Claude Chabrol

Claude Chabrol

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Gainsbourg Trailer


Parisian songwriter and director Serge Gainsbourg was a legend known all around the world, for many differing reasons his work was usually surrounded by controversy which was mostly welcomed by the man himself.

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The Color Of Lies Review


Very Good
Claude Chabrol's late-career films haven't been entirely inspired, but The Color of Lies is one of the standouts. It begins simply enough: A young girl has been raped and killed, and her creepy art teacher (Jacques Gamblin) is the number one suspect. He protests his innocence, and wife Sandrine Bonnaire stands by him. Meanwhile, other characters -- none of whom exactly exude compassion or likeability -- enter and exit, and the teacher looks increasingly innocent. But who's the killer? The sole lacking spot here is the dead fish of a police detective (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), who's ostensibly the hero of the film yet comes off as incompetent and bumbling at best. In fact, better casting all around could have elevated this film to a minor classic.

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The Bridesmaid Review


Good
At first glance, she doesn't seem like much -- maybe it's the dress. When Philippe (Benoit Magimel) -- the slim, self-satisfied, smart-but-stupid chump in Claude Chabrol's psycho-drama The Bridesmaid -- sees Senta (Laura Smet), a bridesmaid at his sister's wedding, he's intrigued by something in her direct stare and later, flirty brush-off. However, when Senta appears unannounced at the door of his mother's home (where Philippe, a mama's boy practically smothered by her constant compliments) a few hours later and then proceeds to strip off the wet dress and have her reckless way with him, he becomes positively interested. When later she starts in with all that talk about how they're fated for each other and, hey, what if they each committed a murder to prove their love, he remains interested because, well, he doesn't have much else going on in his life.

In Smet and Magimel, Chabrol has found willing partners for his bleak little tale -- like the director, they keep things under wraps, playing things close to the vest, which is harder than it may sound, given the high drama plot, taken from a Ruth Rendell novel. Philippe is a cipher straight from a detective story of years past, working as a numbers guy for a contractor in a small French town, he's completely bottled up inside his trim suits and slightly superior demeanor, just aching for something to come along and bust things up. After easing us into Philippe's life with some minor melodrama involving the three women in Philippe's house (mother, two sisters), Chabrol drops Senta in to knock Philippe out of his rut, and she's perfect for the job.

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Innocents With Dirty Hands Review


Excellent
Claude Chabrol's meditation on infidelity and murder is creepy and cold, wholly owned by Romy Schneider as its near alien starlet. Dubbed in English, the film has Schneider's gorgeous wife in a loveless marriage to a husky American (Rod Steiger), who is not only free of emotion but impotent as well. A chance encounter draws her into a love affair with a younger man (François Maistre), and before 20 minutes of screen time are up, Schneider has coldly bludgeoned hubby to death while he sleeps. Or has she? I'm reminded of Diabolique, but from the guy's point of view. Sort of. The scenes with the police investigation are on the lame side, but the core of the film -- around Schneider's guilt and fear of the unknown future -- is an excellent freak-out.

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The Flower Of Evil Review


Weak
Cranking out a movie a year, Claude Chabrol is having a serious case of Woody Allen syndrome. The best thing Woody could do right now is take a break for a few years to recharge his batteries. As for Chabrol, he's been kicking around the same stately, even-handed, vaguely perverse thrillers for about 30 years (and none of his popular works ever got as good as his nasty 1969 psychodrama Le Boucher). He once again sets a moderately pleasing ambiance, in an upscale house in France's Bordeaux region, where a family keeps closely guarded secrets. As the secrets gradually come to light, one becomes aware that Chabrol is a mechanical storyteller more than an emotional one. One comes to doubt his economy of cinematic language as the last refuge of the detached and unemotional.

But The Flower of Evil remains pleasing to watch, mostly because of an attractive cast. Francois (Benoît Magimel) returns home to father Gérard (Bernard Le Coq) and stepmother Anne (Nathalie Baye). It's not long before he's set his eyes on stepsister Michèle (Mélanie Doutey), and they try to keep a lid on their boiling-over passions. They don't want skeletons coming out of the closet during Anne's mayoral campaign. But not everyone sees it that way: A telegram arrives with insidious content, and the family worries that more secrets will come out that will make their children's tête-à-tête seem minor in comparison. Enlisting their clever Aunt Line (a delightful Suzanne Flon), the children attempt to protect themselves and, if possible, cause trouble for the hateful, lustful, blandly disgusting Gérard.

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Claude Chabrol

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Claude Chabrol Movies

Gainsbourg Trailer

Gainsbourg Trailer

Parisian songwriter and director Serge Gainsbourg was a legend known all around the world, for...

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The Bridesmaid Movie Review

The Bridesmaid Movie Review

At first glance, she doesn't seem like much -- maybe it's the dress. When Philippe...

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