Docteur Popaul

A delightful black comedy which is quite unlikely ever to be re-made by Hollywood, it is just too cynical about beauty and love and marriage and family and medicine and murder. Jean-Paul Belmondo plays the title hero, ever in pursuit of ugly women (which incidentally furthers his career) until the sight of his sister-in-law, played by Laura Antonelli, make him change his priorities. It is amazing how Belmondo manages to stay likable while his character's actions are thoroughly objectionable throughout - it probably helps that his adversaries are not such terrific people themselves.

Claude Chabrol's "Docteur Popaul" aka. "High Heels" of 1972 is a fun little black comedy starring Jean Paul Belmondo, Mia Farrow and Laura Antonelli, and although it is certainly no masterpiece, the movie is well worth seeing. As far as I am considered Belmondo is always worth the time, and "Docteur Popaul" has enough black humor to remain entertaining throughout its 100 minutes.

Paul Simay (Belmondo), a student of medicine and player who prefers ugly women since he doesn't trust the beautiful, makes a bet with his drinking buddies: They are to meet again after a year, and the guy who has managed to sleep with the ugliest woman in the meantime is the winner. Paul wins the bet, and decides to go on a journey. In Tunisia he runs into shy Christine (Mia Farrow, with 'ugly'-make up), who has a handicap - she limps, and seduces her. When they run into each other again in France, and Paul finds out that her father is the head of a local clinic, he proposes to her. But Christine has a sister, the gorgeous Martine (Laura Antonelli), and Martine has a bunch of idiotic adorers...

If you like dark humor, you should give "Docteur Popaul" a try. The movie remains entertaining from the beginning to the end and has some hilarious moments. Belmondo is cool as always, and beautiful Laura Antonelli is a treat for the eyes. A quite original little black comedy, "Docteur Popaul" is an amusing film with a fine portion of black humor, that should not leave its viewers bored. Recommended. 6/10

At the time ,Chabrol was producing movies at an alarming speed .And that period is still looked upon as his very best:"la femme infidèle" "le boucher" "que la bête meure" "la rupture" and "les noces rouges" are unqualified musts for any Chabrol fan.Two works took a divergent road in this golden era: "la decade prodigieuse " was a failed (but not completely wretched) attempt at transferring one of Ellery Queen's absorbing books to the screen .And then "Docteur Popaul" which is from Hubert Monteilhet's "meurtres à loisirs" .Monteilhet writes thrillers which sometimes recall Boileau-Narcejac ("Diabolique" "Vertigo" )but he introduces a sense of humor and a certain bad taste not present in the works of the writers I mention above.Chabrol has given a totally true rendering of Monteilhet atmosphere:the set up,the grotesque characters (particularly a made look ugly Mia Farrow :why her anyway?The director had to dub her in French ).The conclusion ,like in any Monteilhet's book, is immoral to a fault.But deliciously immoral.

I've watched this film about thirty years ago and it stuck in my mind until now. When I came across it on DVD, I didn't hesitate too long, even more, because I have a predilection for early Belmondo flicks. But what a bad surprise! Some movies should be allowed to resign from public exposure, to preserve a certain memory, and not to shock audiences.

Widely hailed as one of Chabrol's rare cynic works, the only lasting impression I got from re- watching it is... boredom. Some movies really do not age in style. But what about movies which didn't have any sense of style at all?

The flaws in the script, uninspired acting - presumably due to the lack of direction -, a sort of production design, which doesn't deserve its name, less than mediocre photography and, last but not least, the worst editing job I've seen in ages, make this one truly hard to stand.

My impression was, that there was a bunch of people with too much money and equipment but obviously, no idea or any skills at all. It really comes as a surprise, that this one didn't abruptly end Chabrol's career. Don't blame it on the overall bad taste of the 70s, this one is crap in its own right and a worthy contender for the most useless waste of celluloid ever.

I generally can't understand what people see in Chabrol. His films are boring and predictable. Take The Butcher. One suspect, he did it and the clue is in the title. The film is very cynical, it's not even dark humour. For me it wasn't homour at all. The overall concept is deeply mysoginist. I can't really laugh about women being degraded. And all that bourgeoisie bashing in the late 60s / early seventies is hardly original. Most of all the film is very boring because there are no characters the viewer can relate to and the narrative doesn't really get going. Apart from some sexy scenes with Laura Antonelli this is a total waste of time.