Stille Wasser

I think one can say without fear of contradiction that Patricia Highsmith was a deeply complex individual with more than her fair share of demons. Her spectacles were never rose-coloured and her gripping tales featuring deeply flawed, morally vacuous, sociopathic characters have proved to be manna from heaven for film directors notably Hitchcock, Clement and Chabrol.

This adaptation of her fifth novel 'Deep Water' is directed by Michel Deville.

This film slowly drew me in and held my attention although M. Deville's rather tasteful and measured directorial style would seem to lack the 'edge' required for this sort of material. Where it does have the advantage is in the casting of Jean-Louis Trintignant and Isabelle Huppert as Vic and Melanie. He is the outwardly complaisant husband and she is the notoriously flirtatious wife who rubs his nose in it. He resolves to kill one of her paramours but of course one murder is never enough.........

Trintignant, with his unruffled exterior concealing the turmoil within and Huppert with her combination of vulnerability and almost cruel impassivity, are tremendous and their dynamic is mesmerising. The supporting players alas are not up to much but mention must be made of splendid Sandrine Kljajic as their young daughter whose childlike innocence gives the film a balance. The relationship between father and daughter is beautifully drawn. In one scene his bedtime story is that of Samson and Delilah!

Deville utilises his favoured editor Raymonde Guyot and Manuel de Falla's Concerto pour Clavicin is cleverly employed.

The subtle ending with its family reconciliation is filmically effective but the author's original ending would have packed a far greater punch.

Deville must have felt deflated by the films failure to make an impact but he hit the bullseye four years later with his critically and commercially successful 'Péril en la Demeure'. Still tasteful but this time with an edge!

The American remake was released on screens a year ago. I did not get to watching it yet, and I'm not sure if I will soon. 'Eaux profondes', the 1981 adaptation of the novel 'Deep Water' (this is also the name of the film in its English distribution) by Patricia Highsmith is too good a film to risk changing my impression. The director is Michel Deville, the French director who left us a few weeks ago, and the lead roles are played by Jean-Louis Trintignant and Isabelle Huppert. 'Eaux profondes' is an excellent opportunity to see again Trintignant (who also disappeared last year) at the peak of his career, Huppert (who turned 70 a few days ago) while becoming a star and at her supreme physical beauty, and to appreciate Deville's professionalism and inventiveness in the decade in which he directed his best films.

The story in the American writer's novel is moved to the island of Jersey, a territory of the British crown located about 19 kilometers from the coast of France. The landscapes are, of course, spectacular, and the location is also a good opportunity for Michel Deville to shoot in British objective-realist style. Vic is a perfume maker, his wife Melanie is many years younger and the couple have a six-year-old daughter. Apparently they are a happy couple and a very liberal one in their behavior. Melanie openly flirts and dances at parties with the men she meets, under the indulgent gaze of Vic, who prefers to read, play chess with himself, and raise snails in his garage. When Melanie's adventures begin to materialize, Vic begins to react in an original way - he threatens his rivals with murdering them. From threat to deeds the road is not too long, and crime can be the best proof of love.

What we see on the screen is a real hell, if we judge the relations between the two spouses according to the accepted norms. Michel Deville films everything in an objective and detached style. The characters hide a lot of darkness and many details remain incompletely clarified. Why is Melanie acting this way? Boredom, Ana Karenina syndrome or the feeling that the relationship between the two has reached an impasse that cannot be overcome? How should we interpret the ending, which is changed from that in Patricia Highsmith's novel? The audience's feeling of discomfort is accentuated by the excellent soundtrack that combines dance music, aggressive jazz and Manuel de Falla's harpsichord concerto, but also by the presence of the little girl who witnesses many of the conflict scenes. Michel Deville has created a cool and unsettling film, one that viewers won't soon forget.

I discover again this Michel Deville's film, my favorite, showing a scheme rarely used before, except maybe in some anthology shows such as ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS or any other series of this kind and period. Jean-Louis Trintignant and Isabelle Huppert steal the show with their performances. Just enjoy this French piece of jewellery from the early eighties. It is so intriguing, so riveting, that it doesn't need any suspense. Actually the suspense exists from the very beginning. François Truffaut could have made it, I guess. If you are a man and a jealous husband, try to wacch this film. A real must.

"Eaux Profondes" is based on a Patricia Highsmith novel, but to the book-illiterate it may look more like an unofficial remake of Claude Chabrol's "La Femme Infidele" (although the book came out in 1957 and Chabrol's film in 1969, making you rethink who influenced whom first). It is a calm, dispassionate story about infidelity, jealousy, and murder, with some interesting transitions by director Michel Deville and two excellent leads: Jean-Louis Trintignant (he's at his best when he puts on a wolfish smile) and a young, frequently nude Isabelle Huppert. But it is also repetitive, feeling longer than it is (93 minutes), without enough psychological depth. Also the music score sometimes gets too loud and annoying. ** out of 4.

Classic French art-house mystery thriller for the wine n cheese crowd. Young trophy bride (Huppert) flirts and attracts numerous young swains. Husband warns each of possible consequences. Those who heed, flee. Those who abide, however ... Challenging in that the viewer never knows the relationship between husband and wife, or how much friends and neighbors (island of Jersey) turn a blind eye to Measured pace (for modern viewers, read slow) that delivers unexpected jolts. Warning, there is violence in this film, and it bursts seemingly out of nowhere. Jean-Louis Trintignant unforgettable as the multi-layered husband. Based on Patricia Highsmith (Ripley stories) novel.