Rien ne va plus

What a viewer makes of a film very much depends on the expectations that he or she brings to it. I had previously seen five other films directed by Claude Chabrol and considered all of them impressive. "Rien ne va plus" came as something of a disappointment. Though recognisably the work of the same director, it struck me as markedly inferior in terms of atmosphere and depth - which is not to say that it is a bad film by general standards. The quality of the acting is very high. Isabelle Huppert (Betty) is always extremely watchable, and Michel Serrault (Victor) is equally subtle. Their characters may not be the most credible of thieves, but the first part of the film, showing their practised hotel-based criminal double-act, is polished and amusing. After this, my enjoyment of the film steadily diminished. That none-too-original plot device, a briefcase full of banknotes, comes to the fore. (Criminal 'capers' have never much appealed to me.) When the action then moves to Guadeloupe, it turns into a run-of-the-mill gangster film (a genre that I like even less). I found myself waiting for the end - and, when it arrived, it might have come from Hollywood.

Viewers who do not view it with my preconceptions and aversions may certainly enjoy "Rien ne va plus". It is undoubtedly a well-made film. In future, though, when I recommend the works of Chabrol, while drawing attention to "Les biches", "Que le bete meure", and "Merci pour le chocolat", I may add the proviso: 'But I wouldn't bother with "Rien ne va plus". It's nothing very special in comparison'.

Although Betty (Isabelle Huppert, who was 43-years-old when the film was released) calls Victor (Michel Serrault, who was 69) "Papa" on occasion in this smooth and restrained thriller from Claude Chabrol, he is not her father by any means. The term is merely one of ironic affection. What they are are modern "gypsies" living on the fringes of society plying their ancient trade. Perhaps they were lovers in the past. Clearly they are a team, dependent upon one another. In particular what these small time con artists do is go to conventions, medical, dental, farm equipment salesman conventions, find a target and con the poor dupe out of some of his money.

Some. The film begins at a roulette table on the French Riviera with Betty stringing along a not entirely bright lawnmower salesman whom she invites for a drink. She slips some knockout drops into his drink and quickly invites him up to his room where, after he is out cold, Victor follows. They take some of his money. Victor insists on always playing it safe and using a rather strange but plausible psychology (which will figure later in the movie) of making the man think that perhaps he wasn't robbed, since if she had intended to rob him, would she have only taken part of the money out of his wallet? They do forge his signature on a check, but he will only find out about that later, and indeed might not be sure about how that happened.

So this is a small time con. Trouble begins for our vagabond thieves when Betty meets the CFO of a big corporation who is transferring five million Swiss francs in cash out of the country. She senses the chance for a big score, and after the mark falls in love with her (she thinks) she brings Victor into the scheme. With some tricky exchanges of the metal suitcase containing the money Betty and Victor end up over their heads in some very hot water.

The plot is a little on the unlikely side, as thriller plots tend to be, but the thing to keep in mind is the idea of taking only PART of the money. This is what fools the bad bad guys (as opposed to the good bad guys who are our vagabond duo, Betty and Victor).

Any movie starring the incomparable Isabelle Huppert (La Pianiste 2001; Merci pour le chocolat 2000; La dentelliere 1977, and many more ) is worth seeing and any movie directed by Claude Chabrol (Une affair de femmes 1988; Betty 1992; La ceremonie 1995, etc.) will have something of interest in it. Add a fine performance by Serrault, one of the great veterans of the French cinema, and "Rien ne va plus" is definitely worth seeing. However the role played by Huppert does not challenge her and Chabrol's more famous films (some of them also starring Huppert) are decidedly more interesting.

But see this for the lighthearted chemistry between Huppert who is sublimely fetching and Serrault who is clearly past the age of any pretension. Such a quasi-Platonic union based on the love that still warms the embers in a dying fire has become almost a staple of directors past their prime. See Claude Sautet's Nelly and Monsieur Arnaud (1995) which also featured Serrault for another example.

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The movie is certainly lighter Chabrol, with a plot that inherently depends on his frequent theme of the ambiguous relationships between people and their capacities for deception, but generally chooses to concentrate on understated elegance: even when Huppert finds a man dead in the bathtub with a spike through his eye (a moment of genuine shock value even though you more or less know it's coming) the nastiness is quickly absorbed into sophisticated exchanges with the (rather cliched) gangsters. The ambiguity extends to the relationship between the two protagonists, which appears to be father-daughter although the movie often seems to be hinting otherwise - the long lingering final shot is probably the final tease in this respect. Serrault plays his character in an engagingly grumpy, short-fused manner, which contrasts pleasantly with Huppert's pure show of elegance. Even though the opening scam seems like a dress rehearsal for a more complex and challenging movie than we ever actually get, the thing glides by most enjoyably; no less so for the faint air of slumming.

The smalltime swindlers Elizabeth "Betty" (Isabelle Huppert) and Victor (Michel Serrault) make a living by cheating naive people. After swindling a salesman of garden tools in the French Riviera, Betty travels on vacation alone and schedules a next scheme in ten days in a congress for dentists in Sils Maria. However, Betty arrives at the hotel with Maurice Biagini (François Cluzet), who is the treasurer of a company that is traveling cuffed to a wallet with five-million francs. She tells Victor that she has the intentions of stealing his money and Victor plots a scheme using the naivety of Maurice. But soon the con artists have to face the dangerous associates of Maurice.

"Rien ne va plus" is a highly entertaining thriller by Claude Chabrol. I saw this movie for the first time in the late 90's and I liked it more than today. There are flaws along the story that I did not pay attention to when I watched it long time ago. But if the viewer does not think too much, he or she will like the plot points in this film. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Negócios à Parte" ("Business Aside")

Note: On 09 January 2025, I saw this film again.

I have seen and recorded this movie by Claude Chabrol on the TV. I have been a fan of Chabrol's films for many many years. Let's say that the suspense master Claude Chabrol is the French equivalent to Alfred Hitchckok. The actors Serrault and Huppert are good but the one that I found particularly excellent is the head mafiosi who listens to the opera in the mafia Caribbean quarters. What a presence, what a good actor! It is also good to see a movie that is not saturated with special effects as films are done now, with excess. I hate those special effects because they are never perfect illusions, and they almost never fool me. Films are also always enhanced by the nice scenery they contain and "Rien ne va plus" is no exception. Actress Marie Dubois is in the film for a small role, but I have been unable to identify her. Can someone identify her for me, please? Thanks. YC