L'Aventure de Mme Muir

A beautiful romantic film where the romance is that the two can never truly love each other. Yes, it's a ghost movie, but it certainly doesn't lack taste. Moreover, the central pair worked very well together. They're not as big stars as others of the era, but that doesn't matter at all because they're wonderfully pleasant and charismatic. Beautiful ending! (06/10/2014)

The transformation of a ghostly horror movie into an emancipation drama was just as surprising for me as the heroine’s reaction to the paranormal activity in her new home: “Haunted. How perfectly fascinating.” Mrs. Muir displays the same prudence later, when she comes to understand that the ghost of the sailor, whose actions make it clear to everyone that he is in charge (a phallic spyglass dominates several scenes), embodies long since discarded values and that it would be best if she accepted him as her collaborator, as the masculine side of herself. Only his advice can make her the mistress of her own domain. The film most urgently encourages us to not be afraid to dream in the final minutes. Because the film was directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who perfectly understood the weight of words but underestimated the power of images, the minutes preceding the ending are as agonisingly long as the wait for the man of one’s dreams. That ending, however, is heavenly. 80% (18/10/2013)