Taking a look at some French Videos that my dad had picked up a few years ago for 10p each (!) I spotted a flick from auteur film maker Claude Chabrol. Having some good memories of watching the The Ruth Rendell Mysteries TV show with my mum and dad,I decided that it was time to witness Chabrol read Rendell.
View on the film:
Gliding round the Lelievre household,co-writer ( along with Caroline Eliacheff) / directing auteur Claude Chabrol & cinematographer Bernard Zitzermann drape the title in a blazing hot sun which blinds the Lelievre's from getting a full view of Bonne's growing dislike for them.
Backed by a dour score from Matthieu Chabrol, Chabrol casts a creeping uneasy atmosphere over the house,with stilted shots allowing Bonne and Postière's partnership to slowly seep into the family.
Transferred from the pages of Ruth Rendell's novel,the screenplay by Chabrol and Eliacheff carves out an enticing Film Noir offering,by making Bonne first steps into the Lelievre household feel like she is about to a ruthless Film Noir world.
Offering a glimpse of what could have been in the rich,jet-black Film Noir final,the writers disappointingly freeze any tension from boiling over by taking an extremely detected approach which stops the Lelievre's from showing how truly evil they are,and also blocks the Bonne and Postière partnership from flowing into the Femme Fatale veins that it burns for.
Fragile entering the Lelievre house, Sandrine Bonnaire gives an excellent performance as Bonne. Faced with Bonne suffering from illiterate (and a possibly murderous past) Bonnaire superbly expresses Bonne's underlying difficulties in a delicate,subtle manner which flairs up as the Lelievre's tread on her.
Rubbing shoulders with the bone china viper tongue of Jacqueline Bisset as Catherine Lelievre, Isabelle Huppert gives a great performance as Postière,whose quirky nature Huppert cleverly grips to hide Postière's deadly intent,as Postière and Bonne decide to show the Lelievre's who is in charge of the household.
View on the film:
Gliding round the Lelievre household,co-writer ( along with Caroline Eliacheff) / directing auteur Claude Chabrol & cinematographer Bernard Zitzermann drape the title in a blazing hot sun which blinds the Lelievre's from getting a full view of Bonne's growing dislike for them.
Backed by a dour score from Matthieu Chabrol, Chabrol casts a creeping uneasy atmosphere over the house,with stilted shots allowing Bonne and Postière's partnership to slowly seep into the family.
Transferred from the pages of Ruth Rendell's novel,the screenplay by Chabrol and Eliacheff carves out an enticing Film Noir offering,by making Bonne first steps into the Lelievre household feel like she is about to a ruthless Film Noir world.
Offering a glimpse of what could have been in the rich,jet-black Film Noir final,the writers disappointingly freeze any tension from boiling over by taking an extremely detected approach which stops the Lelievre's from showing how truly evil they are,and also blocks the Bonne and Postière partnership from flowing into the Femme Fatale veins that it burns for.
Fragile entering the Lelievre house, Sandrine Bonnaire gives an excellent performance as Bonne. Faced with Bonne suffering from illiterate (and a possibly murderous past) Bonnaire superbly expresses Bonne's underlying difficulties in a delicate,subtle manner which flairs up as the Lelievre's tread on her.
Rubbing shoulders with the bone china viper tongue of Jacqueline Bisset as Catherine Lelievre, Isabelle Huppert gives a great performance as Postière,whose quirky nature Huppert cleverly grips to hide Postière's deadly intent,as Postière and Bonne decide to show the Lelievre's who is in charge of the household.