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I love this movie so much

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

A riveting modernization of the eponymous Emile Zola novel, THÉRÈSE RAQUIN chronicles the adulterous infatuation between a burly truck-driver and the beautiful, badgered wife of his feeble colleague that results in murder, blackmail and psychological-damnation. Marcel Carné deftly taps into the mechanics of American film-noir of the 1940s with conspicuous blending of plots of two celebrated James M. Cain classics: "DOUBLE INDEMNITY" & "THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE" and skilfully harmonizes it with the drab and monotonous lifestyle of the French bourgeoisie. There are subtle nods to Hitchcock's "BLACKMAIL" and uncanny parallels with Park Chan-Wook's "THIRST" (which in retrospect make perfect sense as Park also borrowed significantly from the Zola novel.)Simone Signoret is phenomenal as the titular lead and her transformation from a browbeaten wife trapped in a loveless marriage to a sympathetic femme-fatale is adroitly handled. Her restrained turn might seem too stoic at first but she exudes volumes through her apathetic veneer. Raf Vallone (reminiscent of a brooding Burt Lancaster) is convincing as the impulsive truck driver who's determined on unshackling Thérèse from her oppressive, wretched existence. Roland Lesaffre's addition as the greasy, opportunistic sailor further strengthens the elements of suspense in the story. The naturalistic B+W photography is excellent and maintains a healthy balance between carefully choreographed claustrophobic scenarios and exquisite exterior compositions.Thérèse Raquin represents French film-making of the old school where storytelling was paramount and is recommended to connoisseurs of classic film-noir

Therese (Simone Signoret) is unhappily married to Camille (Jacques Duby) and lives with him and his mother Madame Raquin (Sylvie) who is also her aunt. Basically, she's married to her cousin ....in the tradition of all royal families.....Anyway, the mother is over-protective of her son and critical of Therese while Camille is a spoilt brat who is rather feeble in both character and health yet tries to maintain a bullying stand with his wife. A good example of "small man syndrome". Not surprisingly, Therese is not happy with her lot. She meets Laurent (Raf Vallone) and they fall in love. Laurent wants her to leave with him immediately and confesses to their affair to Camille. Camille's solution is to take Therese away for a break where he intends to lock her up so that no-one can get to her. They get on a train for the journey but Laurent has other ideas. A passenger on the train, Michaud (Marcel Andre) also has other ideas........Do the lovers get away?The film is slow moving so there are moments when you think "come on lets develop this story a bit quicker!" The acting is good from the main players and Marcel Andre has a definite Robert Mitchum look to him, if slightly camp. The ending is a mess that doesn't work itself out clearly. You will need to make assumptions as to what is probably going to be the outcome. I suspect that this was not the intention as we are offered the twist at the end. However, it doesn't work because of the circumstances. Its alright but I thought it was going to be a better film than it was.

When a woman who has never known love or happiness has a chance at both, everyone in her orbit suffers the consequences.Very loosely based on Emile Zola's 1867 novel of adulterous lust, murder, torment, and poetic justice, Marcel Carne's THERESE RAQUIN stayed true to the spirit of the Realist movement as a character study of a woman undone by the pressures of her environment. Therese (Simone Signoret) is so resigned to her life and it's injustices -and so misguided in her obligations to it- that her story could easily have been subtitled "The Misfortunes Of Virtue". Long past quiet desperation, Therese has anesthetized herself to a dismal future and when her husband's new-found friend, Laurent (Raf Vallone), falls for her it's impossible for the woman to break free from her self-imposed prison. The love she feels for Laurent nearly stirs her to action but ultimately the affair only emphasizes a "No Exit" situation. Passion and premeditated murder characterized both the Zola horror novel and Luchino Visconti's James M. Cain-inspired OSSESSIONE (to which Carne's film has been erroneously compared) but here they have been eliminated and an inexorable fatalism have taken their place. Therese's existence is self-fulfilling prophesy and her bad karma literally and figuratively drain the life out of her husband and his mother, her lover, and even her blackmailer. Bitter irony is only the natural course of events and the black cat she keeps as a pet symbolizes the bad luck its mistress brings; when Therese's lover kills her husband in a fit of anger, the attempt to cover it up only hastens their love's pre-ordained end. Adapting Emile Zola is an ambitious undertaking; the effects of heredity and surroundings are key in his works but so is the sex and savagery inherent in the human beast and it can't be cut out without emasculating the whole. There's some passion in Vallone's Laurent before Signoret's inverted Emma Bovary begins to have an effect on him but not enough to carry a film. Director Marcel Carne took a theme or two beloved of Zola as well as Film Noir and, by having the heroine sleepwalk to her fate, created a strangely numbing portrait of dashed dreams in a bourgeoisie trap with no way out. Setting the tale in the present instead of the late 1800s when women's options were far more limited only diluted the theme of an oppressive environment's effects. On the plus side, the world-view is very downbeat-dark and should have been a "noirist's" delight because it ended badly for everyone, including the peripheral characters -and when that happens, it's the film's philosophy and universe. Happiness here can only come at the expense of others: Therese's husband and his mother's happiness came at a cost to Therese and her shot at happiness was devastating to them. The war hero/blackmailer's dreams were extorted from both Therese and Laurent while Laurent's happiness was undercut by the one who made him happy. A truly ugly world ...and, honestly, why bother living in it? Unhappy fates are a given and not even the ruthless who care nothing for what it costs others can never attain what they really want -or if they do get it, its not for very long. All of this is great "noir" ...but what happened in it's filmic depiction? There's some great symbolism that show the care and effort Carne et al put into this: The black cat (Therese's luckless lot) was put outside while the lady entertained Laurent in her room (the only happiness she'd ever know) but old Mme. Raquin brought it right back to her door; Therese doted on the omen which signifies an embrace of her fate. Those weekly games of chance were a metaphor for life and contains a favorite noir theme concerning existence: "You can't win, you can't break even, you can't even quit the game". Here, if you do win, you've either cheated or are accused of it and, of course, it always comes at a price to someone else. I should have been depressed looking in on their world ...or angry ...or something as the end credits rolled -and that's just it -I wasn't moved at all. Could that have been what Carne intended all along? To be as deadened to the proceedings as Therese was to her life? There are a few suspenseful moments, a superb supporting cast, some beautiful Lyon scenery, a touch of homo eroticism, and train scenes reminiscent of LA BETE HUMAINE/HUMAN DESIRE, but a Zola-inspired tale doesn't guarantee deliciously dark entertainment and the film is neither recommended nor to be avoided.Kino has used a pristine print for its DVD transfer and this weighs in its favor but the lack of extras doesn't.

I'll have to disagree with some of the more negative comments about this film. Marcel Carne has succeeded beautifully in capturing the mood and major themes of Zola's novel in THERESE RAQUIN. It's nice to see a film from the period dealing with common working class people caught up in the turmoil of love and everyday life. The main romantic leads initially seem a little mismatched but by film's end the ice has more than melted between them. How many times have we seen the female lead fall too quickly for her suitor. Here it takes its sweet time and plays the better for it. Signoret's titular character seems almost a bit too stoic but considering her numbingly bland and lenghty marital situation, it may well be authentic. As many women are in reality, Therese is fiercely loyal to her husband, whether he deserves it or not. The ruggedly handsome Raf Vallone is ideally cast as the trucker who steals her attention and makes a good contrast to her dishrag of a husband. A blackmailing sailor who appears in the middle of the film before making a menacing reappearance near the end is very effectively played by Rolland leSaffre. He is as creepy as Robert Mitchum in CAPE FEAR. Do seek this one out and enjoy the ride!