Soft Skin

“Coming in the wake of The 400 Blows, Shoot the Piano Player, and Jules and Jim, François Truffaut’s fourth feature, The Soft Skin, has never gotten much respect – even though many people (myself included) regard it as one of his best.

Opening with a moody blast of Georges Delerue’s score, the movie immediately establishes itself as a sort of domestic suspense film: Jean Desailly’s lit-crit superstar Pierre rushing from the bosom of his family to Orly Airport to barely catch a plane to Lisbon, where he is to give a lecture on Balzac. En route, he meets a beautiful flight attendant, Nicole (Françoise Dorléac), half his age and fascinated by French literature as well.

The excitement of the hook-up is palpable; when, perhaps on a whim, Nicole signals to Pierre that she’s interested in more than a one-night stand, he becomes all but unhinged. The Soft Skin is a movie about the agony and ecstasy of an extramarital affair. Truffaut treats it like a crime film – low-key yet tense, filled with carefully planted potential ‘clues’ and an undercurrent of anxiety. It’s not noir, but there’s never a moment when it isn’t clear how large a part chance plays in determining the course of not-so-lucky Pierre’s life.

– J. Hoberman, The Village Voice

Ecrivain en vogue, Pierre Lachenay est appelé à faire à Lisbonne une conférence sur un de ses livres. Une aventure amoureuse a lieu avec Nicole, hôtesse de son avion, aventure qui se transforme en liaison. Franca, la femme de Pierre, se montre possessive et contribue par son attitude au renforcement de la liaison. De son côté, Nicole, bien que pas très passionnée, semble s’y accrocher. Pour l’épouser, Pierre abandonne le domicile conjugal et essaie de provoquer un divorce. Franca s’y résout par orgueil, bien qu’incertaine de l’infidélité de Pierre. Mais, lorsqu’elle découvre des preuves de sa trahison, elle le tue en plein restaurant, au moment où Nicole vient de l’abandonner.

– Les Fiches du cinéma