Vivement Dimanche!
By Kit Macdonald
Released internationally as Confidentially Yours, Vivement Dimanche! (1983) is the spirited final feature by François Truffaut, who died a year after it was released at the age of just 52. Shot in gloriously striking black and white, the film pays homage to classic film noir but infuses it with Truffaut’s trademark wit and affection for genre cinema.
The story follows Barbara Becker, played with memorable energy by Fanny Ardant, who incidentally was Truffaut's partner for three years until his death. She plays a resourceful secretary who finds herself investigating a series of murders after her boss, a real estate agent named Julien Vercel (played by Jean-Louis Trintignant), becomes the prime suspect in a double murder case. Vivement Dimanche! is a fitting final communique from a true master that beautifully expresses his cinephilic devotion to American thrillers and his lifelong admiration for Alfred Hitchcock.