Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

morrison-dylan-fan Aware of upcoming challenges on ICM to watch as many French films and 70's flicks in a month, I took a look at the 70's credits of auteur François Truffaut. Getting Small Change from a local shop, I searched on Amazon for a tantalising second title,and got set to meet Adele H.View on the film:Taking 7 years to reach the screen after plans for it to be a grand-scale epic starring either Jeanne Moreau or Catherine Deneuve, the limitations placed on co-writer/(with regular collaborators Suzanne Schiffman and Jean Gruault) directing auteur François Truffaut to go small-scale actually benefit the title,as Truffaut reunites with cinematographer Jacqueline Guyot and weaves the camera along the crumbling 1860's streets of Halifax, Nova Scotia,where Adele's red dress stands out like a shimmering light. Working on their second historical/Costume Drama after the magnificent The Wild Child, Truffaut and Guyot expand on the classical elegance of Child with New Wave stylisation seamlessly blended in of an eye-catching crane shot across a see-through building, and icy waves of overlapping images bringing to shore the drowned memories of Adele.Telling the story from Adele's own diary,the writers cleverly adapt her words with the themes across all of Truffaut's work,with the young Adele being detached from her parents in Nova Scotia,and desperately grasping for a love that will never make her fulfilled. Taking on a roll that titans Moreau and Deneuve had their eyes on for years, 20 year old Isabelle Adjani gives an extremely charismatic performance as Adele,whose experience with schizophrenia is treated with great sensitivity by Adjani,that is matched by Adjani's wide-eyed passionate young love,for the story of Adele. H.

evening1 Did anyone else think Pinson intended to kill Adele on that Barbados back street, until he realized that he had finally driven her insane? Bruce Robinson plays the wormy cad to a T, but amazing kudos go to Adjani, as the deeply suffering heart of what Truffaut dubbed his "love story for one." I realize that Adele was an obsessive, masochistic, lying stalker. But she also suffered from the vicarious trauma of her sister's drowning in addition to probably having a tendency toward mental illness. What a case study in the truism that money can't buy you love!Let's not trivialize this great film by reducing it to a "fatal attraction" for the 19th century. What woman hasn't found herself in the position of having given herself to a man only to be callously cast aside?Truffaut beautifully captures the ineffable helplessness of being in this excruciating position.I first saw this film back in 1975 as an undergraduate at Penn State, while majoring in English. I remember telling a poet friend, "I wish I wrote as much as Adele did!" I'd like to believe I have aged as admirably as this powerful work.

jlwalker19-1 I don't know how historically accurate this film is. However, it is a very powerful performance by Isabelle Adjani. In this movie she is simply one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen.She plays the tormented daughter of Victor Hugo. She follows her love to Newfoundland, as he has been transferred there by his country's military authorities. He has broken off the engagement. However she pursues him relentlessly.Very few films can match this one in the portrayal of obsessive love. The scenery is very beautiful and the acting performances very convincing.I've heard this has been deemed a kind of cult film, for a certain following. I would think it would have broader appeal. It speaks to the hearts of millions of people who have become obsessive in their love for another person who does not return the feeling. A kind of ultimate unrequited love.I could watch this movie anytime, over and over.

MartinHafer This is an incredibly sad movie to watch because you know that Adele was a REAL person who lived an incredibly screwed up and sad life. She was completely wrapped up in her dream of marrying a British soldier--so much that she followed him across the Atlantic, tells her parents she married him (after he repeatedly refused to do so) and planned the details of her life around this obsession. Slowly, she moves from a form of Obsessive-Compulsive disorder to Schizophrenia and it is especially apparent in the last portion of the movie.I really liked Isabelle Adjani's acting--she and the director (Truffaut) really pulled you into her world and it seemed quite poignant. However, the treatment of her love (who was completely indifferent to her) seemed rather superficial. Despite the pains she put him through, his emotional range in response to this MINIMAL and this is the biggest drawback in the movie. However, as the movie is HER story and this is handled so well, I still give the movie a 9. It could have gotten a 10 if it explored him better and if it explained WHY Adele's famous father (Victor Hugo) did so little to stop her on her self-destructive decline. He only acted once she was undeniably mad.