Part of Star-Crossed Lovers, this month on Curzon12. When successful academic Pierre catches a glimpse of Nicole, a beautiful young air stewardess, his life changes forever. Setting out on a whirlwind affair of lust and secrecy, his comfortable, bourgeois family life will be thrown into disarray. As communication breaks down and morals disintegrate he finds himself caught in a trap with only one, tragically inevitable way out. One of Truffaut's more underrated films (often unfairly viewed in the shadow of 'The 400 Blows' and 'Jules & Jim'), 'The Soft Skin' is nevertheless one of his true gems. Wearing its Hitchcockian influences on its sleeve, it combines deft, suspenseful editing with beguiling, dreamlike imagery and vivid realism to depict an astounding vision of masculinity in crisis. Featuring one of the most shocking, memorable final scenes in film history it is an undeniable masterpiece and one of Truffaut's finest works.