Alice

Alice Carol (Sylvia Kristel) leaves her husband (Bernard Rousselet) in a rainy night telling that she does not like him anymore. She travels alone but when her car breaks the windshield in a lonely road, she crosses the gate of a creepy manor and is welcomed by the owner Henri Vergennes (Charles Vanel) and his butler Colas (Jean Carmet) that invite Alice to spend the night in the house. On the next morning, Alice does not meet the two men and finds the windshield of her car surprisingly fixed. She tries to leave the real estate but does not find the gate. She stops the car and walks around the wall trying to find an exit. Soon she finds that she is trapped and cannot leave the property.

"Alice ou la Dernière Fugue" is an intriguing unknown masterpiece written and directed by Claude Charbrol and supported basically by the wonderful performance of the gorgeous Sylvia Kristel. The story is developed in a nightmarish atmosphere and the name of the lead character "Alice Carol" seems to be a tribute to "Alice in the Wonderland" of Lewis Carroll. Further, Adrian Lyne's "Jacob's Ladder" is visibly inspired in the storyline of this film. The mystery is kept until the very last scene. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Alice"

Note: On 17 November 2024, I saw this film again.

Saw this by chance late one evening.

Was attracted by the ambiance, which I found very Tarkovsky-esque, before I was attracted by Sylvia Kristel (she was not on screen during the first minutes I saw ;-)

Was surprised to see her act. Really loved the pace and the suspense. Found the conclusion wonderful, though-provoking, unexpected.

In my view this is clearly in the top 10 percent of Chabrol's production. I don't understand why this film is not well-known - maybe because it has an ex-erotic film actress in it?

A very good surprise.

Surprising movie! A twist in the end! I like such movies, when the viewer is fooled ...when what we thought we understood is overturned! Reminds me of something from 'The Sixth Sense'. Do you agree? I didn't like the the acting of Silvia Kristel in a few sequences, as she seemed to be making some effort to speak. In the first shots with her husband, she acted strangely as she didn't seem distressed at all when announcing the latter that she would leave him. There was no visible stress on her face and she appeared relaxed when communicating her departure. The husband also acted strangely when he told her to stay one more night and to leave tomorrow morning! No one would have realistically said that! didn't like a few shots as well...For instance, some night shots in the beginning were not properly lit. But, it remains a movie with a great script, with minimal dialog, with each shot compelling us to ask...'what will happen next?'. The characters were all weird - and later we can deduce why...

A brilliant movie. I liked it because all the time everything seemed so possible, but strange until the very end where you're shocked finding out what was really going on. It gets you to think about so many things related to life, dreams, and death.

In my view this is one of the best Chabrol's movies. Unfortunately, it did not get as much attention as the others.

Sylvia Kristel was good in her role. She has actually shown she could act.

I saw this movie on TV when I was 11 years old and it had a deep impression on me. Watching it again, I can identify many elements which are (and already were in the 1976) very conventional, or even outdated: the existentialist/ nouveau roman-plot, the Margritte-aesthetics, the "Psycho"-allusions...

The portrait of Alice (Kristel, sensuous as ever) and of her fate is sometimes of a certain merciless quality (misogynous tendencies?), but this movie is emulating the scenario of a real "cauchemare" far better than any other "Splatter" or "Horror"-Movie.