One sun-drenched morning, Julie (Jeanne Moreau) comes out of a church in a white dress on the arm of a boy called David whom she has loved since childhood. As the bells ring and the wedding party poses for the photographer, a shot rings out. David falls onto the church steps, and Julie becomes a widow on her wedding day. Devastated by grief, Julie hatches a plan to seek murderous revenge on the five men who destroyed her life. Hitchcock’s influence is apparent in the ingenious plotting, Bernard Herrmann’s score and the meticulous performances.

Notes by David O Mahony

This film screens as part of the François Truffaut season, May 7th to 31st.