Claude Chabrol was the most prolific of the New Wave directors. He didn’t only do murder thrillers; this fine selection of Chabrols from the ten year period 1985-1994 begins with a pair of detective tales but moves on to a masterful adaptation of a great book and two engrossing experiments, one of them picking up where an earlier French master left off. The players are terrific as well: Jean Poiret, Stéphane Audran, Jean-Claude Brialy, Bernadette Lafont, Isabelle Huppert, Jean-François Balmer, Christophe Malavoy, Jean Yanne, Marie Trintignant, Jean-François Garreaud, Emmanuelle Béart, François Cluzet.
Lies and Deceit: Five Films by Claude Chabrol
Blu-ray
Cop au Vin (Poulet au vinaigre), Inspector Lavardin (Inspecteur Lavardin), Madame Bovary, Betty, Torment (L’enfer)
Arrow Video
1985-1994 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 9 hours and 17 minutes / Street Date February 22, 2022 / Available from Arrow Video (UK website) / Available from Amazon U.S. / 99.95
Common Credits:
Cinematography: Jean Rabier (3), Bernard Ziterman (2)
Production Designer:...
Lies and Deceit: Five Films by Claude Chabrol
Blu-ray
Cop au Vin (Poulet au vinaigre), Inspector Lavardin (Inspecteur Lavardin), Madame Bovary, Betty, Torment (L’enfer)
Arrow Video
1985-1994 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 9 hours and 17 minutes / Street Date February 22, 2022 / Available from Arrow Video (UK website) / Available from Amazon U.S. / 99.95
Common Credits:
Cinematography: Jean Rabier (3), Bernard Ziterman (2)
Production Designer:...
- 3/8/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Being called the French Hitchcock does Claude Chabrol a disservice, as his dark thrillers approach mystery and suspense almost completely through character, not cinematics. These three very good 1990s productions are completely different in tone and approach, and each showcases a stunning French actress.
Betty, Torment (L’enfer), The Swindle (Rien ne vas plus)
Blu-ray
3 Classic Films by Claude Chabrol
Cohen Film Collection
1992,1994,1997 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 103, 102, 105 min. / Street Date February 21, 2017 / 49.99
Starring Marie Trintignant, Stéphane Audran, Jean-François Garreaud, Yves Lambrecht; Emmanuelle Béart, François Cluzet, Nathalie Cardone, Dora Doll; Isabelle Huppert, Michel Serrault, François Cluzet, Jean-François Balmer.
Cinematography: Bernard Zitermann; Bernard Zitermann, Eduardo Serra
Film Editor: Monique Fardoulis (x3)
Original Music: Matthieu Chabrol (x3)
Written by Claude Chabrol from a novel by Georges Simenon; Claude Chabrol from a script by Henri-Georges Clouzot; Claude Chabrol
Produced by Marin Karmitz (x3)
Directed by Claude Chabrol (x3)
Not all Claude Chabrol films are equal, but...
Betty, Torment (L’enfer), The Swindle (Rien ne vas plus)
Blu-ray
3 Classic Films by Claude Chabrol
Cohen Film Collection
1992,1994,1997 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 103, 102, 105 min. / Street Date February 21, 2017 / 49.99
Starring Marie Trintignant, Stéphane Audran, Jean-François Garreaud, Yves Lambrecht; Emmanuelle Béart, François Cluzet, Nathalie Cardone, Dora Doll; Isabelle Huppert, Michel Serrault, François Cluzet, Jean-François Balmer.
Cinematography: Bernard Zitermann; Bernard Zitermann, Eduardo Serra
Film Editor: Monique Fardoulis (x3)
Original Music: Matthieu Chabrol (x3)
Written by Claude Chabrol from a novel by Georges Simenon; Claude Chabrol from a script by Henri-Georges Clouzot; Claude Chabrol
Produced by Marin Karmitz (x3)
Directed by Claude Chabrol (x3)
Not all Claude Chabrol films are equal, but...
- 2/21/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Film review: 'The Color of Lies'
Save for its unsatisfying conclusion, Claude Chabrol's "The Color of Lies" is an eerie, deftly orchestrated investigation into the nature of truth. Nominally a corrosive study of moral breakdown within an isolated French community following a violent act, the film sees Chabrol returning to a familiar inner landscape -- the dissection of a troubled marriage.
The prolific French director, whose film was shown in competition at the Berlin Film Festival, should duplicate the art house success of his 1995 "La Ceremonie".
Set in a Breton fishing village, the film opens with the gruesome discovery of the rape and strangulation of a 10-year-old girl. The investigation focuses on the last person she was seen with, her art teacher Rene (Jacques Gamblin).
A once-promising artist whose career was destroyed when he was injured in a bombing attack 12 years earlier, Rene has not exhibited his work in more than a decade. Rene -- brooding, self-contained and passively aware of his "failure" -- has forsaken portraits for landscapes.
With nerve and precision, Chabrol implicitly links Rene's artistic failure with the recurring suggestion of sexual inadequacy. His wife, Viviane (an excellent Sandrine Bonnaire), becomes prey to the seductive charms of a self-absorbed writer Germain Desmot (Antoine de Caunes).
Spurred by the actions of local inspector Frederique Lesage (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi), the social backlash against Rene intensifies, occasioning his deeper withdrawal from public view and a closer examination of his relationship with his wife, a nurse who is their sole source of financial support.
A director of hard surfaces and distinct lines, Chabrol paints a devastating portrait of the couple's imperfections, illustrating how the criminal investigation acknowledges the everyday deceptions and casual lies that pass between them. His work is concentrated and observant without turning overtly cold or mannered.
Chabrol teases out the crime elements of the plot, suggesting alternate suspects, though his story fundamentally examines Rene's moral cowardice and the devastating loss of faith in his art and masculinity and its negative impact on Viviane.
Working with his great cinematographer, Eduardo Serra, Chabrol finds a physical outlet for the tortured inner lives of his characters: The use of landscape, water and muted and somber colors is beautifully counterpointed to highlight the emotional distance of its protagonists. Monique Fardoulis' editing contributes to the constant sense of nervous uncertainty.
Like most of Chabrol's films, the acting is exquisite: cool, tense, never quite what one expects. The film is marred only by an awkward, abrupt ending that answers lingering questions but loosens the grip on the material.
"The Color of Lies" is familiar work, a variation on a masterpiece, not quite all the way there but close, very close.
THE COLOR OF LIES
A MK2 Prods.
France 3 Cinema co-production
with the participation of Canal Plus
A Claude Chabrol film
Producer: Marin Karmitz
Director-screenwriter: Claude Chabrol
Screenwriter: Odile Barski
Director of photography: Eduardo Serra
Score: Mathieu Chabrol
Editor: Monique Fardoulis
Sound: Jean-Bernard Thomasson, Claude Villand
Sets: Francoise Benoit-Fresco
Color/stereo
Cast:
Rene: Jacques Gamblin
Viviane: Sandrine Bonnaire
Frederique: Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi
Germain Desmot: Antoine de Caunes
Loudun: Bernard Verley
Running time -- 113 minutes
No MPAA rating...
The prolific French director, whose film was shown in competition at the Berlin Film Festival, should duplicate the art house success of his 1995 "La Ceremonie".
Set in a Breton fishing village, the film opens with the gruesome discovery of the rape and strangulation of a 10-year-old girl. The investigation focuses on the last person she was seen with, her art teacher Rene (Jacques Gamblin).
A once-promising artist whose career was destroyed when he was injured in a bombing attack 12 years earlier, Rene has not exhibited his work in more than a decade. Rene -- brooding, self-contained and passively aware of his "failure" -- has forsaken portraits for landscapes.
With nerve and precision, Chabrol implicitly links Rene's artistic failure with the recurring suggestion of sexual inadequacy. His wife, Viviane (an excellent Sandrine Bonnaire), becomes prey to the seductive charms of a self-absorbed writer Germain Desmot (Antoine de Caunes).
Spurred by the actions of local inspector Frederique Lesage (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi), the social backlash against Rene intensifies, occasioning his deeper withdrawal from public view and a closer examination of his relationship with his wife, a nurse who is their sole source of financial support.
A director of hard surfaces and distinct lines, Chabrol paints a devastating portrait of the couple's imperfections, illustrating how the criminal investigation acknowledges the everyday deceptions and casual lies that pass between them. His work is concentrated and observant without turning overtly cold or mannered.
Chabrol teases out the crime elements of the plot, suggesting alternate suspects, though his story fundamentally examines Rene's moral cowardice and the devastating loss of faith in his art and masculinity and its negative impact on Viviane.
Working with his great cinematographer, Eduardo Serra, Chabrol finds a physical outlet for the tortured inner lives of his characters: The use of landscape, water and muted and somber colors is beautifully counterpointed to highlight the emotional distance of its protagonists. Monique Fardoulis' editing contributes to the constant sense of nervous uncertainty.
Like most of Chabrol's films, the acting is exquisite: cool, tense, never quite what one expects. The film is marred only by an awkward, abrupt ending that answers lingering questions but loosens the grip on the material.
"The Color of Lies" is familiar work, a variation on a masterpiece, not quite all the way there but close, very close.
THE COLOR OF LIES
A MK2 Prods.
France 3 Cinema co-production
with the participation of Canal Plus
A Claude Chabrol film
Producer: Marin Karmitz
Director-screenwriter: Claude Chabrol
Screenwriter: Odile Barski
Director of photography: Eduardo Serra
Score: Mathieu Chabrol
Editor: Monique Fardoulis
Sound: Jean-Bernard Thomasson, Claude Villand
Sets: Francoise Benoit-Fresco
Color/stereo
Cast:
Rene: Jacques Gamblin
Viviane: Sandrine Bonnaire
Frederique: Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi
Germain Desmot: Antoine de Caunes
Loudun: Bernard Verley
Running time -- 113 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 2/19/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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