Soft Skin [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

After twelve years of marriage, Pierre (Jean Desailly), a middle-aged literary professional, entertains thoughts of adultery. Returning from a trip to Portugal, he meets airline attendant Nicole (Francoise Dorleac) who captures his attention. Soon after, they begin dating and he falls in love. His wife, Franca (Nelly Benedetti), becomes suspicious of his behavior and catches him in a lie. The two agree upon divorce, but when Franca finds out the whole truth, a mere divorce will not satisfy her. A few short years after the success of Francoise Truffaut's Jules et Jim, came La Peau Douce/The Soft Skin--another story about a love triangle. In this case, however, the story is not about the depth of friendship and love between the unusual characters as in Jules, but about superficial desires of ordinary people in a "modern" world. Highly regarded cinematographer Raoul Coutard often worked with Truffaut in the sixties (Tirez Sur le Pianiste/Shoot the Pianist, Jules et Jim), though his success was not confined to only Truffaut's direction (Jean-Luc Godard's A bout de souffle/Breathless and Contempt, Jacques Demy's Lola and Costra-Gavras' Z among others).