MovieChat Forums > Le souffle au coeur (1971) Discussion > The disconcerting brown teeth of Clara

The disconcerting brown teeth of Clara


Why is Clara depicted with such blatantly dirty teeth? Perhaps it is the actress' actual dental colour, due to coffee, red wine and cigarettes. But it also gives the impression of a rather sleazy person, especially with her bohemian background and her having an out of wedlock child at the age of 16. She thoroughly revels in the scandals of her past, conducts herself like a slut with the lover, with whom she callously departs, leaving her sick little Renzino alone. And the drunken behaviour at the 14 juillet party--come on. To top it all off, there is that bit of careless incestuous copulation, as if Mamma wanted to get in on the action with her little boy just as he is coming into sexual maturity--at 14! And what fun it is to have a good laugh en famille as Papa, unknowingly double cuckolded by his own son as well as the cast off lover, and sons hilariously cackle away at the sight of their grown up little man, sneaking around the hotel barefoot after a very busy and sick night indeed. Yes, those brown teeth tell it all. Ha, ha.

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After reading this thread, I made a point of looking at her teeth the last time I saw the film. I don't know what format you were watching, but on the high-quality Criterion DVD, her teeth are white.

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I didn't notice anything about her teeth either (I watched it streaming on Hulu).

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I noticed that they were less than blindingly white. However, in general, many older films have actors who do not possess the perfect cosmetically enhanced teeth of the 21st century.

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