Le boucher (1970)
Country: FR/IT
Technical: col/scope 94m
Director: Claude Chabrol
Cast: Stéphane Audran, Jean Yanne
Synopsis:
The headmistress of a small provincial primary school in the Périgord befriends the local butcher at a village wedding, but her chosen celibacy and his traumatic past in the colonial military conspire to ignite a string of murders of young women to which she finds herself an accessory.
Review:
While recognisably Nouvelle Vague in its choice of an actual location portrayed with documentary precision and with the participation of the locals, as well as in the unfortunate ubiquity of zooms, this taut psychological thriller was a step forward for Chabrol in the depth and subtlety of its characterisation and in its widescreen artiness, complete with modernist soundtrack based on bell motifs (i.e. church, school). Hélène's complicity with Paul is signalled from early on, through shared fondness for meat and his gruesome Algerian war experiences. Her concealment of the 'Strangers on a Train' lighter found at the murder scene is testament to this, as is her competent retrieval of the knife from his belly. The Queen Christina-like finish by the lakeside is a brilliant stroke, as is on a more tricksy level the flashing of the red 'Occupé' light on the lift at the hospital, suggesting the dripping of blood on the cliff top.
Country: FR/IT
Technical: col/scope 94m
Director: Claude Chabrol
Cast: Stéphane Audran, Jean Yanne
Synopsis:
The headmistress of a small provincial primary school in the Périgord befriends the local butcher at a village wedding, but her chosen celibacy and his traumatic past in the colonial military conspire to ignite a string of murders of young women to which she finds herself an accessory.
Review:
While recognisably Nouvelle Vague in its choice of an actual location portrayed with documentary precision and with the participation of the locals, as well as in the unfortunate ubiquity of zooms, this taut psychological thriller was a step forward for Chabrol in the depth and subtlety of its characterisation and in its widescreen artiness, complete with modernist soundtrack based on bell motifs (i.e. church, school). Hélène's complicity with Paul is signalled from early on, through shared fondness for meat and his gruesome Algerian war experiences. Her concealment of the 'Strangers on a Train' lighter found at the murder scene is testament to this, as is her competent retrieval of the knife from his belly. The Queen Christina-like finish by the lakeside is a brilliant stroke, as is on a more tricksy level the flashing of the red 'Occupé' light on the lift at the hospital, suggesting the dripping of blood on the cliff top.
Country: FR/IT
Technical: col/scope 94m
Director: Claude Chabrol
Cast: Stéphane Audran, Jean Yanne
Synopsis:
The headmistress of a small provincial primary school in the Périgord befriends the local butcher at a village wedding, but her chosen celibacy and his traumatic past in the colonial military conspire to ignite a string of murders of young women to which she finds herself an accessory.
Review:
While recognisably Nouvelle Vague in its choice of an actual location portrayed with documentary precision and with the participation of the locals, as well as in the unfortunate ubiquity of zooms, this taut psychological thriller was a step forward for Chabrol in the depth and subtlety of its characterisation and in its widescreen artiness, complete with modernist soundtrack based on bell motifs (i.e. church, school). Hélène's complicity with Paul is signalled from early on, through shared fondness for meat and his gruesome Algerian war experiences. Her concealment of the 'Strangers on a Train' lighter found at the murder scene is testament to this, as is her competent retrieval of the knife from his belly. The Queen Christina-like finish by the lakeside is a brilliant stroke, as is on a more tricksy level the flashing of the red 'Occupé' light on the lift at the hospital, suggesting the dripping of blood on the cliff top.