La demoiselle d'honneur

I really like the books of Ruth Rendell, some under the pseudonym as Barbara Vine and she had published some 80 books. Claude Chabrol I also like and he had made something like 60 films, some of them wonderful. He made a couple of his of Rendell's, the first one was The Ceremony (1995) a great film made out of, A Judgement in Stone. Later on, this film was made in 2004, and from her's of the same title. The book is fine but unusually with Chabrol in this one I'm not sure he really gets it quite right here. It is a bit complicated and a rather odd tale and I think he wanted it to be amusing as well, but maybe it wasn't a good idea. It is interesting but with the stone head with bed, the candles and no people, and some dead but not dead, maybe it is just too much going on.

Just like Patricia Highsmith, Ruth Rendell is a perfect inspiration to Claude Chabrol. Following Patricia Highsmith's example, Ruth Rendell minutely explores the troubled minds of unbalanced characters and the effects of their dangerous conduct on the people they mix with, the latter unaware of their mental imbalance. And what is director Chabrol pet theme? Just that!

This second child of a love match ( "La Demoiselle d'Honneur" is "La Cérémonie"'s younger sister ) is - unsurprisingly - as good as the first product of their encounter.

This time around, two hearts, two bodies are irrepressibly attracted to each other but will the sick mind of one contaminate the other's healthy brain? This is what the story is about and fascination slowly but surely finds its way to the viewer. Indeed Chabrol's talent mainly lies in his ability to make the story shift from the ordinary ( Philippe's family life, his job, the wedding ) to the uncanny ( Senta's odd ideas, the queer characters living in a bizarre house, Senta's sincere love tainted with unsettling ideas).

Benoît Magimel and Laura Smet embody the cursed couple to perfection.

In addition, there are excellent supporting performances, mainly from Aurore Clément ( the mother whose suffering is made apparent despite the character's efforts to hide it ), from young Anna Mihalcea ( striking as a young tortured rebel ) and from Michel Duchaussoy ( very amusing as good-natured tramp ).

All this fine movie lacks to be a genuine masterpiece is an extra dose of intensity. But , as it is, it's quite worth seeing.

Having read the book 'The Bridesmaid', I was gratified that this film was a very good representation of it. It kept close to the story and did not alter anything. Even though my image of Senta as she is portrayed in the book was different to that of the one in the film, it didn't matter as her personality was accurately portrayed - indeed, all the characters were excellent. Benoit Magimel was exactly how I imagined the main character, both in looks and behaviour.

The impact of the events would have been greater to those who haven't read the book (ie I knew what was going to happen) but I found it satisfying and would highly recommend this film.

Ruth Rendell's plots are so clever, with a twist in the tail, and it is important that a film captures this, and Chabrol manages it perfectly.

In Lille, the hairdresser Christine (Aurore Clément) has raised her son and two daughters alone. Philippe Tardieu (Benoît Magimel), who works in a renovation company; Sophie Tardieu (Solène Bouton), who is going to marry Jacky (Eric Seigne) in a couple of days; and Patricia Tardieu (Anna Mihalcea),who seems to be using drugs, live with their mother in a middle-class house where Christine works. Now, while a teenager is vanished in the city, Christine invites her son and daughters to meet her boyfriend, the wealthy Gérard Courtois (Bernard Le Coq) that has just divorced and is selling his house. She gives her garden stone head of the goddess of flowers Flora that Philippe adores to Gérard that tells her that he has a business travel to Italy on the next day, but he disappears from Christine's life. In Sophie's wedding, Philippe meets her sexy bridesmaid and Jacky's cousin Stéphanie "Senta" Bellange (Laura Smet) and they have one night stand. Despite the odd behavior of the unstable and apparently imaginative Senta, Philippe immediately falls in love with her and she suggests four weird things to prove their love: planting a tree; writing a poem; having homosexual intercourse; and killing a person. When a homeless beggar is found murdered in the harbor, Philippe decides to fantasize that he had murdered the man to prove his love to Senta. On the next morning, when he wakes-up, Senta tells that she had murdered Gérard to please Philippe and describes her crime in details. Philippe decides to visit Gérard to find the truth about Senta.

"La Demoiselle d'Honneur" is an engaging thriller by Claude Chabrol that slightly recalls Alfred Hitchcock style in "Strangers on a Train". The story has many subplots to divert the viewer and the twists are excellent. This is the first movie that I have seen with the sexy and gorgeous Laura Smet and I loved her performance, in a totally different type of psychopath. Like in other films of this director, the ending is open to interpretation and I believe that Philippe has indeed called the police, but will try to help Senta during her imprisonment. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "A Dama de Honra" ("The Bridesmaid")

Note: On 14 January 2025, I saw this film again.

This movie did not particularly convince me. Maybe my expectations went in a completely wrong direction but nevertheless I discovered some flaws that really disturbed my pleasure of this basically interesting film.

The plot line grows more and more absurd and - in its absurdity - predictable as the story goes on. This would not matter to me (as I do not really mind that we are never given an explanation for the strange and questionable features that strike us right from the beginning, especially in connection with Senta and the bust) if the characters were a little more subtly portrayed. All of the characters (Magimel's at the least) are exaggerated and near-hysterical, and therefore close to various type clichés (the rebelling teen daughter stealing, colouring her hair AND piercing her nose; the bridegroom, who is revealed as an idiot the instant we see him, calling his bride embarrassing terms of endearment; the mother smiling hopefully throughout as if she was on drugs). I am sure all this is not due to bad acting but done so intentionally. But I fail to understand what kind of quality it is supposed to add to the film. Humour? I don't know; I laughed occasionally but not very often.

This is the kind of film that I am sure is fun making; but then it should not be shown publicly.