The Soft Skin

1964

1h 59m

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

204

YOUR RATING

Rate

POPULARITY

Play trailer

1 Video

33 Images

Drama

Romance

Pierre Lachenay is a well-known publisher and lecturer, married to Franca and father of Sabine. He starts a love affair with air hostess Nicole, which Pierre is hiding, but he cannot stay away from her.

Directors

François Truffaut

Writers

Jean-Louis Richard(screenplay by)

François Truffaut(screenplay by)

Stars

Françoise Dorléac

Jean Desailly

Nelly Benedetti

See production, box office & company info

Videos1

Trailer
Watch The Soft Skin (1964) - Trailer

Photos33

Top cast

Nicole

Pierre Lachenay

Franca Lachenay

Clément

Ingrid

Directeur Cinéma Reims

Odile

Bontemps

Sabine Lachenay

La Secrétaire Dominique

Michel

Chanoine

Lisbon Organizer (uncredited)

Georges de Givray

Le Père de Nicole (uncredited)

Catherine-Isabelle Duport

Jeune Fille Reims (uncredited)

Maximiliènne Harlaut

Mme. Leloix (uncredited)

Charles Lavialle

Veilleur Hôtel Michelet (uncredited)

Directors

François Truffaut

Writers

Jean-Louis Richard(screenplay by)

François Truffaut(screenplay by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

User reviews1

Review

Featured review

5/10

Paris's then-brand-new Orly airport and the still novel phenomenon of air travel form the backdrop for Francois Truffaut's 1964 feature LA PEAU DOUCE ("The Soft Skin"). Pierre (Jean Desailly) is a French publisher who has established an enviable successful bourgeois life and home, married to Italian wife Franca (Nelly Benedetti) and with a little girl. But on a trip to Portugal for a conference, Pierre gives into a fling with his stewardess Nicole (Françoise Dorléac). They struggle to keep their affair secret, and Pierre is torn between a desire to fully give himself to his mistress, or hang on to his family life. LA PEAU DOUCE is essentially a study in how adultery is no fun at all. The initial thrills that Pierre gets from bedding the vivacious young Nicole are soon effaced by the sheer difficulty and annoyance of keeping all their arrangements secret, and the awkwardness of their relationship when they can never be public about it. Through long shots on faces by cinematographer Raoul Coutard, the film depicts the awkwardness of two people nervous they are going to be caught out at any moment. Truffaut made his name as a key figure in the French New Wave and his first several films maintain a zany, deliberately provocative style. LA PEAU DOUCE marks a turn in his career towards more conventional filmmaking; you'll find here little of the brashness of prior work like "Shoot the Piano Player" or "Jules et Jim". One might detect here an affinity with the carefully composed work of Hitchcock; certainly the close of LA PEAU DOUCE takes us towards conventional thriller territory. Ultimately this is not one of Truffaut's best films; it is entertaining enough on a single viewing, but there is a real lack of rewatch value here. Yet for fans of the Sixties, the film has considerable appeal as a snapshot of what French society thought about air travel and their new Orly airport. (Truffaut's chum Jean-Luc Godard in his "Une femme mariee" of the same year, was also fascinated by Orly and what it represented.)

CRCulver25 Jul, 2018