Second Twin, The (Blu-ray Review)
Director
Christian-JaqueRelease Date(s)
1966 (April 21, 2026)Studio(s)
Agnes Delahaie Productions/Explorer Films/Valoria Films (Kino Lorber Studio Classics)- Film/Program Grade: A-
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: A-
- Extras Grade: B-
Review
The mostly very negative user reviews for The Second Twin (La seconde vérité, 1966)—“Nothing exciting,” “Boring, predictable, useless!” etc.—are rather puzzling. The term “Hitchcockian” is overly and often inaptly applied to too many mystery-thrillers, but in this case, Chistian-Jacque’s film, adapted from Jean Laborde’s story Un homme à part entire (“A Man in His Own Right”), really is rather Hitchcock-like, both in its premise and strong visual style. It’s not particularly groundbreaking in any way, but it is slickly made with its story entertainingly told.
It opens atmospherically with the murder of Olivier Lacat (Jean-Claude Rolland). Police question married celebrity lawyer Pierre Montaud (Robert Hossein) and his mistress, Nathalie Neuville (Michèle Mercier), who works as a DJ at a popular club, and possibly the former girlfriend of the victim. As Montaud’s fingerprints are found on the murder weapon, he becomes the prime suspect, though he insists he is innocent.
In flashbacks the movie audience learns more about their relationship. Meeting at the club through Montaud’s intern, Vadin (Bernard Tiphaine), Nathalie and Montaud fall passionately in love almost instantly, despite his marriage and Lacat’s obvious romantic interest in her. Yet, despite the obvious deep emotions each feels for the other, Montaud is weak-willed and unable to extract himself from his loveless but convenient marriage to Hélène (Malka Robowska). Montaud repeatedly breaks promises to Nathalie to divorce Hélène, and he too often cancels at the last-minute other plans they make to spend time together, he trying to assuage his guilt and her growing frustration with expensive gifts. When she’s finally had enough and finally breaks off their romance, he threatens her with his gun. Back to the present, where he’s tried for the murder of Lacat.
The Second Twin is well-acted and visually imaginative throughout, maintaining a momentum that belies its 92-minute running time (including exit music). In the manner of Hitchcock, wherever possible director Christian-Jaque moves the story along visually, and rather interestingly, cuts a lot of fat by not bothering with unimportant narrative matters. For instance, Montaud’s trial isn’t shown; there are no courtroom scenes at all. Rather, the movie is much more interested in how the verdict and its aftereffects impact Montaud and his behavior, all of which is intriguing. The picture is stylized—the director favors Dutch angles—but not overly so, and the transitions from scene-to-scene are almost refreshingly abrupt and even a little jarring at times. Filmed in Eastman Color and Franscope, a CinemaScope/Panavision variant, the work of cinematographer Pierre Petit is excellent, very atmospheric and which makes good use of the somewhat usual locations, mostly in Dijon and Nice.
Most films in which one or both characters are having an extramarital affair are told from the point-of-view of a single character, one or the other, but not commonly both. But in The Second Twin the screenplay shows how Montaud’s weakness leads to unnecessary suffering and destructiveness for both sides. Unlike many French actors of his generation, Robert Hossein was not averse to playing such unmanly, unassertive, and mildly unlikeable characters, and he does a fine job playing a part that’s anything but predictable, even if one can guess the story’s outcome before the fade-out. Michèle Mercier, Hossein’s equal, likewise delivers a thoughtful performance and creates a very credible character.
The picture’s sub-themes and supporting characters are also interesting. Partly, the second-half of the story shows how the court of public opinion often trumps legal rulings, resulting in more injustice and destructiveness. Seemingly small interactions, like Pierre’s relationship with devoted secretary Suzanne (Pascale de Boysson), who obviously is in love with him, too, are intriguingly done.
Another winner, Kino’s Blu-ray of The Second Twin, licensed from StudioCanal, utilizes a 4K restoration of this Eastman Color and 2.35:1 presentation. The image is clean and sharp with excellent detail and color. The DTS-HD Master Audio (2.0 mono) is also fine, in French with optional English subtitles. The disc itself is Region “A” encoded.
The lone extra is a new audio commentary track by critic and author Simon Abrams. Above average, it delves deeply into the film’s background and themes.
The Second Twin, whose English title is meaningless—the French title translates to “The Second Truth,” which makes far more sense—has a familiar mystery-thriller plot but is so well made the film retains strong interest throughout. Highly recommended.
- Stuart Galbraith IV