L'oeil du malin

To begin with, this is one of the rarest Chabrols as well as a key early effort. For anyone who hastily pinned him down as the French Hitchcock, this shows yet another facet to his 'personality': if THE CHAMPAGNE MURDERS (1967) saw the director take a leaf out of Fellini's book, here he seems to be influenced by the work of Antonioni – complete with a faux-thriller plot (evoking in some aspects Patricia Highsmith's "The Talented Mr. Ripley", actually first brought to the screen in 1960 by the French as PURPLE NOON) which, owing to the protagonist's enigmatic behavior, progresses gradually into semi-abstraction!

Having mentioned that later Chabrol, the movie under review likewise allows Stephane Audran an unprecedented central role which she carries off with aplomb. Incidentally, even at this preliminary stage, her future husband's thrillers were peppered with sudden shocking murders (as both WEB OF PASSION [1959] and LES BONNES FEMMES [1960] will attest) – and the climax of this one is, undeniably, superbly handled.

The hero – played by virtual unknown Jacques Charrier – supplies the right mix of blandness and arrogance the part requires. Similarly, Jean Rabier's gleaming monochrome photography notwithstanding, the picture counters its essentially rough-and-ready quality (in pure "New Wave" style) with a quite remarkable incisiveness (particularly in the noir-ish dialogue).

At a mere 77 minutes, THE THIRD LOVER (better served by the original title L'OEIL DU MALIN, which translates to THE EVIL EYE – a moniker later also attached to two, obviously unrelated, Italian giallos!) does not overstay its welcome. In hindsight, if back then the film's inherent pretentiousness may have alienated critics and audiences alike, it can now be seen as a shining example of Chabrol's burgeoning talent.

The mediocre and bitter French writer and journalist André Mercier, a.k.a. Albin Mercier (Jacques Charrier), is hired with a low salary by a newspaper to move to a small town nearby Munich to cover the daily routine of the residents. He aims to get to know the successful writer Andreas Hartman (Walther Reyer), who lives very happy in a mansion with his beloved wife Hélène (Stéphane Audran). One day, Albin is shopping at a store and having troubles since he does not speak German, and Hélène helps him and invites Albin to have a tea with her. He meets the gentle Andreas and becomes a habitué of their house. Soon the envious Albin becomes obsessed in Hélène and bothered with the happiness of the couple. He stalks Hélène everywhere until the day he discovers that she has a lover in Munich. His wickedness increases leading to a tragedy.

"L'oeil du malin", a.k.a. "The Third Lover" (1962), is another great film by Claude Chabrol. People use to say that happiness bothers an unhappy person, but in this movie, happiness bothers the wicked envious Albin Mercier, a mediocre man that destroys the lives of a happy couple. The man is received with open arms by the couple and begins with a sabotage in their Mercedes Benz culminating with a cruelty without any reason or explanation. The film is very disturbing even in 2024 and not easy to be found. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Olho do Mal" ("The Eye of the Evil")

L'oeil du malin (mistranslated as The Third Lover) is a real gem of 1960s cinema. I am trying to figure out why hardly anyone has seen/rated it here at imdb. Maybe because it is not in the Criterion Collection? Not sure. Anyway, the film is very suspenseful and beautiful with a completely unpredictable ending. Gorgeously filmed and paced. Plus it is in French and German. Sehr gut gemacht. Tres bien fait.

Unlike most reviewers and commentators, I find Chabrol's early films his most interesting. LES BONNES FEMMES and L'OEIL DU MALIN, along with the nearly magnificent Occupation drama LIGNE DE DÉMARCATION are some of the best French films of their time, regardless of connection to The Nouvelle Vague (which otherwise gave us many superb examples by different directors). Here we have a theme that Chabrol would explore much later in LA CÉRÉMONIE, but with more nuance, character depth and atmosphere: the have-not versus the haves. French journalist Albin,as he calls himself, is not exactly a have-not, but he's just getting by and not doing what he's been paid to do while living in Germany. Not fluent in the language, Albin happens upon a friendly and attractive French woman in his neighborhood. Through the mostly unnecessary narration we learn how Albin feels about the woman and her famous German author husband: he envies them and wants to infiltrate their life. He does so with ease and immediately feels competitive with the husband on a professional level (he can't compete there) for the wife (no spoilers, it's complicated). Albin is handsome and intelligent, why does he not live his own life? Perhaps a layabout at heart, looking for free meals and glamorous company--a cousin to Highsmith's Ripley. It's up to the viewer to figure it all out. But that does not mean the film is in anyway confusing or unsatisfying. It's a fine example of early 60s European cinema, a mixture of enjoyable drama, artfully realized on every level. It's beautifully filmed, smartly written and very well-acted. A more textured effort than many of Chabrol's later crime films in color. Once rare, now easily accessible.

TL:DR Yes, I know I said I wouldn't watch any more Chabrol, but I only watched eight minutes of this before giving up. There, that's saved you eight minutes of your life, at least. God knows, I tried.

Silly music, where it's not required, mis-scored over dialogue - to some people this seems to equate to cinematic depth, or avant-gardeness. Sorry, it's ineptitude. The male lead is prettier than the female lead, so why should we care about her? Neither has any personality. A voiceover to explain everything because Chabrol hasn't the faintest idea how to depict it. Chabrol's wife as the female lead cannot act. The other male lead keeps looking at the camera. No suspense, just coincidence after coincidence. Yes folks, it's Chabrol again.

I'll admit that Chabrol knew how to point a camera at interiors and exteriors and say, 'Action!' and 'Cut!'. People, he wasn't so good at. Suspense he had no clue. What he never worked out was how to show plot points without a character explaining it, or how to get his wife to act, or how to spot when an actor glanced at the camera. I guess the French state cinema subsidy system was just too generous in those days; any fool with access to an Arriflex could get in on it.

Every time I try to watch a Chabrol feature I can't see past the same fundamental faults. Now there would be an avant garde movie.