The Story of Adèle H.

What kind of woman would wait her whole life for one man...? And what kind of man would deny her...?
L'Histoire d'Adèle H. (1975)
1:38 (98 min)
7.2/10
13 123
—
no scores
6.9/10
245
7.2/10
9900
Rate the movie:
Release date
Revenue
$763 000
Scenario
Frances Vernor Guille
Author
Composer
Producer
Photo Marcel Berbert
Marcel Berbert
Actors
Photo Isabelle Adjani
Isabelle Adjani
Adèle Hugo
Photo Bruce Robinson
Bruce Robinson
Lt. Albert Pinson
Photo Sylvia Marriott
Sylvia Marriott
Mrs. Saunders
Photo Joseph Blatchley
Joseph Blatchley
Mr. Whistler
Photo Ivry Gitlis
Ivry Gitlis
Hypnotist
Louise Bourdet
Victor Hugo's Servant
Cecil De Sausmarez
Mr. Lenoir
Ruben Dorey
Mr. Saunders
All actors and roles (10)

Short description

The Story of Adèle H. follows Adèle Hugo, the daughter of French writer Victor Hugo, during the 1860s. Living in exile with her family, she falls for a British officer, Lieutenant Albert Pinson, whose feelings for her are not returned. Refusing to accept his rejection, she travels across the Atlantic to Nova Scotia, and later onward, in order to win him back, adopting an assumed name along the way. Her pursuit becomes an obsession that steadily isolates her from the world around her.

François Truffaut directed the film, his eleventh of fourteen, arriving between Day for Night and Love on the Run. He wrote the screenplay with Suzanne Schiffman and Jean Gruault, and Marcel Berbert and Claude Miller produced through Les Films du Carrosse and Les Productions Artistes Associés. Isabelle Adjani plays Adèle, with Bruce Robinson as Pinson; Sylvia Marriott, Joseph Blatchley and Ivry Gitlis are among the credited cast of twenty-four.

The film dramatizes the life of a historical figure rather than inventing its subject, and it stands as a period piece within Truffaut's filmography. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7.2 from roughly 9,900 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.9 from around 242 votes. A critics' rating of 8.1 from thirty reviews places it above both audience scores.

What's left behind the scenes

  • François Truffaut appears in a cameo role as an officer whom the main character mistakes for Albert.
  • Initially, François Truffaut (1932-1984) considered filming a spectacular drama with Jeanne Moreau (1928-2017) in the lead role, but then he decided to cast Catherine Deneuve (with whom he was having an affair) as the protagonist. However, work on the film stretched out over 7 years, and in the end he chose actress Isabelle Adjani, whom he had once seen in a production at the Théâtre du Comédie-Française.

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