La décade prodigieuse

Very loosely based on an Ellery Queen novel, a good classic (but in some ways not) thriller directed by acclaimed director Claude Chabrol.

In ten days, from Paris to the French countryside, the mysteries of a family dominated by a wealthy tycoon (Orson Welles) intertwine amidst theft, suspicion, blackmail and betrayal. There is a homicide, an event that usually happens at the beginning of crime story, while here it is at the end.

In the terrain more congenial to him, Chabrol makes good use of an excellent American and European cast. The movie was shot in English, a choice which the director later regretted.

All comments bar one are very negative ,no one mentions writer Ellery Queen,those two cousins who gave some of the best murder mysteries of the twentieth century.Theirs is the metaphysical detective story (Borges admired Ellery Queen),theirs is the unexpected final clue ,theirs is the "nursery chryme" dear to Agatha Christie .Some of their novels are on a level with "And then there were none" .

All Ellery Queen novels feature Ellery Queen himself as the detective .Here he is replaced by Michel Piccoli's character ,Paul Régis,which is not a big problem.

But the problem lies in the fact that most of the viewers did not recognize "their "Claude Chabrol.If they knew his numerous works ,they'd realize that only a dozen (roughly ,the 1959-1961 ,the 1967-73 golden era and some scattered later films (l'enfer,la ceremonie) are really Chabrolesque ,that is to say detective plot-with- bourgeois background-and ominous atmosphere.There are plenty of bizarre oeuvres in such a huge filmography (a lot of movies should never have been made;Clouzot,who easily artistically surpasses him only made 11 movies,only one of which is mediocre).

Actually " decade " took the eerie elements of "la rupture"(1970) and tightened them up.But whereas "La rupture" had a chabrolesque atmosphere and the usual suspects (Stephane Audran,Michel Bouquet),"Decade" features actors Chabrol had not used before (and to my knowledge never would).Coming after "juste avant la Nuit" ,"decade" could only be slagged off when it was released.Today,I must confess that it's not that much bad and compared with recent fiascos such as "la Fleur du Mal" or "au Coeur du Mensonge " or "rien ne va plus" or.... (the list is endless)it retains some originality.I can easily comprehend that people who do not know E.Queen 's world could be infuriated by this Punch and Judy style,but Chabrol faithfully transferred the writer's atmosphere to the screen :the gigantic metaphysical metaphor,a nervous Anthony Perkins -a good choice- ,a enough is enough Orson Welles-who else?- ,God himself.Do not get me wrong:"decade " is no masterpiece but it is a curious offbeat work ,sometimes clumsy (Chabrol felt compelled to "explain" the last scenes for fear his audience may not have understood),sometimes brilliant (the little girl in the train reciting the ten commandments ).

"Decade" verges on fantastic and predates another non-Chabrolesque intriguing flick "Alice ou la dernière fugue" .I have a warm spot in my heart for these two despised films .

"Decade" : a failed success or a successful failure ?And if you hate it (such is the case with many users) it's better than to be unconcerned about it.

I found it quite bizarre that this bizarre movie made in 1971 is rated so low and some reviews are so bad. French director Chabrol unites with french actors Michel Piccoli and Marlene Jobert and Americans Orson Welles and Anthony Perkins (Perkins frequently worked with Welles). Loosely based on a mystery novel by Ellery Queen, this film is excellent and should be taught in film history classes. It combines elements from European and American cinema and the final outcome is World Cinema with superb acting by Orson Welles. Welles plays his favorite "Shakesperian" type of character, which he portrait in his films Othello, Macbeth, Citizen Kane, Mr. Arkadin and Immortal Story (which he made few years earlier). The film has good camera work, excellent props (statues that reminded me of the one's in Citizen Kane), costumes by Karl Lagerfeld and a strange electronic score at the beginning of the film supplemented with classical music as the film progresses. I won't spoil anything by going into plot details but to sum things up; this film kind of feels like "Citizen Kane part 2 made in France". Welles' character, Theo, lives in a mansion, his wife is having an affair, he's lonely, he's always buying expensive art and so on. Welles the filmmaker dominates this film, it's quite clear that director Chabrol learned a awful lot from him, the editing, the music, camera-work and the dramatic performances all remind me of his work. Highly recommended and it's a shame how hard it is to find a copy of this film, cause Orson Welles never acted in a good motion picture after Ten Days Wonder.

Now is the winter of our discontent... TVOntario's Chaine francaise is having a Chabrol retrospective in February and March; we have already seen La route de Corinthe (silly spy caper only made bearable by Jean Seberg's presence) and Les biches (could have been made for a glossy decor magazine; the trite lesbian coupling is never believable). Now we have La decade prodigieuse (Ten Day's Wonder).

The chateau reflects the Twenties and the elegance of the Jazz Age, but the costumes were ridiculous. Tony Perkins in plus-fours and a ridiculous cap is not in tune with Jay Gatsby: in fact he looks like a regular at a really foppish gay bar. Marlene Jobert's costumes are those of a convent school product. Orson Welles has been fitted with a fake nose that's a really awful greenish color; otherwise he looks the way he used to in those Paul Masson commercials.

A murder mystery that can't create atmosphere, or creates the wrong kind, is never successful. Tsilla Chelton, so wonderful in Tatie Danielle, has a cameo as Perkins's mother: she does a Mrs. Rochester impression that makes you believe she's going to burn the house down. The blackmail payments are confusing and badly handled. The strong hints of pedophilia in the Welles-Jobert marriage seem to come from another film.

Chabrol is a lazy filmmaker whose vast output--just look at all the entries in his filmography--indicates efficiency rather than talent. He'll give you a rare good film (Les cousins) amid lots of schlock.

The tormented and unstable young sculptor Charles Van Horn (Anthony Perkins) summons his old family friend Paul Regis (Michel Piccoli) in Paris and tells him that he has weird nightmares followed by amnesia, and last time he had awaked with his hands full of blood. Paul and Charles travel to the countryside to the manor of Charles' stepfather, the millionaire Théo Van Horn (Orson Welles) that is married with the young Hélène Van Horn (Marlène Jobert). Paul is welcomed by the family and along the days, he learns that Charles and Hélène had a love affair, and Charles wrote love letters to Hélène. One day, Théo gave a party for two hundred people and the letters were stolen. Now they are blackmailed by the thief that demands a large amount to return the letters and Paul helps Hélène to pay the blackmailer. When the extortionist requests more money, Charles and Hélène forge a burglary, but the plan does not work well ending in a tragedy.

"La Décade Prodigieuse" a.k.a. "Ten Days' Wonder" is a slow-paced dramatic thriller by Claude Chabrol. The story based on the Ten Commandments is very well acted but unfortunately it is not difficult to foresee the twist since the number of characters is only five. This DVD has not been released in Brazil and I have just watched a DVD from Pathfinder Home Entertainment. Unfortunately, there are no subtitles and in some moments it is very difficult for a non-native in English understand the pronunciation of Orson Welles. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "10 Dias Fantásticos" ("10 Fantastic Days")

Note: On 09 December 2024, I saw this film again.