3 Classic Films by Claude Chabrol

Claude Chabrol has been called the Gallic Hitchcock due to his fascination with the Master of Suspense and because he spent most of his career making thrillers that, at their best, reveal characters with complex psychologies, often involved in destructive and unhealthy relationships. This collection presents three from the 1990s, starting with Betty (1992), based on a 1960 novel by Georges Simenon, which stars Marie Trintignant as the titular boozy, unhappy wife of a lawyer dominated by his controlling mother. Betty sinks into depression when she is banished after being caught in an affair. This is not a crime thriller, but rather a psychological drama woven through with flashbacks and built on an almost Darwinian perspective on social survival. L'Enfer (1994), based on an unmade screenplay by Henri-George Clouzot, stars François Cluzet as a happily married man who becomes insanely jealous over his sexy wife (Emmanuelle Béart). Chabrol's empathy for the tormented husband makes him far more interesting than as a mere madman, but this comes at the expense of the wife, who is portrayed as an angelic sexpot with little dimension. Regardless, L'Enfer is a riveting psychological portrait of madness and pathological jealousy. The Swindle (1997), starring Isabelle Huppert and Michel Serrault as con artists and Cluzet as their clever (possibly duplicitous) mark, is a lightweight thriller in contrast. It builds slowly and is a little precocious, but it twists effectively when the small time players cross big time killers. Extras include audio commentaries and an archival interview with Cluzet. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)