The Trout (French: La Truite) is a 1982 French drama film directed and co-written by Joseph Losey and starring Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Daniel Olbrychski, Jacques Spiesser, Isao Yamagata, Jeanne Moreau and Craig Stevens in his final film role. It is based on Roger Vailland's 1964 novel.
The film premiered in-competition at the 39th Venice International Film Festival, and was released in France by Gaumont on 22 September 1982. It won Best Cinematography at the 8th César Awards, and was nominated for Best Production Design.
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Plot
Traumatized since her childhood, Frederique - nicknamed the Trout - retaliates against men by seducing them to exploit them without ever giving herself. She marries Galuchat, a homosexual, and lives for a while in Japan with Saint-Genis, a businessman whom she met at the same time as a rich couple, the Ramberts.
Production
The Trout was originally planned to be released in the 1960s, with Brigitte Bardot in the lead role. Shooting took place on-location in France and Japan, and at Joinville Studios.
Reception
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, The Trout holds a rating of 60%, based on 10 reviews.
In a review for Film Comment, Elliott Stein called it "Losey's best film in a decade" and "plum pudding for auteurists."
Bob Baker for Time Out wrote, "Losey's penultimate film is one of his most assured, depicting with unusual objectivity the impact of a type of personality met with in life from time to time, but not often in the movies."