172. Les Diabolique

Les Diabolique (1955)

Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot

Starring: Simone Signoret

Vera Clouzot

Paul Meurisse

IMDb Rating: 8

My Rating: 9

"I may be reactionary, but this is absolutely astounding - the legal wife consoling the mistress! No, no, and no!"

Synopsis

Two women both work at a school for boys and both are romantically involved with the headmaster of the school. Christina is his wife, while Nicole is his mistress. Christina is well aware of her husband's infidelities. Michel treats both women awful, and the women have grown tired of his actions. Together the conspire to kill him and dump his body in the school's pool. When the murder is completed and body disposed of, Christina is riddled with anxiety. Soon the pool must be drained and the women find that their dear Michel's body is now missing.

What's so great about Les Diabolique?

Les Diabolique has a plot that just completely draws me in. The first time I read the synopsis of the film years ago, I was literally shaking in anticipation to see it. Often a movie will sound better than it actually turns out to be. Not so with this film. The plot and slowly unraveling execution is done absolutely perfectly. You truly feel along for the ride with the ladies. As far as thrillers go, this film ranks extremely high on my list. There are no loud noise "jump scares", which will completely turn me off from a film. This film relies on great story telling and legitimate scares to fright it's viewers.

Anything not so great?

The only downside to this film has nothing really to do with the movie. It's an old film, so I have never seen a good quality print of transfer of the film. Due to this, it can be difficult to follow as the sound and picture sometimes jumps and appears riddled with cracks. DO NOT let this deter you from seeing this film though.

Best Scene

To talk about the films best scene is to give away a huge fact of the film. I will just say the film's "bathtub scene" is on par with Alfred Hitchcock's famous "shower scene" from Psycho.

Does Les Diabolique belong in the 250?

Without a doubt. Not only is this one of the best thrillers I have seen, but it never loses it's appeal. I've seen this film a half dozen times and it is just as good each time that I see it.

Final Words

Being a fan of the work of director Alfred Hitchcock, it was his commentary on Les Diabolique that lead me to see the film. Hitchcock called this film one of his greatest influences when making Psycho, which is one of my all-time favorite films. While the influence is plainly seen, the two films plots are actually rather different. Overall, I find this film to be superb. If more thrillers were made like this film, I feel like the genre would gain some more credibility. This film comes very highly recommended!

216. Rope

Rope (1948)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Starring: James Stewart

John Dall

Farley Granger

IMDb Rating: 8

My Rating: 8

"Nobody commits a murder just for the experiment of commiting it. Nobody except us.

Brandon Shaw (John Dall) and Phillip Morgan (Farley Granger) are attempting to pull off the perfect murder. So they strangle their friend David Kentley with a rope, and throw his body in a trunk in the middle of the living room. Brandon meets the death with a sense of accomplishment, where Phillip is instantly paranoid. To further boost their pride, the gentlemen throw a dinner party in David's honor, using the chest as the center piece to place all of the food on. They invite David's father and aunt, as well as David's fiancee. Also in attendance is Rupert Cadell (James Stewart), the former professor of Brandon and Phillip, who was the one who's obscure philosophies put the ideas in the mind of the murders. It doesn't take long before Brandon and Phillips suspicious actions catch the attention of Rupert, and he starts to place together the pieces of a puzzle that he may not ever understand.

One of the most remarkable things about Rope is that the entire film takes place in one room. The film is based on the play by Patrick Hamilton, and stays rather true to the spirit and material of the play. Director Alfred Hitchcock made the correct choice when he kept the film simple and didn't try and expand it past the walls of one room. By doing this, he kept each and every character within ten feet of the dead body at all times. This provided a consistent state of suspense that only built upon itself until the very end. This idea is very similar to Hitchcock's use of trains in his film, which basically traps his characters in one place with each other for long amounts of time. It's no secret that Hitchcock was the master of suspense, but never did he do so much with so very little.

Alfred Hitchcock's Rope came around the middle of his directing career, and is one of my favorite films from the director. It's one of his most original ideas and concepts. The performances are not particularly amazing, but are not terrible by any means. What really comes through with this film is writer Hume Cronyn's excellent screen adaptation and Hitchcock's amazing vision. It by no means holds a candle to Hitchcock's later, and much larger scale, works like Psycho and North By Northwest. Although Rope still stands on it's own as one of the finest efforts from one of film's great storytellers.