★★★★☆ Founding member of the French New Wave Claude Chabrol, who sadly passed away in 2010, was always known for his ability to make great, compelling thrillers. Nowhere is this more true than his 1995 film La Cérémonie, re-released this week on Blu-ray and DVD by Artificial Eye. Adapted from Ruth Rendell's Judgement in Stone, Chabrol and co-writer Caroline Eliacheff shift the action from 1970s England to France in what is a gripping psychodrama.
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- 7/24/2012
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Blackwell's Palm has plan for 'Evil'
NEW YORK -- Continuing ar recent buying streak, Palm Pictures -- the indie film banner run by Island Records founder Chris Blackwell -- has sealed a deal to acquire all domestic rights to seminal French mystery helmer Claude Chabrol's Flower of Evil. Evil stars Nathalie Baye and Benoit Magimel in the story of the Charpin-Vasseurs, one of the most well-respected upper-middle-class families in Bordeaux. The family's picture-perfect image is shattered when murder occurs, and Chabrol's film retraces the family members' actions in the two weeks leading up to the crime. The film -- which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival this year -- was produced by Marin Karmitz and co-penned by Chabrol, Caroline Eliacheff and Louise L. Lambrichs. Palm is planning a fall rollout. The deal was negotiated for Palm by David Koh, head of acquisitions and production, and theatrical distribution head Ryan Werner. Florence Stern, head of sales for French indie banner MK2, repped the film. Palm has recently made a spate of acquisitions, including Dagur Kari's critically acclaimed debut Noi Albinoi, John Walter's Sundance Film Festival Jury Prize winner How to Draw a Bunny and Olivier Assayas' thriller Demonlover, starring Connie Nielsen, Chloe Sevigny and Gina Gershon.
- 4/11/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
La Fleur du Mal
Berlin International Film Festival
BERLIN -- "La Fleur du Mal" (The Flower of Evil) takes place deep in Claude Chabrol territory. Here, the veteran French director stalks his usual prey -- the bourgeoisie with all their foibles, insularity, pettiness and self-obsession. There is, of course, a crime. We see a corpse during the opening credits, but the victim does not meet his fate until the third act. Thus, we wait for nearly 90 minutes of pitiless probing into rather ordinary if not dull lives before anything dramatic happens.
Chabrol has been making and remaking this film for six decades now. He seemingly will never tire of explaining how tired he is of the petit bourgeoisie. In his best films, this theme gets entangled in Hitchcockian tales of crime and infidelity, where the suspense makes his obsessions with class more than tolerable. But "La Fleur du Mal" is no such film. It has been drained of dramatic tension, leaving only an arid examination of manners and mores. One can never rule out North American distribution for a Chabrol film, but the best audiences for this "evil flower" live in Western European territories.
Three generations of a wealthy Bordeaux family find themselves in the family home over several days. Its gracefully aging matriarch, Aunt Line (Suzanne Flon), is the one link to scandal, having been acquitted of murdering her father, a Nazi sympathizer and collaborator, after the war. The film hints broadly that her acquittal came at the expense of true justice.
Her niece Anne (Nathalie Baye) is in the midst of a campaign for mayor despite the objections of her pharmacist husband, Gerard Bernard Le Coq). The couple each lost a first spouse in a tragic accident, then married each other. Their grown children, Francois (Benoit Magimel), son of Gerard who has just returned from a three-year stay in the United States, and Michele (Melanie Doutey), Anne's daughter, are in love with each other.
A vile political pamphlet makes the rounds in the small town, dredging up the old murder scandal and alleging several others. No one, it seems, likes Gerard, so both children and even Aunt Line think he may have authored the pamphlet himself.
For most of the film, characters talk to one another in cars, at receptions and in various tasteful rooms.
The actors bring enough subtlety and dramatic instinct to these chats to keep them vaguely interesting. But nothing about the characters engages the viewer, and the dialogue is burdened with so much exposition and back story that one can be excused for inattentiveness.
Occasionally, a camera movement or ominous chord of music reminds us that we are in Chabrol territory: Beware, emotions lurk beneath the surface that will inevitably lead to a dramatic rupture. Alas, the story never really pays off either as thriller or drama. Its well-upholstered art direction and understated cinematography only underscore how anemic the drama is.
LA FLEUR DU MAL
An MK2 SA/France 3 Cinema co-production with the participation of Canal Plus and the Aquitaine Regional Council
Credits:
Director: Claude Chabrol
Screenwriters: Caroline Eliacheff, Louise Llambrichs, Claude Chabrol
Producer: Marin Karmitz
Director of photography: Eduardo Serra
Production designer: Francoise Benoit-Fresco
Music: Matthieu Chabrol
Costume designer: Mic Cheminal
Editor: Monique Fardoulis
Cast:
Anne: Nathalie Baye
Francois: Benoit Magimel
Aunt Line: Suzanne Flon
Gerard: Bernard Le Coq
Michele: Melanie Doutey
Matthieu: Thomas Chabrol
Running time -- 104 minutes
No MPAA rating...
BERLIN -- "La Fleur du Mal" (The Flower of Evil) takes place deep in Claude Chabrol territory. Here, the veteran French director stalks his usual prey -- the bourgeoisie with all their foibles, insularity, pettiness and self-obsession. There is, of course, a crime. We see a corpse during the opening credits, but the victim does not meet his fate until the third act. Thus, we wait for nearly 90 minutes of pitiless probing into rather ordinary if not dull lives before anything dramatic happens.
Chabrol has been making and remaking this film for six decades now. He seemingly will never tire of explaining how tired he is of the petit bourgeoisie. In his best films, this theme gets entangled in Hitchcockian tales of crime and infidelity, where the suspense makes his obsessions with class more than tolerable. But "La Fleur du Mal" is no such film. It has been drained of dramatic tension, leaving only an arid examination of manners and mores. One can never rule out North American distribution for a Chabrol film, but the best audiences for this "evil flower" live in Western European territories.
Three generations of a wealthy Bordeaux family find themselves in the family home over several days. Its gracefully aging matriarch, Aunt Line (Suzanne Flon), is the one link to scandal, having been acquitted of murdering her father, a Nazi sympathizer and collaborator, after the war. The film hints broadly that her acquittal came at the expense of true justice.
Her niece Anne (Nathalie Baye) is in the midst of a campaign for mayor despite the objections of her pharmacist husband, Gerard Bernard Le Coq). The couple each lost a first spouse in a tragic accident, then married each other. Their grown children, Francois (Benoit Magimel), son of Gerard who has just returned from a three-year stay in the United States, and Michele (Melanie Doutey), Anne's daughter, are in love with each other.
A vile political pamphlet makes the rounds in the small town, dredging up the old murder scandal and alleging several others. No one, it seems, likes Gerard, so both children and even Aunt Line think he may have authored the pamphlet himself.
For most of the film, characters talk to one another in cars, at receptions and in various tasteful rooms.
The actors bring enough subtlety and dramatic instinct to these chats to keep them vaguely interesting. But nothing about the characters engages the viewer, and the dialogue is burdened with so much exposition and back story that one can be excused for inattentiveness.
Occasionally, a camera movement or ominous chord of music reminds us that we are in Chabrol territory: Beware, emotions lurk beneath the surface that will inevitably lead to a dramatic rupture. Alas, the story never really pays off either as thriller or drama. Its well-upholstered art direction and understated cinematography only underscore how anemic the drama is.
LA FLEUR DU MAL
An MK2 SA/France 3 Cinema co-production with the participation of Canal Plus and the Aquitaine Regional Council
Credits:
Director: Claude Chabrol
Screenwriters: Caroline Eliacheff, Louise Llambrichs, Claude Chabrol
Producer: Marin Karmitz
Director of photography: Eduardo Serra
Production designer: Francoise Benoit-Fresco
Music: Matthieu Chabrol
Costume designer: Mic Cheminal
Editor: Monique Fardoulis
Cast:
Anne: Nathalie Baye
Francois: Benoit Magimel
Aunt Line: Suzanne Flon
Gerard: Bernard Le Coq
Michele: Melanie Doutey
Matthieu: Thomas Chabrol
Running time -- 104 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 2/12/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Merci Pour le Chocolat
Made in 2000, Claude Chabrol's sophisticated psychological drama posing as a sly suspense thriller makes fine use of the Hitchcockian style, which garnered him acclaim during the late 1960s, to give the film structure.
But the main focus of "Merci Pour le Chocolat" (Nightcap) is character rather than story. The director downplays suspense to mount a delicate study of the mind of a perverse protagonist. "Chocolat" opens Wednesday at the Film Forum in New York.
Like Chabrol's "La Rupture" (1970), "Chocolat" is based on a book by Charlotte Armstrong. As he did with "Rupture", Chabrol takes a knife to the cozy existence of the bourgeoisie. But here, he's not interested in the social or personal conditions that unbalance people and lead them to commit horrendous acts. The psychology of "Chocolat" is one of pure, unadulterated malice for its own sake.
The story centers on a rich Swiss-French family. The calculating, charming Mika (Isabelle Huppert) marries concert pianist Andre (Jacques Dutronc) after the death of his wife in a car accident. Andre's son Guillaume is insecure because he lacks his father's talent. He becomes even more sullen when talented pianist Jeanne (Anne Mouglalis) arrives, claiming that she was switched at birth with Guillaume.
As the viewer settles down for a story of mistaken identity, Chabrol throws in a new twist: Jeanne claims that she's discovered Mika lacing Guillaume's hot chocolate with the date rape drug Rophynol. But, the boy asks, why would she do that? The various plot strands coalesce in a disturbing denouement that is as understated as it is perverse.
The psychological aspects ring disconcertingly true, perhaps because Chabrol co-wrote "Chocolat" with a child psychologist (Caroline Eliacheff, who also co-scripted 1995's "La Ceremonie"). Chabrol's command of filmic elements is never less than masterful throughout, and the movie compares to his earlier classic works.
But the main focus of "Merci Pour le Chocolat" (Nightcap) is character rather than story. The director downplays suspense to mount a delicate study of the mind of a perverse protagonist. "Chocolat" opens Wednesday at the Film Forum in New York.
Like Chabrol's "La Rupture" (1970), "Chocolat" is based on a book by Charlotte Armstrong. As he did with "Rupture", Chabrol takes a knife to the cozy existence of the bourgeoisie. But here, he's not interested in the social or personal conditions that unbalance people and lead them to commit horrendous acts. The psychology of "Chocolat" is one of pure, unadulterated malice for its own sake.
The story centers on a rich Swiss-French family. The calculating, charming Mika (Isabelle Huppert) marries concert pianist Andre (Jacques Dutronc) after the death of his wife in a car accident. Andre's son Guillaume is insecure because he lacks his father's talent. He becomes even more sullen when talented pianist Jeanne (Anne Mouglalis) arrives, claiming that she was switched at birth with Guillaume.
As the viewer settles down for a story of mistaken identity, Chabrol throws in a new twist: Jeanne claims that she's discovered Mika lacing Guillaume's hot chocolate with the date rape drug Rophynol. But, the boy asks, why would she do that? The various plot strands coalesce in a disturbing denouement that is as understated as it is perverse.
The psychological aspects ring disconcertingly true, perhaps because Chabrol co-wrote "Chocolat" with a child psychologist (Caroline Eliacheff, who also co-scripted 1995's "La Ceremonie"). Chabrol's command of filmic elements is never less than masterful throughout, and the movie compares to his earlier classic works.
- 7/30/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Nightcap
Juliette Binoche isn't the only French actress who can work wonders with chocolat.
Isabelle Huppert happens to make a killer hot cocoa (perhaps literally) in Claude Chabrol's elegantly perverse "Nightcap" ("Merci Pour Le Chocolat").
Based loosely on a novel by the late American mystery writer Charlotte Armstrong, this masterfully calibrated psychological thriller thrives on its taut performances and creepy atmosphere even if the screenplay falls somewhat short.
A presentation of this year's City of Lights, City of Angels festival of fresh French cinema taking place at the DGA headquarters, Chabrol's 52nd film finds the French Hitchcock in fine if not quite vintage form and certainly deserving of American exposure beyond a single screening.
Huppert, who has collaborated with the filmmaker on a number of occasions, is fascinating to watch as the quietly calculating Marie-Claire, the newly married second wife of concert pianist Andre Polonski (Jacques Dutronc) and CEO of a large Swiss chocolate manufacturer inherited from her father.
Marie-Claire likes her spotless household to run like a Swiss watch, but there's a telltale crack in the sun-filtered austerity -- one which grows ominously deeper with the arrival of an uninvited guest.
It seems that due to a maternity ward mix-up, Polonski's languid son, Guillaume (Rodolphe Pauly) and the daughter of another couple were ascribed to the wrong parents long ago. The initial confusion was soon cleared up, or was it?
Tickled by the notion that she might really be the daughter of an accomplished virtuoso, young Jeanne Pollet (Anna Mouglalis), herself a budding pianist, shows up on the Polonski doorstep one day to find out the truth, and, in the process, uncovers substantially more than she anticipated.
For instance, could Marie-Claire be keeping her husband and stepson perpetually doped up on daily servings of Rohypnol-laced hot cocoa? Was the death of Guillaume's mother really a suicide?
Thanks to Chabrol's meticulously crafted direction, the answers are spun out at a neatly unhurried but never less than intriguing pace.
He also pulls a subtle yet palpable menace out of Huppert, whose performances have been known to verge on the catatonic if allowed to go unchecked. It's one of her most satisfying turns in years, and one which was rewarded with a best actress prize at this year's Lumieres de Paris Awards.
It's too bad that the script, by Chabrol and Caroline Eliacheff, doesn't provide a more potent payoff. After all that delicious build-up, one was expecting a nightcap that packed a greater kick.
Still, the picture, along with Dominik Moll's soon-to-be-released "With a Friend Like Harry", successfully evoke some unmistakably Hitchcockian mischief-making without resorting to the usual lazy mimicry.
NIGHTCAP ("Merci Pour Le Chocolat")
MK2 Prods.
Director: Claude Chabrol
Screenwriters: Caroline Eliacheff & Claude Chabrol
Based on "The Chocolate Cobweb" by Charlotte Armstrong
Producer: Marin Karmitz
Executive producer: Jean-Louis Porchet
Director of photography: Renato Berta
Editor: Monique Fardouli
Costume designer: Elisabeth Tavernier
Music: Matthieu Chabrol
Color/stereo
Cast:
Marie-Claire Muller-Polonski: Isabelle Huppert
Andre Polonski: Jacques Dutronc
Jeanne Pollet: Anna Mouglalis
Guillaume Polonski: Rodolphe Pauly
Louise Pollet: Brigitte Catillon
Dufreigne: Michel Robin
Axel: Mathieu Simonet
Running time -- 99 minutes
No MPAA Rating...
Isabelle Huppert happens to make a killer hot cocoa (perhaps literally) in Claude Chabrol's elegantly perverse "Nightcap" ("Merci Pour Le Chocolat").
Based loosely on a novel by the late American mystery writer Charlotte Armstrong, this masterfully calibrated psychological thriller thrives on its taut performances and creepy atmosphere even if the screenplay falls somewhat short.
A presentation of this year's City of Lights, City of Angels festival of fresh French cinema taking place at the DGA headquarters, Chabrol's 52nd film finds the French Hitchcock in fine if not quite vintage form and certainly deserving of American exposure beyond a single screening.
Huppert, who has collaborated with the filmmaker on a number of occasions, is fascinating to watch as the quietly calculating Marie-Claire, the newly married second wife of concert pianist Andre Polonski (Jacques Dutronc) and CEO of a large Swiss chocolate manufacturer inherited from her father.
Marie-Claire likes her spotless household to run like a Swiss watch, but there's a telltale crack in the sun-filtered austerity -- one which grows ominously deeper with the arrival of an uninvited guest.
It seems that due to a maternity ward mix-up, Polonski's languid son, Guillaume (Rodolphe Pauly) and the daughter of another couple were ascribed to the wrong parents long ago. The initial confusion was soon cleared up, or was it?
Tickled by the notion that she might really be the daughter of an accomplished virtuoso, young Jeanne Pollet (Anna Mouglalis), herself a budding pianist, shows up on the Polonski doorstep one day to find out the truth, and, in the process, uncovers substantially more than she anticipated.
For instance, could Marie-Claire be keeping her husband and stepson perpetually doped up on daily servings of Rohypnol-laced hot cocoa? Was the death of Guillaume's mother really a suicide?
Thanks to Chabrol's meticulously crafted direction, the answers are spun out at a neatly unhurried but never less than intriguing pace.
He also pulls a subtle yet palpable menace out of Huppert, whose performances have been known to verge on the catatonic if allowed to go unchecked. It's one of her most satisfying turns in years, and one which was rewarded with a best actress prize at this year's Lumieres de Paris Awards.
It's too bad that the script, by Chabrol and Caroline Eliacheff, doesn't provide a more potent payoff. After all that delicious build-up, one was expecting a nightcap that packed a greater kick.
Still, the picture, along with Dominik Moll's soon-to-be-released "With a Friend Like Harry", successfully evoke some unmistakably Hitchcockian mischief-making without resorting to the usual lazy mimicry.
NIGHTCAP ("Merci Pour Le Chocolat")
MK2 Prods.
Director: Claude Chabrol
Screenwriters: Caroline Eliacheff & Claude Chabrol
Based on "The Chocolate Cobweb" by Charlotte Armstrong
Producer: Marin Karmitz
Executive producer: Jean-Louis Porchet
Director of photography: Renato Berta
Editor: Monique Fardouli
Costume designer: Elisabeth Tavernier
Music: Matthieu Chabrol
Color/stereo
Cast:
Marie-Claire Muller-Polonski: Isabelle Huppert
Andre Polonski: Jacques Dutronc
Jeanne Pollet: Anna Mouglalis
Guillaume Polonski: Rodolphe Pauly
Louise Pollet: Brigitte Catillon
Dufreigne: Michel Robin
Axel: Mathieu Simonet
Running time -- 99 minutes
No MPAA Rating...
- 4/19/2001
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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