Themes: Out For Revenge, Fathers and Sons, Death of a Child
Main Cast: Michel Duchaussoy, Caroline Cellier, Jean Yanne, Anouk Ferjac, Marc di Napoli
Release Year: 1969
Country: FR/IT
Run Time: 112 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Claude Chabrol directs the tense psychological thriller Que la Bête Meure (This Man Must Die). When his young son is the victim of a hit-and-run car accident, writer Charles Thenier (Michel Duchaussoy) is determined to find the killer. Obsessed with avenging his son's death, he carefully records his thoughts in a diary. He travels to Paris and meets actress Helene Lanson (Caroline Cellier), who is a prime witness to the accident. After they start up a love affair, he discovers that the driver of the car was her brother-in-law, Paul Decourt (Jean Yanne). Paul also owns the auto repair shop that fixed up the car after the accident. Believing Paul is the killer, Charles befriends his son Phillipe Decourt (Marc Di Napoli). As it happens, Phillipe also wants Paul dead for his own reasons. Charles manages to get invited to the family's seaside home in Brittany in order to finally get his revenge, but things don't work out according to plan. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
Review
Often dubbed a French Hitchcock, Claude Chabrol was also greatly influenced by Fritz Lang. In This Man Must Die, Chabrol and his regular co-writer Paul Gégauff use the recurrent Langian themes of fate and revenge to explore how dark instincts are awakened even in the most civilized man. In so doing, the director consciously abandons the conventional mechanics of suspense for psychological nuances and atmosphere. Ambiguity is at the core of the film -- Charles, the "hero," is not as positive as he seems to be, and Paul, the "villain," happens to be a more complex character than he looks on a first glance. Both Michel Duchaussoy and Jean Yanne handle their intricate parts admirably. Yanne's role is flashier, but Duchaussoy manages to run a whole gamut of feelings under the mask of restraint. Caroline Cellier, who substitutes here for Chabrol's regular Stéphane Audran, offers a finely tuned performance as the confused and fragile Helene. Unlike Hitchcock, who greatly relied on elaborate shots and editing, Chabrol often prefers to let the characters explore their emotions before an unmoving camera. Locations also play an important role in the director's films, and the Brittany coast, beautifully photographed by Jean Rabier, further contributes to the movie's chilly atmosphere, as does Pierre Jansen's moody and unobtrusive score. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide
Michel Charrel; Louise Chevalier - Mme. Levenes; Jean-Louis Maury - Peasant/Charles' Friend; Lorraine Rainer - Anna Ferrand; Dominique Zardi - Policewoman; Maurice Pialat - Police Inspector; Guy Marly - Jacques Ferrand; Jacques Masson; Robert Rondo
Credit
Guy Littaye - Art Director, Claude Chabrol - Director, Jacques Gaillard - Editor, Pierre Jansen - Composer (Music Score), André Girard - Musical Direction/Supervision, Louis Bonnemaison - Makeup, Claude Zidi - Camera Operator, Jean Rabier - Cinematographer, André Genovès - Producer, Paul Gégauff - Screenwriter, Claude Chabrol - Screenwriter, Johannes Brahms - Featured Music, Nicholas Blake - Book Author
