On L List of Movie Reviews
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Les diaboliques (1955)
Rate:
9
Viewed:
6/07, 6/25
6/07:
Henri-Georges Clouzot and Alfred Hitchcock were in a race to buy the film rights to a novel called
Celle qui n'était plus by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac, and the former emerged as the winner.
As a result, he directed the award-winning French thriller that became Les diaboliques, aka
The Devils, making the Master of Suspense envious, but it did have an enormous influence on
Psycho. His wife Véra Clouzot died of a heart attack five years later
at the age of 46, mirroring the ailment of her on-screen character.
The acting is phenomenal, and the story is adeptly crafted. Sure, it's unpredictable, and I let myself stay
interested to see how the director would pull this one off. Meanwhile, Simone Signoret is ravishing while
Véra Clouzot and Paul Meurisse turn in strong performances.
All in all, Les diaboliques ranks one of the finest pictures made, and it's certainly an original.
6/25:
Unique and different, the last ten minutes of Les diaboliques is what made Alfred Hitchcock want the film
rights.
Five minutes before that, I finally got it as to how the ending would happen because I thought about who really
put the poison in the bottle, placed the bronze mantle on the body, and arranged for it to soak in the bathtub,
so there went the answer. But I prefer the retired police inspector be eliminated from the picture to let the
schemers get away with the crime. Life is never morally right 100% of the time.
The biggest reason for docking a point from my rating is the film takes a while to get going. By the time
Christina Delassalle and Nicole Horner are out of town, that's when it begins to take off although the
momentum eventually slows down before picking up the pace to reach the finale. At any rate, Véra Clouzot and
Simone Signoret are consummate as these two female characters.
All in all, although problematic in terms of pace, Les diaboliques holds up very well.