Review of Claude Chabrol Collection, The: Volume 2

Introduction

A veteran of the French New Wave, Claude Chabrol is a stalwart of the country`s industry, his career dating back to the late 1950s. He cut his teeth on dark, bleak films, and it`s a tradition he`s carried on to this day. This boxset from Arrow Films represents a second selection of Chabrol`s work, and it`s hard to see this lot as anything other than selections that simply weren`t good enough to make the original cut. The boxset encompasses six films, and this review takes a look at four from the set - `La Rupture` (aka `The Breach`), `Les Innocents Aux Mains Sales` (aka `Innocents With Dirty Hands`), `Poulet Au Vinaigre` (aka `Cop Au Vin`) and La Fleur Du Mal` (aka `The Flower of Evil`).

Synopses at the top of the page if you need them; if you`re remotely interested in the set you`ve got three separate reviews to get through.

Video

With the exception of `The Breach`, all of the films in the set are treated to fine transfers from pretty clear prints. `The Breach` has been transferred from a print with faded colours and a fairly dull tone, with some flecking and dirt, but it`s perfectly watchable. The ARs vary from film to film; `Innocents With Dirty Hands` coming in around the 1.66:1 letterboxed mark, `The Breach` at 1.85:1 letterboxed, and both `Coq Au Vin` and `The Flower of Evil` given the anamorphic 1.85:1 treatment. Unfortunately, the letterboxed features are what are commonly referred to as `zoom unfriendly`, meaning adjusting the picture size on your TV to match the aspect ratio will result in cutting off most of the subtitles.

Audio

Clear Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo across the board, with good subtitling which isn`t afraid to include the odd paraphrase for the sake of convenience.

Features

Both `Cop Au Vin` and `The Flower of Evil` are accompanied by trailers and a short introduction from a French film scholar, while the later also includes a fairly yawnworthy `making of` which lasts around 25-minutes.

Conclusion

Claude Chabrol`s films are so enveloped in auteur theory - that is to say they resonate with such a personal style, that they`re strikingly similar in theme and tone and more than a little repetitive. For a start, they`re all so packed in with the same near-identical exploration of issues, particularly Chabrol`s love of slinging mud at the bourgeoisie and picking apart upper middle-class existence, that more often than not he forgets to put a decent plot in. They`re also possibly the most anti-climactic films you`ll ever see; Chabrol`s habit is to have his films simply end, as quietly and as inauspiciously as they began, slinking out after delivering little of the narrative development which separates stories from simply sequences of events unfolding. There`s never any sort of real surprise, rarely any sort of major events, and so Chabrol`s films are, quite simply, pretty dull for the most part. To his credit, each of the films feature some interesting cinematography and clever framing techniques, but he`s far from a master storyteller, despite some decent ideas.

In a fine example of Chabrol`s insistence of filling his films with unsavoury and unlikable characters, `Innocents With Dirty Hands` hinges on the performances of two chemistry-free lovers, a hammy turn from a badly over-dubbed Rod Steiger and a handful of flaccid twists and turns in a clumsy plot. `The Breach` is a Hitchcock-influenced tragedy that`s possibly a little too off-beat for its own good, which manages to overcome drowning in its own overburdened plot with an outstanding performance from Stéphane Audran, Chabrol`s then wife who would later go on to deliver a mesmerising performance as the domineering mother in `Coq Au Vin`, a pleasant enough watch which is as straightforward a mystery thriller as you could hope to see, but its colourful cast and dives into black comedy are beset by its utter banality. `The Flower of Evil`, his most recent film in the set, is a little more interesting. More political, thus more ambitiously grandiose than the other tales in the set, he takes some broad swipes at French conservatism, set against a fairly straightforward backdrop of a wealthy family falling apart after skeletons are shaken loose from their closets. Chabrol teases us with the prospect of a fiery climax to his dual-threaded storyline, but as seems to be a recurring theme, it all but peters out at the end leaving you feeling a little cheated. Strong performances throughout, especially Suzanne Flon as the dotty old aunt, make it easier to watch, but his style often makes it harder to enjoy.

Chabrol has talent, and the man certainly has skill, but these films lack enough due attention to the important things - character and plot - that all but Chabrol enthusiasts will probably be scared off by this selection of work. Film buffs with a proclivity towards the ostentatious may find a lot to admire, but the rest of us will probably find these films represent the `meh` in French cinema.