1955 ‘Les diaboliques’ Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot
In this classic of French suspense, the cruel and abusive headmaster of a boarding school, Michel Delassalle, becomes the target of a murder plot hatched by an unlikely duo -- his meek wife and the mistress he brazenly flaunts. The women, brought together by their mutual hatred for the man, pull off the crime but become increasingly unhinged by a series of odd occurrences after Delassalle's corpse mysteriously disappears.
Simone Signoret Véra Clouzot Paul Meurisse Charles Vanel Jean Brochard Pierre Larquey Michel Serrault Thérèse Dorny Noël Roquevert Yves-Marie Maurin Georges Poujouly Georges Chamarat Jacques Varennes Jean Lefebvre Robert Dalban Camille Guérini Jacques Hilling Jean Témerson Christian Brocard Jean Clarieux Henri Coutet Johnny Hallyday Henri Humbert Zappy Max Madeleine Suffel Jimmy Urbain
Blending together the elements of horror & mystery in a seamless manner, cleverly using its available resources to provide a sense of dread & uncertainty, and efficiently sustaining its tense atmosphere from start to finish, Diabolique (also known as Les Diaboliques) is one of the finest examples of its genre(s) that simply refuses to age despite being nearly 60 years old.
The story concerns the wife of a cruel headmaster who, along with the help of her husband's mistress, devises a plan to murder him, and after careful arrangement manages to successfully execute it without leaving behind any traces. However, things are ultimately set in motion when the body mysteriously disappears from site after which a number of strange occurrences ensue.
Ingeniously…
A thrilling classic that more than lives up to its name! Taut, suspenseful plot that's wickedly delicious!
Packed with powerhouse performances by Véra Clouzot, Simone Signoret, Paul Meurisse!
Christina Delassalle (Véra Clouzot) may have something to hide but her see-through nightie reveals all!
Your viewing pleasure would be greatly enhanced if you avoid summaries, reviews and trailers!
The cold sweat, the uncontrollable trembling, the heavy breathing, the pressure on the chest, the burdensome weight felt by the knees, the inability to move, the faintness of the voice, the paralyzed mind. It’s fear, taking over. The artistry with which Henri-Georges Clouzot produces fear, sustains it and shows its crushing effects in Les Diaboliques elevate not only the film but the horror genre altogether. It is one of those rare occasions when the destabilizing nature of uncertainty, the sheer sense of dread and the spine-chilling force of fear are not taken for granted, but skillfully and vividly conveyed. Les Diaboliques is a film so effectively shrouded in mystery and delusion that it becomes a psychological assault of mind-boggling conviction.…
Wow.
I finished this film just moments ago, and I immediately want to go tell the world what I just saw. But I cant. Because at the end, a little message scrolled past that told me not to ruin the surprise. Diabolique is very interesting in the fact that a movie released in 1955, 58 years ago, is still making its audiences keep quiet about the ending. I have to thank the fans of the movie who didnt spoil this for me, and I will become one of those people who will carry the secret of this film to my grave.
Well, thats a little extreme, but I feel its justified in this context. The twist is simple, but planned…
Don't you believe in Hell?
-Christina Delassalle
My first film from director Henri-Georges Clouzot and with this one film he already rivals Alfred Hitchcock as a master film maker and master of suspense. For me to admit that, it's kinda huge. Hitchcock is my favorite director of that era hands down.
Diabolique is just that brilliant. Not just because of it's ending, plotting or execution, but it's brilliant as a whole. It manages to keep you glued to the screen and make you witness something for almost 2 hours without knowing you're witnessing it.
Part of my 2012-1932 project
If there has ever been a movie equipped with the ability to have the viewer(s) glued to the screen while chewing on their arms as they have no nails nor fingers left, it must be Les diaboliques.
I had no doubts about Clouzot's claim to the throne of French master of suspence, after having seen La salaire de la peur, but Les diaboliques is a step up in my book.
It takes its time, meticulously building up to the crime, and establishing motives. And although it's nowhere near boring, the true perfection is the second half, when the suspence is turned up to 11. Incredible tension, and here we're also treated to some great direction from Clouzot as well, especially in the build up to the penultimate scene. Masterful!
Wikipedia informs me that Alfred Hitchcock tried to bid for the rights to Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac’s novel but Henri-Georges Clouzot beat him to it by just a few hours. Part of me wonders what that Hitchcock movie would have been like. But, I wouldn’t change a thing about Clouzot’s picture - it is tense, and atmospheric, and every element (the writing, the visual construction, the performances) is just perfect. At the end of DIABOLIQUE, the subtitles read "Don't be diabolical. Don't spoil the film for your friends by telling them what happens. Thanks on their behalf." Yeah, I know this movie has been out for 62 years, but I still feel we should honor this request.
My #2 Hitchcockian movie: Diabolique (1955), directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot.
I had the misfortune of seeing the 1996 remake before I saw the original. The remake had some talented people behind it, and it's probably not as bad as its reputation, but it definitely doesn't capture the power of the movie it was remaking. Even though I'd had the plot spoiled for me, I still found Clouzot's original to be very suspenseful and unsettling, which is a phenomenon that I find fascinating. How is it that the murder scenes in Psycho still manage to grip me even though I've seen them dozens of times and know exactly what is coming? How does this movie manage to grip me even when…
My #2 great foreign movie, remade terribly in English: Diabolique (1955), directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot; remade as Diabolique (1996), directed by Jeremiah Chechik.
I've already gone on about the original Diabolique and how awesome it is when we counted down Hitchcockian movies a while back. Clouzot was a masterful director of suspense movies (he also did The Wages of Fear), and Diabolique is a perfect slow burn buildup to a gripping conclusion. It creates three totally real characters (the two women especially, the abusive husband remains a bit of a two-dimensional villain) and then lets things play out in a very naturalistic way until Clouzot pulls the rug on you in the last act. It's a masterful movie and one…
Les Diaboliques is one of the great French films. A suspense-thriller with a legendarily good final act that lives up to my memory every time I see it. The film is slowly paced, but Henri-Georges Clouzot has a clear intent with every shot, every scene. The film just builds and builds, with comic asides never overwhelming the central horror, that develops into a mystery. Often called the best thriller that Hitchcock never made - yeah, that sounds about right.
I'm pretty much speechless after watching this. Perfectly directed and edited and executed on all fronts. Do yourself a favour and avoid any spoilers before watching. You'll thank me later.
The trick when reviewing old classics is allowing leeway for how filmmaking and society has evolved, then put yourself in the mindset of audiences seeing something for the first time. Les Diabolique (The Devils) is a hugely influential psychological thriller, directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot (Wages of Fear), which has undeniably dated 62 years since its release. But it remains a very important film, and there are things about it that can never grow old: story and characterisation.
Clouzot optioned the rights to Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac’s 1951 novel Celle qui n’était plus (She Who Was No More) after completing Wages of Fear in 1953, beating the great Alfred Hitchcock to the punch. Hitchcock was also interested in adapting the…
The only thing I can assume this had going for it was its final act twist. But it was easy to figure out right off the bat purely from the pacing and end of the first act.
Maybe the premise of a wife and mistress conspiring against an abusive husband/lover in a tale full of convoluted twists was revolutionary and influential, but I failed to actually find any of rhe experience enjoyable.
A wife and her husbands mistress being BFF's seems so quintessentially French.
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