Just Before Nightfall

Claude Chabrol's 1971 French-Italian crime drama Juste avant la nuit, released in English as Just Before Nightfall, is drawn from Edward Atiyah's 1951 novel The Thin Line. The story centers on a prosperous, married Paris advertising man, portrayed by Michel Bouquet, who inadvertently causes the death of his mistress. Instead of concealing what happened, he is consumed by remorse and a longing for redemption, which leads him to admit the truth both to his wife and to the victim's husband. Stéphane Audran plays opposite Bouquet, with François Périer, Jean Carmet and Michel Duchaussoy among the supporting players. Audran's work in the film brought her the BAFTA for Best Actress in a leading role. Produced by Cinegai S.p.A. and Les Films de la Boétie, the picture premiered in France on 31 March 1971.