (André Dussollier), a sociologist researching female criminality. 

Camille recounts her life story to Stanislas, and we are left to wonder how much of what she says about being a victim of various abusive men is truth and what is manipulation. Lafont does a wonderful job in imparting Camille's sly charm and background hum of menace, and despite the subject matter, Truffaut opts for a slapstick tone with frequent nuggets of high comedy.