| Les Diaboliques (Diabolique) | |
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 Original poster |
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| Directed by | Henri-Georges Clouzot |
| Produced by | Henri-Georges Clouzot |
| Written by | Pierre Boileau Thomas Narcejac |
| Starring | Simone Signoret Véra Clouzot Paul Meurisse Charles Vanel |
| Music by | George Van Parys |
| Distributed by | Filmsonor (France, 1955) Janus Films (US theatrical, 1955) Criterion (DVD release, 1999) |
| Release date(s) | January 29, 1955  November 21, 1955  |
| Running time | 107 min |
| Language | French |
Les Diaboliques is a 1955 black and white French suspense film directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, starring Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot and Paul Meurisse. The story blends elements of thriller and horror, with the plot focusing on a woman and her husband's mistress who conspire to murder the man; after the crime is committed, however, his body disappears, and a number of strange occurrences ensue.
The title literally translates from French to English as 'The Devils'. It was called The Fiends when released in the UK, while the US release is entitled Diabolique. It is based on the novel Celle qui n'était plus (She Who Was No More) by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac.
Now considered a classic of the horror genre and film in general, Les Diaboliques ranked #49 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.
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Plot Synopsis
The story takes place in a second-rate boarding school run by the tyrannical and mean Michel Delasalle (Meurisse). The school, though, is owned by Delasalle's teacher wife, the frail Christina (Clouzot), and Delasalle openly flaunts his relationship with Nicole Horner (Signoret), a teacher at the school, in front of everyone. But rather than the antagonism that one would expect to result from this situation, the two women are shown to have a somewhat close relationship with each other, primarily based on their apparent mutual hatred of Michel, who is physically and emotionally abusive to both of them.
Unable to stand his mistreatment any longer, Nicole devises a plan. Though hesitant at first, Christina ultimately consents to help Nicole with the plan. Using a threatened divorce to lure Michel to Nicole's apartment building in a remote village several hundred miles away, Christina sedates him before the two women drown him in the bathtub and dump his body in the school's neglected swimming pool. When his corpse floats to the surface, they think it will appear to have been an accident. Almost everything goes according to their intentions until the body fails to surface, and Michel's corpse is nowhere to be found when the pool is drained. Christina faints by the side of the pool when she sees its sediment being examined.
Nothing is what it seems. Mysteriously, the headmaster's ghostly image appears in the school photograph, shortly after a boy, Moinet, claims his slingshot was confiscated by him after the boy broke a window. No one else saw the headmaster, and the boy has a reputation as a liar, claims Nicole; but a window was broken and a slingshot appears among Michel's possessions. A freshly dry-cleaned suit is delivered to the school; apparently Michel Delasalle had presented it to the cleaning firm after his murder. Tensions between Christina and Nicole mount, only temporarily relieved when Christine sees a newspaper headline on the recovery of a corpse from the River Seine.
At the morgue, the body turns out not to be Michel. A man has observed Christina during her visit. Alfred Fichet (Vanel), a retired Police Commissioner, introduces himself; he promises to find her husband, but if he is unsuccessful he will charge no fee. He becomes suspicious when told her husband has not been reported as missing after five days, and is able to examine the basket in which the apparently dead Michel was transported. Later, an ill Christina awakes and finds Fichet in her room. She confesses the plot to him, but rather than arrest her, he says she needs rest. During the night Christina hears noises and investigates; lights come on suddenly, and she hears someone typing on her husband's machine. She finds no one there (although the viewer is left in no doubt that someone is present).
Returning to her rooms, she goes into the bathroom and finds her husband's "corpse" in the bathtub. He arises from it, and removes the false eyeballs which had earlier suggested he was dead. Christina collapses from the shock and dies. Nicole enters shortly afterwards, and it emerges that the real plot was for Michel and Nicole to use Christina's weak heart as a means of killing her, so that they could be together and acquire possession of the school. Nicole asks, "What will we get for it?" "About fifteen to twenty years", replies Fichet, coming out from the shadows. In the morning, the school is in the process of being closed. The boy Moinet has somehow re-acquired his slingshot, and claims to another teacher that (the dead) Mme Delasalle gave it to him. Teacher punishes him by ordering him to face the wall again.
Cast
- Simone Signoret
- Véra Clouzot
- Paul Meurisse
- Charles Vanel
- Jean Brochard
- Pierre Larquey
- Michel Serrault
- Thérèse Dorny
- Noël Roquevert
- Georges Poujouly
History
The film created a sensation upon its original release. It has often been likened to the films of Alfred Hitchcock in that it is still creepy even when one has seen it and knows the ending. (Many sources say that Alfred Hitchcock missed out on purchasing the rights to the Boileau and Narcejac novel by just a few hours, Clouzot getting to the authors first.)[1] The end credit contains an early example of an "anti-spoiler message", requesting the audience not to disclose the plot to others who have not seen the film.
The film gained additional press when only five years after its release, Véra Clouzot died of a heart attack at age 46, her character in the film also having heart problems.
In Fatal Attraction (1987), the plot device of an apparently drowned victim coming back to life in a bath is reused, in this case of the character Alex Forrest played by Glenn Close, but the film as a whole does not revolve around the incident. In 1996, the film was remade as Diabolique, and starred Sharon Stone and Isabelle Adjani in the leading female roles. Also, Michel's and NIcole's plan to rid of Christina to get the ownership of a property is somewhat similar to the plot of the 1982 movie Deathtrap, the only difference is that the antagonists are both male and the victim being the other's wife that also had a weak heart.
While Les Diaboliques was often shown on Turner Classic Movies channel, it was very scarcely available for home entertainment purchase. The film was released on DVD in the exclusive Criterion Collection in January 1999, marking the film's first major home video release. It was subsequently released on DVD in various other countries, but has not received another release since then.
Reception
In 2007, Time placed Les Diaboliques on their list of Top 25 Horror films.[2]
References
- ^ François Truffaut, in his book-length interview Hitchcock/Truffaut (1967), suggested that Boileau and Narcejac then wrote D'Entre des Morts specifically for Hitchcock, who adapted the latter book for Vertigo (1958). However, Narcejac later refuted Truffaut's statement.
- ^ "Diabolique, 1955 - Top 25 Horror Movies - Time". Time. http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,1676793,00.html. Retrieved November 23, 2009.
External links
- Les Diaboliques at Allmovie
- Les Diaboliques at the Internet Movie Database
- Les Diaboliques at Rotten Tomatoes
- Les Diaboliques at the TCM Movie Database
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