Review #731 - Diabolique (1955)
THE SCOOP
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot
Cast: Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot and Paul Meurisse
Plot: The wife of a cruel headmaster and his mistress conspire to kill him, but after the murder is committed, his body disappears, and strange events begin to plague the two women.
Genre: Film-Noir / Horror / Mystery
Awards: -
Runtime: 114min
Rating: PG for some disturbing content.
IN RETROSPECT (Spoilers: MILD)
Often dubbed the best film Alfred Hitchcock never made, Diabolique is a French classic with strong elements of mystery that will continue to keep you guessing until its final frame. Director Henri-Georges Clouzot warned audiences in the end credits not to reveal any plot twists to first-time viewers.
And like Psycho (1960), Clouzot refused entry to anyone who was late for the screenings. Though it must be said that Hitchcock's 'publicity stunt' was more infamous, but no less memorable. Still, Diabolique has over the decades retained a cult-like status, and
remains arguably the defining French suspense-mystery picture of the 1950s.
Diabolique is believed to have influenced Psycho,
less in terms of plot, but more of visual design and cinematography. There are
shots of a lighted window with a human silhouette in the dead of night; a
murder is committed in a bathtub; and although there isn't a murky pond to sink
a body in, there is a swimming pool that seems like it has not been cleaned in
years.
The black-and-white cinematography evokes feelings of unease. Its noir
qualities also effectively portray a bleak and despairing outlook, at least for
its two lead female characters, creating a psychologically unsettling
atmosphere.
Wrongly classified
as horror, I feel, Diabolique is as
much a horror film as Drive (2011) is
an action feature, even though the premise reads like one. The less said about Diabolique's plot the better because not
knowing what to expect is part of your discovery of this superbly-crafted film.
Set in a boarding school in an isolated place far from town, Nicole (Simone
Signoret) and Christina (Vera Clouzot) plan to kill Michel (Paul Meurisse), the
school's sadistic principal and dump his body into the pool. But when the pool
is drained days later, no body is found.
And that's when the
film really begins, after almost an hour of set-up and character development.
Patient viewers will reap the benefits of a long set-up, essential for creating
the kind of character empathy that is the hallmark of great 1950s mystery
pictures like Vertigo (1958) and Anatomy of a Murder (1959).
The central
character of Diabolique is not Michel
but Christina, his weak wife with a heart condition, and who has had enough of
Michel's evil ways to want to kill him. Even then, she remains fickle-minded,
only to be pushed all the way by Nicole, Michel's headstrong mistress.
Diabolique has a few tricks up its sleeves, but first and foremost, it is a
potent exercise in suspense filmmaking. Its back-to-the-basics approach to
suspense is admirable, and like Hitchcock, Clouzot understands suspense is not
about what is out there in the unknown, but what we know that is inside of us,
that is, our deepest fears.
Clouzot's film builds up to a climax that strips
down Christina's fears (and ours) to the barest, as both character and viewer
become one entity in one of the most tense sequences ever directed and edited
in classic French cinema.
Verdict: Arguably the defining work of classic
French suspense-mystery cinema, by who else but Clouzot.
GRADE: A- (8.5/10 or 4 stars)
Comments
No, I went into the film knowing nothing except the intriguing brief plot outline on IMDB. It was a pleasant discovery. And it's my first Clouzot film. Gonna look for THE WAGES OF FEAR soon!