It's
been said that the
French screenwriter and director Henri-Georges Clouzot was not a happy
fellow. This will come as no surprise to anyone who has seen Les
Diabolique ?a bleak story of murder in which the most likeable character
plots her husband’s death and the happiest event, depending on your point
of view, is either a killing or an arrest. Clouzot might have been a
pessimist, but he was also a skilled filmmaker, and it shows in this
classic, chilling film.
The Delassalle boys?boarding school is a
miserable place where students and staff are forced to eat fish that's
going bad and everyone lives in fear of the headmaster, Michel Delassalle
(Paul Meurisse is coolly self indulgent and vicious in the role). Among
Delassalle's targets are his mild-mannered wife, Christina (Vera
Clouzot,
the director's real-world wife) and Nicole Horner
(Simone Signoret), both
teachers at the school. Christina, who owns the school over which her
husband presides, has a heart condition. Nicole is openly having an affair
with Michel, but she too hates his brutality.
The situation is so
bad that Nicole eventually convinces Christina to join in a plot to kill
Michel. The plan is to lure him away from the school during a holiday
break, bump him off and then dump his body in the school swimming pool
?making it look like the death was an accident that took place when both
women were nowhere close to the school. Despite serious misgivings,
Christina agrees, and the two of them carry out the plan. With Michel's
body dumped in the pool, both women settle in to wait for someone to
discover his demise.
Christina's
guilt is soon the least of her
problems, as Michel's body does not turn up. Something has gone terribly
wrong, and the conspirators?worries are exacerbated when others around the
school start finding evidence that Mr. Delassalle is still alive. With a
detective wandering around in search of the missing headmaster, Christina
and Nicole have plenty to worry about. Events culminate as Christina
wanders her apartment alone at night, fearing that her victim has somehow
returned.
This is a classic suspense-mystery-thriller with plot
twists that work ?they’re surprising, but believable at the same time.
Clouzot ends the movie with a message pleading with filmgoers to avoid
divulging the twists to people who haven't seen it yet.
In addition
to Meurisse, who is effectively slimy and menacing, Vera Clouzot also puts
in a good performance. She's convincing as a fragile young woman who has
been pushed to the edge (sadly, she died of an apparent heart attack just
five years after making this movie). Simone Signoret is strong as the
assertive Nicole, and the supporting cast is uniformly good ?Clouzot has
populated the film with quirky secondary characters, none who are
particularly nice people, but all are interesting and funny.
Les
Diaboliques is a scary movie in the spirit of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho,
and while it isn't as well known, it's just as chilling.
From Rotten
Tomatoes
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