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Les Diaboliques

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Diabolique

Véra Clouzot

Simone Signoret

Paul Meurisse

Charles Vanel

Jean Brochard

Pierre Larquey

Michel Serrault

Yves-Marie Maurin

Georges Poujouly

Thérèse Dorny

Noël Roquevert

Jean Lefebvre

Robert Dalban

Georges Chamarat

Madeleine Suffel

Jean Témerson

Jacques Hilling

Camille Guérini

Jacques Varennes

Henri Humbert

Michel Dumur

Jean-Pierre Bonnefous

Johnny Hallyday

Jimmy Urbain

Henri Coutet

Christian Brocard

Jean Clarieux

Zappy Max

Henri-Georges Clouzot

Georges Van Parys

Léon Barsacq

Madeleine Gug

Armand Thirard

William Robert Sivel

Jeanne Witta

Louis Née

Jacques Robin

Robert Juillard

Jean Lallier

Georges Lourau

Simone Knapp

Anatole Paris

Michel Romanoff

Carven

Léo Mirkine

Frédéric Grendel

Thomas Narcejac

René Masson

Pierre Boileau

Jérôme Géronimi

Jean Dicop

Georges Testard

Robert Joffres

Louis de Masure

Daniel Diot

I have only seen but two of Clouzot's films (this and the equally brilliant 'The Wages of Fear'), but I understand immediately what connoisseurs mean when they say he's the French Alfred Hitchcock. He has an innate and unbelievably vivid and accurate take on human nature. I can't wait to check out the rest of his oeuvre.

The keys in the pool, the husband in the morgue! You dream too much about water in this house!

Headmaster of a boarding school, Michel Delaselle (Paul Meurisse) is a brooding bully of a man, one day his wife and mistress decide enough is enough and plot to kill him, trouble is that once they murder him, his body disappears and reported sightings of him are adding to the ladies' paranoia.

Thus is the setting for director Henri-Georges Clouzot's brilliant suspenser. The pace is stiflingly perfect, he gently racks up the tension, neatly toying with audience expectation, the sense of dread that hangs in the air is palpable. How refreshing it is to see a suspense film actually build its plot for a good hour? In this day and age the MTV generation would be walking out of this after 30 minutes. Armand Thirard's atmospheric photography accentuates the creeping menace like mood, to the point that when we get to the last 15 minutes, nerves are already frayed and we then of course get what is arguably the greatest bath scene ever, and "that" ending... 

When I first watched it back in 2008 it was on a poor quality DVD, but revisiting it on Blu-ray it still worked me over as the great suspense movie it is, forcing me to seek the solace of daylight ASAP. Great writing, great directing, great acting, the latter thriving due to Simone Signoret's dangerously simmering sexuality and Véra Clouzot's heartfelt vulnerability. It's one of the classic chillers of European cinema. And if you haven't seen it yet? Do what I did last night, get the Blu-ray, turn off the lights and just have a couple of candles flickering away in your peripheral vision. Maybe indulge in some stiff drinks like I did, and most of all, watch it on your own... 9/10

John Badham on DIABOLIQUE

Three Reasons: Diabolique - The Criterion Collection

DIABOLIQUE Trailer (1955) - The Criterion Collection

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Diabolique

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Cast

Véra Clouzot

Simone Signoret

Paul Meurisse

Charles Vanel

Jean Brochard

Pierre Larquey

Michel Serrault

Yves-Marie Maurin

Georges Poujouly

Thérèse Dorny

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