Les Biches

Directed by Claude Chabrol and released in 1968, the French-Italian drama Les Biches follows Frédérique, a wealthy woman who takes in a young drifter she meets on the street. Their intimacy grows strained when an architect named Paul enters their lives, creating a tense love triangle that drives the story toward a violent outcome. Stéphane Audran, Jacqueline Sassard and Jean-Louis Trintignant star. Though the film credits no literary source, it draws loosely on Patricia Highsmith's 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley, which co-writer Paul Gégauff had already adapted as Purple Noon in 1960. Regarded as one of the first French New Wave films to portray lesbian love openly, it earned Audran the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 18th Berlin International Film Festival.