david lean film madeleine tell the true story of madeleine smith and a young woman from an upper class scottish family and who be try for murder her lover in 1857. the case and which be a medium sensation in it day and end with ms. smith be release after the jury reach the verdict of not prove and which and in scottish law and mean there wasn not enough evidence to convict her but sufficient evidence to entertain doubt about her innocence . the movie maintain the same ambiguity about her guilt or innocence of the crime and indeed end with a voice over narrator ask the title character a to whether she be guilty or innocent . she just look at the camera and give a vague half smile that could mean either of the two . the strength of the film be considerable . the lighting and overall cinematography give the film both a wonderful victorian era feel and a film noir aspect a well . indeed and the film have much in common with film noir aside from the lighting . the story and like many noir film and have a dubious heroine who lead a fundamentally disadvantage man and in this case and a lover from the wrong side of the track economically and socially and to his destruction . indeed and give the situation present in the film and the lover couldn not have realistically expect madeleine domineering and strict father to have ever accept him give his poor social and economic prospect . add into the mix be madeleine own ambivalent handling of their relationship and promise one moment to tell her father about them and then plead it be too difficult to do so . a history indeed bore out and it be a recipe for personal disaster . my main criticism of the film be that virtually nothing be tell of how madeleine manage to meet her lover in the first place . some account i have read indicate that they first meet in a glasgow park . i think lean should have show that meet to show how madeleine have a mind of her own and how willing she be to defy her conventional and strict victorian father . that would have add to the ambiguity of madeleine character and seemingly compliant to the demand of her family in term of love and marriage and yet defiant of them as well . still and the performance and especially ann todd a the title character and be top notch and this be a film well worth see . a i have say and this be the close david lean come to film noir that i have see .