Last week, I watched Original Sin (2001, Antonio Banduras and Angelina Jolie). Going into the film, I was completely clueless that it was a remake of Mississippi Mermaid (1969), and I'm guessing many or most viewers of Original Sin would likewise be surprised to learn about the original. I only happened to see one user review mention Mississippi Mermaid in its review of Original Sin, and it made me curious. Even that review was a little incomplete, as it didn't mention that this film was written and directed by legendary film director François Truffaut. To me, it was almost like watching a remake of a film originally done by Hitchcock, without somehow knowing that Hitchcock did the film first...
(I should point out, sometimes it happens the other way. For example, I just watch The War of the Roses, 1989, not even knowing that the remake, The Roses, came out in 2025. Do I plan to see The Roses? I may, but not anytime soon.)
Mississippi Mermaid starts off with multiple voiceovers of people reading their short personal ads. They all list the briefest of bios in the paper, all looking not for someone to date, but for someone to marry, apparently sight unseen. It's amazing to think that these marital ads were a real thing, and Wikipedia has a whole entry for it. The first known marital ad was placed in a newspaper in 1695, and the Wikipedia entry even includes a section on theft, fraud, and murder. I always thought that "catfishing" was a relatively new phenomena, but apparently, it's been going on for centuries.
In the film, Louis (Jean-Paul Belmondo) owns a cigarette factory on Reunion Island, which is a small French-controlled island just east of Mozambique. When the film was shot, it probably had a population of around 400,000 people. The island itself was originally inhabited in the 17th century, when, at least according to Louis, 1,000 settlers came to this remote island to start a new life. Of the 1,000, only 32 were women, and most of the women died during the voyage. Of the 5 who survived, Louis says, one was his great-great-great-grandmother. He tells this all to Julie (Catherine Deneuve), or at least the person who claims to be Julie. Julie has just arrived by ship, the Mississippi, in response to Louis's marital ad.
The odd thing about Julie: she looks nothing like the photo she sent. She apologizes for not being truthful, explaining her reasons for using a fake photo. Louis forgives the deception, soon after admitting that he too had been deceptive, saying that he was just the foremen of the cigarette factory when he, in fact, owned the factory.
They marry and everything seems to be going along well. Louis gives Julie complete access to his bank account, and very quickly into the film, she steals his money and disappears.
Original Sin adds a few "clues" to prepare us for this happening. Mississippi Mermaid just let's it happen. Julia will later have a chance to explain who she is and why she did what she did. But the entire second half of the film is Julia and Louis trying to figure out how to stay married. It's a much longer part of the plot than in Original Sin, which kind of saves that "staying married" aspect to the very end. It's a lot more about the revenge angle and the chase to find the "catfisher" than Mississippi Mermaid.
Reunion Island is about a 15-hour flight from France, but when Julie steals his money, he hopes on a flight to Nice, France. How does he know Julie went there? It's never explained. Nevertheless, he miraculously finds her without much effort, and he has a gun. He plans to shoot her, but when he has his chance, he has second thoughts. Julie gives him her sob story, and for whatever reason, Louis admits he's still in love with her. They decide to "go on the lamb" and hide from the private investigator he previously hired to find her.
My major problem with the film is the parts it leaves unexplained, as well as the major "coincidences" -- like just being able to fly 15-hours away and find the person you're looking for. The ending, too, is bizarre. Has Julie been slowly poisoning Louis with rat poison in his coffee? If so, why? And if so, why would Louis be knowingly drinking the poison-laced coffee? They've been hiding out together in a cabin, but the ending of the movie has them walk off together in the snow. To where? And why has Julie all of a sudden had a change of heart? Nothing is really resolved or explained at the end. They're just walking off together into the snow...
I really thought I would like this version better than Original Sin, but in the end, it had too many plot issues...
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