Gérard Philipe is in prison but then (through a dream) finds himself in a place where no one has a memory. He knows he has to find Juliette (Suzanne Cloutier), but she proves elusive - an accordion player knows where she is, but won't tell him, for 'unhappiness lies that way'. When he does find her, she has no memory of their brief sojourn and it's not long before she's whisked away by an evil man (J.R. Caussimon) who turns out to be Bluebeard and they are to marry - though she presumably will then be murdered. About an hour in, Philipe wakes up and is released from prison through the intervention of his employer aka Bluebeard, who is going to marry Juliette. Totally distraught, he walks into a door marked 'Danger, Entrance forbidden' and finds himself back in the land of no memory, presumably, dead.
I wondered early on if this is all something to do with the Occupation, French people claiming not to remember their involvement.
It can't be 'don't have any memories - they make you unhappy'. Dreams provide escape?
It's a weird, interesting idea, done with commitment, beautifully filmed and composed (music Joseph Kosma, photography Henri Alekan, production design Alexander Trauner).
Play: George Neveux; adaptation Jacques Viot and Marcel Carné; dialogue: Georges Neveux.
A strange, beautiful, unforgettable experience, a sort of Last Year at Marienbad Jr.
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