The two clearest clues for figuring out the exact angle of Clouzot’s acid take on the cannibalistic tendencies of a society in turmoil: 1) a comment in the accompanying TV doc interview in which he identifies the story kernel as “an idea from childhood,” 2) the pivotal scene with the light bulb, established as an indicator for vectors of good and evil, bobbling over a placed globe, casting shadows randomly. Taking these two things together, the film seems less like a pointed political statement than the director grafting a broad expression of angst toward people’s inherently self-serving shittiness onto the topical scaffold of a world falling under the pall of similar dark shadows.

Fantastic anti-informant movie by Clouzot, filmed, amazingly, during the Nazi occupation of France. It works on many levels: it looks great, the plot is tense and suspenseful, the dialogue is crisp, surprisingly modern, and funny, and the acting is great. Plus, the message is, basically, stop snitchin'. Ahead of its time!

While it might not be my favorite Clouzot film, Le Corbeau was very intriguing. I think I liked the dialogue the most; Clouzot writes interesting characters and gives them great one-liners and exchanges.

The two clearest clues for figuring out the exact angle of Clouzot’s acid take on the cannibalistic tendencies of a society in turmoil: 1) a comment in the accompanying TV doc interview in which he identifies the story kernel as “an idea from childhood,” 2) the pivotal scene with the light bulb, established as an indicator for vectors of good and evil, bobbling over a placed globe, casting shadows randomly. Taking these two things together, the film seems less like a pointed political statement than the director grafting a broad expression of angst toward people’s inherently self-serving shittiness onto the topical scaffold of a world falling under the pall of similar dark shadows.

Taut, uncompromising, compelling thriller about how anonymous letters disrupt the apparent peacefulness of a small French village, making all kind of grudges come to the surface.

Really great French film made during the German Occupation which, despite its bizarre ideological issues which can never be properly resolved one way or another (Is it pro or anti occupation? Impossible to say, such is the nature of authorship under occupation I suppose...) but nevertheless is a fascinating and extremely entertaining film that evokes its epoch wonderfully. Well worth viewing.

Yup, Clouzot was one of the better ones. Between this and Diabolique, I prefer the latter, but only because it gave away more completely to shocks and thrills. This one still smuggles in some semblance of thematic unity, which turns out to be oft-frustrating, oft-enlightening, especially in the key scenes--the final two sequences, and the famous light-bulb speech. (Of course, the easiest and most effective theme is that of distrust, which Clouzot instills in the viewer quite expertly--Holy red herrings, amirite?) Comes out as an ambiguous film that endorses against ambiguity, which I'm not sure I've ever seen before. I don't know if I like that aspect, but the adrenaline rush I experienced as I clapped for the film was awesome, and that counts for something, I'd say.

It's a good old detective story where everyone plays detective, but notwithstanding all the conjecture I've heard about it being anti-this and critical of that, I think the film strives more to entertain than to edify, despite the theme of the hypocricy of judging others when everyone has something to hide. Good characters and plot, but I felt it relied too much on dialogue, with only a couple of instances of visual storytelling. A treat for the curious, but not in the same league as Diabolique or Wages of Fear.

63/100

Lovely to look at and well-acted, but I personally don't find poison pen letters interesting in the least. Hence, surface level involvement in the film, nothing much else. A second viewing would probably be kinder.