The Inspector Lavardin Collection

French New Wave filmmaker Claude Chabrol—France's master of psychological thrillers and crime dramas—showed his lighter side in a pair of murder mysteries he helmed in the 1980s, starring Jean Poiret as Police Inspector Jean Lavardin, an eccentric, wily lone wolf who bends protocol, breaks the law, beats suspects, and generally follows his own instincts with a single-minded ferocity while outwardly maintaining the easygoing demeanor of an elegant, silver-haired veteran cop. From 1985, Chicken with Vinegar (aka Cop au Vin) is a light-fingered mystery set in a village of poisonous personalities and nasty conspiracies, starring Chabrol's muse Stéphane Audran as Madame Cuno, a hate-fueled invalid who sends her son Louis (Lucas Belvaux) to spy on a cabal of conspirators who are planning to evict the pair from their house. Inspector Lavardin (1986) reunites Chabrol with Jean-Claude Brialy and Bernadette Lafont (stars of Chabrol's 1958 debut feature, Le Beau Serge), here playing Claude and Hélène, a brother and sister suspected in the murder of a Catholic author with a morally corrupt secret life. Both productions are Chabrol-lite, more like British TV mysteries than the filmmaker's usual sharp portraits of guilt and desire; but Chabrol's fascination with corrupt communities and eccentrics is still clearly evident in both films. Also included here are two additional Chabrol-directed Lavardin specials made for French TV: The Black Snail (1988) and Danger Lies in the World (1989). Extras include audio commentaries by film critics Wade Major and Andy Klein. A strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)