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A collection of eight films by acclaimed director Claude Chabrol,
France's answer to Alfred Hitchcock and one of the masters
of the French New Wave. This limited edition collector's boxed
set includes: Les Biches (1968), La Femme Infidele
(1969), Que La Bete Meure (1969), Le Boucher
(1969), Juste Avant Le Nuit (1971), Les Noches
Rouges (1973), Nada (1974) and Madame Bovary
(1991)...
Frederique
a dissolute bisexual woman picks up Why, an impoverished Parisian
female artist, whisking her away to Saint Tropez, where she
is introduced to Frederiques bizarre gay house guests. Things
go well at first until both women fall for Paul and set in
motion a ménage-a-tois that is destined to end in disaster...
Les
Biches is often held as one of Claude Chabrol's better
films and the one that started a period of consistently good
film making which included classics like Le Boucher
and La Femme Infidèle. The films main character is
played by the enigmatic, Stephane Audran, who stared in many
of Charbol's films of this period and often provided the seething
sexual centre around which many of the plots of infidelity
and sexual moral corruption revolved. Of course, it never
hurts to be the director's wife, but this shouldn't detract
from her abilities as an actress.
Each
of the characters, in the film, languishes in such a state
of ennui that it's difficult to engage with them as people.
Each works better as a cipher of the decline in the French
class system, a degenerate middle classes who have lost their
way in a sea of hedonism. Indeed, it is unlikely that it is
not a deliberate choice that one of the central characters
is called Why, played by Jasqueline Sassard, a question that
is at the centre of the films premise, as the characters often
engage with each other in an almost motiveless way. In this
the film is more about style over content, the narrative is
thin at best but then this is a character study rather than
the thrillers that Chabrol is better known for.
The character of Paul, played by Jean-Louis Trintignant, likewise
is introduced only to add conflict and provide a resolution
to the film. We learn almost nothing about him and as a lamb
to the slaughter we don't really need to.
The
disc has nothing in the way of extras, audio is stereo and
the subtitles are burnt in, normally this isn't a problem
but whoever chose the colour and font for the subtitles should
be shot as they are way too big and bright and actually detract
from the film.
Overall,
its defiantly one to add to your collection, especially if
you like French New Wave cinema.
Charles discovers that his wife is having an affair and so
sets about finding all he can about her infidelity; however
knowledge can come at a price and in some cases can lead to
tragedy....
La
Femme Infidele,
is another Chabrol exploration into the sexual moirés of the
French middle classes. Even from the first few scenes it's
evident that things are not right with this family. Stephane
Audran, who plays the wife Helene with all her usual cool
sensualit, seems unable to interest her husband. Even when
she lays herself out on the bed in a skimpy night-dress all
he can do is roll over and go to sleep; Charles, played by
Michel Bouquet, is cold and aloof dividing his time between
rubbish television and his work. When we first encounter the
family, the soft focus shot gives an impression of a perfectly
tranquil family life. Over the course of the film Chabrol
explores just how many lies and buried destructive emotions
can hide beneath such a falsehood.
The
film is not really about love, Helene seems to be very unloved
by Charles, it's really about territory and possession. You
don't really get the feeling from Bouquet's performance that
Charles really gives a fig if his wife is unhappy, just as
long as she is unhappy and faithful.
The nice twist in Charles' character is that initially instead
of confronting his wife directly with her infidelity he hires
a private detective. Everyone in the film seems to be worried
about keeping up appearances and the social niceties, so it's
a stroke of genius that Charles goes from slightly embarrassed
to murderous when he kills the lover Victor Pegala, played
by Maurice Ronet. But not before Charles and Victor sit down
like reasonable men to discuss Helene's infidelity in great
detail. At first this is more than a little creepy; can Charles
love his wife so little that he wants to know all the intimate
details of her time with her lovers? It is only after Charles
has killed Victor and his odd behaviour in the flat that you
understand that this is an act of not only retribution but
also repossession. Victor is left with nothing private; he
even shows Charles the bed they slept in.
La Femme Infidele is not really about a woman's infidelity,
indeed Audran does not appear that much in the film, rather
it's a film about one mans journey through jealousy and murder.
Once again, it's not really the type of thriller that Chabrol
made his name with, but a great film none the less from his
most inventive film making period.
The
DVD comes with no extras, a mono soundtrack but thankfully
a nice sharp picture with no intrusive subtitles, set as they
are in the black boarder.
Charles Thenier, a writer, is bringing up his son alone. When
his son is killed by a hit and run driver Charles devotes
his life to tracking down and killing those responsible. After
a fruitless search, a coincidental meeting with the actress
Helene Lanson leads him to the driver of the car, but after
all the time it's taken can he still bring himself to commit
murder...
Que
la Bete Meure (1969) is based on the novel The Beast
Must Die by Nicholas Blake. Directed by Claude Chabrol
and staring Michel Duchaussoy as Charles and Caroline Cellier
as Helene, this is a thought provoking thriller, with more
than one twist at the end to keep you guessing. Chabrol was
a member of the French new wave cinema group and whilst he
is not as famous outside of France, as Truffant or Jean-luc
Goddard, has produced an extensive body of work, mostly psychological
thrillers and has often been compared to Hitchcock.
Charles
is a complex sympathetic character. His hunt for his son's
murder holds little in the way of emotional invective that
one would expect; instead he follows his course with a cold
clarity of purpose, willing to use anyone to fulfil his aims.
Duchaussoy's haunted look keeps our sympathies with the main
character throughout the film, even when it looks like he
is willing to commit murder for what could be viewed as an
accident.
Helene
Lanson is the consummate victim. An accidental victim of circumstances,
for finding herself in the car with her brutal brother-in-law
when the boy is killed. A victim Decourts sexual lusts and
even a victim of Charles' desire for revenge. The emotional
deadness that the accident has left her with, and her subsequent
breakdown, is almost tangible in Celliers portrayal, to the
point of even finding it hard, for her character, to sustain
an honest relationship with Charles.
Paul
Decourt (Jean Yanne) is Charles nemesis a man who is painted
as a truly brutal figure even before he is introduced to the
audience, but through his interactions with Charles a much
more vulnerable figure emerges, afraid of being seen as afraid
he is even willing to get on a boat with a man who he knows
wants to kill him, even though he cannot swim. At points the
audience's sympathies shift from the father to the killer
and back again.
Jean
Rabier uses the Breton coastline to imbue a truly haunting
quality to the photography. The print remains crystal clear,
given the age of the film, with a vibrant use of colour. The
music serves as the perfect compliment to the visuals. The
disc has no extras above the scene selection and the choice
of having the subtitles on or off.
A really good thriller from a very good director, if you are
unaware of Chabrols work you could do a lot worse than start
here.
 
A rural idyll like the village of Tremolat would normally
bring with it a certain expectation of safety, but not when
The Butcher is in town. Popaul has a secret; he is in love
with the glamorous local school teacher, but Popaul also has
a worse secret, he is willing to kill for love...
La Boucher sees Chabrol at his most creepy and in truth
this film has more in common with a horror film, in that,
motivation can often be difficult to discern. The identity
of the serial killer is never really hidden; the butcher,
traumatised by fifteen years of war has passed over into some
savage state where the mask of gentile society is just that.
Maybe that's why Helene behaves in such a strange way towards
him even after she discovers his lighter, a birthday present
from her, next to one of the bodies. It is either sympathy
for what society has turned him into or possibly her own traumatic
romantic past which had made her flee Paris to work in the
small village. Either way, their relationship is disturbing
if a little obscure, the films central premise is that loneliness
can drive anyone mad, either that or women just love the idea
that a man would kill and die for just a single kiss.
The
acting is spot on by all. Stephane Auran is at her alluring
best and positively exudes a masochistic vulnerability, possibly
this is a flaw of nature, though it is never really explored.
Jean Yanne, who plays the butcher Popaul is positively creepy.
As their relationship develops from the simple premise of
two lonely people meeting at a marriage feast, the film follows
the pair's transformations into more extreme behaviour. Popaul
infatuation with the aloof school mistress increases and with
her rebuttals his murderous intent spirals out of control.
Helene also goes through a transformation, from a spurned
lover to a woman who can not only find the strength to deal
with the truth she has uncovered but also to move so far from
her own moral centre as to sympathise with the killer.
The
soundtrack is used to great effect throughout to signal that
all is not right in this little town. Although the film starts
with Leon's wedding, which contains the usual saccharine songs
one would expect, this is juxtaposed with the very creepy
opening titles. The incidental music creates a very unsettling
atmosphere even when the action on the screen is little more
than shots of the pleasant rural location.
There
are no extras on this DVD. Audio is stereo but nice and clear
and the print appears pin sharp.
So
a great creepy film, one to watch with the lights out, I'm
surprised that there isn't a Hollywood remake in the pipeline.
Charles Masson kills his best friend's wife during an illicit
S&M session. Stumbling out of the apartment he runs into François,
her husband, in a bar. Wracked by guilt Charles must go home
to his wife Helene and their two children. With the police
getting nowhere with finding Laura's killer how long can Charles
keep his secret...?
Written and directed by Chabrol, Juste Avant La Nuitis,
is based on a novel by Edouard Atiyah and continues Chabrol's
fascination with infidelity, guilt and the French bourgeoisie.
The plot is less complicated than many of his other films,
dealing simply with the aftermath of a killing and its effects
on those surrounding Charles. His slow decline into the need
to punish himself and to have those around him punish him
also opens up insights into Charles psychology - and some
of the reasons he was engaging in S&M games with his best
friend's wife.
Michel
Bouquet
plays Charles as a suitably guilt ridden killer, but things
are not what they seem. It is not explained until near the
end of the film whether the killing was a sex game gone wrong
or a deliberate act. If the killing was deliberate in order
to create a form of mental flagellation then things go from
bad to worse when Charles discovers that neither his wife
nor his best friend seem to mind that much. The final solution
to Charles dilemma is both surprising and unexpected.
François
Périer's
portrayal of François (now that must have been handy) portrays
his characters lack of feeling towards his wife's death with
great skill. Charles's one act of destruction uncovers the
artifice of Francois and Laura's marriage. He would rather
forgive his friend of 25 years than he would mourn a woman
with whom he had a sham marriage.
A
real delight, though all the acting is superb, was Stéphane
Audran,
who plays Charles wife Helene. At first she is portrayed as
most probably the weakest character, accepting of her husband
infidelity and his eventual confession to killing Laura. In
the end she is the only one of them that has the strength
to act, to restore the status quo.
Much
of the films themes are about right and wrong, while Charles
ponders his actions and how best he can be punished, the other
characters appear more interested in doing the right thing
in order to save face and social status.
The
print isn't as good as it could be with some picture judder
at the beginning and a number of obvious artefacts. There
are no extras as such, just scene selection and a choice of
English subtitle. Sound is stereo, but as this is a piece
about the characters there wouldn't be an awful lot for a
5.1 system to get its teeth into.
Pierre
suffers in a loveless marriage to the permanently sick Clotilde,
he finds sexual solace in the arms of Lucienne, the wife of
the town's mayor Paul. When he can no longer stand the situation
Pierre overdoses his wife. Just when the lovers think that
they are free to see each other Paul finds out about their
affair and uses it to blackmail Pierre into agreeing to a
dodgy land deal that will make Paul rich whilst allowing Pierre
to continue sleeping with Lucienne. A strange kind of status
quo settles but can the lovers accept the situation and what
shall they do about Paul...?
Supposedly based on a true story, Les Noces Rouges (Wedding
in Blood) follows Chabrols fascination with infidelity
and its consequences amongst the French bourgeoisie. The film
adds an extra layer, from the normal Chabrol narrative, with
Paul using his political position for his own financial benefit.
It was this idea that the French political system was by its
nature corrupt that got the film banned during the French
elections. The French Gaullist party did not take kindly to
the idea that the president himself would intervene to bury
a murder enquiry.
Pierre
and Lucienne's affair is extreme in its nature, they tear
each others clothes off like over excited teenagers trying
to fill the emptiness of their daily lives by trying to have
sex in the most forbidden places. At one point a night of
passion in the local museum nearly leads to their affair being
uncovered. The affair only comes to light after Paul comes
home early, from Paris, where he is getting the go ahead for
the land deal from his political masters.
Stéphane
Audran
plays the tortured Lucienne with a quite intensity that is
juxtaposed well with the boorish portrayal of her husband
Paul played to the hilt by Claude
Piéplu.
When he confronts the bewildered lovers with his discovery
their bewilderment over his motives and lack of concern for
his wife's infidelity are tangible, here is a man who is more
gangster than husband. The real gem of the film is Helene
Chevalier (played by Eliana De Santis), Lucienne's daughter
from a previous, unhappy, relationship. For most of the film
she has little to do except stand around and look pretty.
Nothing wrong with that but you feel that her part could have
been written out altogether that is until she becomes the
catalyst for the films ending. Helene is the one true innocent
in the film and the only one who ends the film with any sort
of morality intact.
A group of left-wing extremists plan to kidnap the American
ambassador in a Paris brothel and hold him for ransom; the
more naive amongst them also hope that this will start a political
revolution. With the kidnapping a success the group start
to fall apart, with divisions appearing along sexual and political
lines. Meanwhile the police track them down with a cruel callousness
which extends to torture...
Nada, based on the novel by Jean-Patrick Macnchette,
starts like any other heist movie with the planning of the
job, gathering together appropriate personnel and resources.
Though, it is soon apparent that this film is more brutal
than your normal kidnapping film.
One
may accuse Chabrol of being many things but never a Gaullist,
he seems to revel in showing the government as inherently
corrupt in his films and Nada is no different. Political
interference with the police and the willingness to sacrifice
anyone for political ends run as a thread throughout this
film. Chabrol takes an almost existential delight in showing
how all the characters are undone by their choices, and in
most cases are able to accept responsibility, mediated by
their respective ideologies, for the outcome of their actions.
The exception to this is Andre Falcon who plays the minister
whose political power shields temporarily shield him from
such consequences.
Fabio
Testi, who looks a lot like a young Jeremy Irons, plays Buenaventura
Diaz the leader of the NADA gang. He conveys a brooding intensity
necessary for the part of a political fanatic who is, through
personal necessity, willing to sacrifice his colleagues for
his own ends. In this way he and the minister are the same
and whilst they have opposing ideologies their methods are
not so different.
Although the premise of the film is serious Chabrol also uses
some nice touches to show the absurdities of both sides. The
kidnappers, having clubbed unconscious a naked prostitute,
pause long enough to cover her privates - as if her nudity,
which she had so freely displayed for the ambassador,
should in some way be more embarrassing just because she's
not awake. The police are also shown as brutal and ineffectual.
The final shootout makes the police look more like bunch of
sadistic kids, with the only voices of reason, on both sides,
being quickly dispatched in the carnage.
Jean
Rabier, the cinematographer, who had worked on a number of
projects with Chabrol, including the atmospheric Que
la Bete Meure,
makes great use of overhead shots, especially in the final
helicopter sequence.
It will come as no surprise that the disc comes with no extras
other than chapter selection and English subtitles. As far
as the subtitles were concerned I had a hell of a job getting
them to work. They failed on two machines and would only work
on the computer intermittently. I don't know if this was a
fault of the review copy or a general encoding fault, but
it went a long was to spoiling an otherwise great film. The
print is fine but there are some signs of damage evident.
Sound is the usual stereo.
The
low mark reflects the problem with the subtitles and not the
film in general which like most Chabrol films is well worth
watching, let's hope they sort it out before release.
Emma Rouault is a young woman who lives out a passionately
romantic life in her head and through her books. Bored of
the provincial life of her father's estate she marries Charles
Bovary, but whilst Charles heart is in the right place he
is stiflingly boring. Following the birth of their only child
Emma feels that her life is already over and the thought of
a life of domesticity depresses her. Charles, feeling that
there is something amiss with his wife, suggests that they
move to a larger town. At first Emma is pleased until she
discovers that her life in Tostes is even more mind numbingly
dull than before. A brief affair with a young man, Leon, goes
nowhere, and when he leaves for Paris she starts an affair
with a local land owner Rodolphe. Emma's adultery knows no
barriers and soon she becomes the talk of the town, unbeknownst
to her poor dull husband. As Emma continues her various affairs
she is running up huge debts, debts she cannot afford to repay.
When the news of her debts gets out, and she is let down by
her lovers, Emma can see no other escape except suicide...
The
original novel of Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
caused a scandal when it was first published in 1857. The
idea that a woman would be so unhappy with her life that she
would be willing to publicly flaunt accepted levels of decency,
worse still, that she would behave in a mannish manner and
act as a sexual predator was more than polite French society
could take. Flaubert and his publisher were taken to court
by the authorities on the grounds of immorality, but both
were acquitted.
This
1991 version of the film was adapted and directed by Claude
Chabrol, a director better known for his psychological thrillers
than his period dramas. While he has directed many great films,
this isn't one of them. That is not to say that the film has
nothing to offer, indeed it was brave of Chabrol to attempt
to make a film of a book that many considered unfilmable.
I guess once you say that to a film maker its like a challenge
they cant pass up explaining why this version is one of twelve,
by various directors right back to 1933.
The
over all criticism of this version is that it's a very cold
piece. Apart from Emma, few of the main characters develop
in any meaningful way, in this I suppose we get a taste of
Emma's frustration at the boorishness of the people that surround
her. Not that she is without her faults; her extended periods
of ennui, mixed with sudden unrealistic romantic dalliances
points to a very flawed and not particularly nice character.
Indeed Madame Bovary created such an impression that a condition
was named after the character 'Bovarism' meaning a conceited
person who has an over glamorised view of themselves, better
known as people you most want to slap.
Isabelle
Huppert in the title role does what she can with such a character,
but given the nature of Emma it's very difficult to care what
happens to her in the end. Her protracted demise at the end
of the film comes as nice piece of relief. I found myself
cheering her on, just so she could stop being so god awful
miserable all the time.
Charles
Bovary, played by Jean-Francois Balmer, does a great impression
of a bunny rabbit staring at the on coming headlights. Right
from the beginning his love for Emma blinds him to the possibilities
of her adultery. Whilst Emma is an unpleasant person, you
do sympathies with her regarding her husband. Balmer plays
his role so well that you want to rush up and check that he
has a pulse every time he stops moving.
The
print of the film is a bit washed out giving a very soft feel
to the picture, audio is stereo, in French with English subtitles.
The extras on the disc are very good, especially if you paid
attention in school; the reason being is that all the extras
are in French. Love to pretend that I understood what the
hell they were talking about but I must have fallen asleep
in that lesson, thankfully my wife has a good grasp of French,
so at least I had some idea what was going on.
Overall,
this is a good go at presenting a fairly unfilmable book;
however the coldness of the presentation makes it difficult
to love either the characters or the film.
Overall
mark for this collection:
Charles
Packer
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