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Les diaboliques (1955)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
21 November 1955 (USA) moreTagline:
See it, be amazed at it, but... BE QUIET ABOUT IT! (original Finnish poster tagline) morePlot:
The wife of a cruel headmaster and his mistress conspire to kill him, but after the murder is committed, his body disappears, and strange events begin to plague the two women. full summary | add synopsisAwards:
3 wins moreNewsDesk:
(8 articles)
Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno (Review) (From SoundOnSight. 6 November 2009, 10:26 PM, PST)
Ciff 2009: The winners! And our reviews
(From Roger Ebert's Blog. 22 October 2009, 6:39 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
Intense claustrophobia more (101 total)Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Simone Signoret | ... | Nicole Horner | |
| Véra Clouzot | ... | Christina Delassalle (as Vera Clouzot) | |
| Paul Meurisse | ... | Michel Delassalle | |
| Charles Vanel | ... | Alfred Fichet, le commissaire | |
| Jean Brochard | ... | Plantiveau, le concierge | |
| Pierre Larquey | ... | M.Drain, professeur | |
| Michel Serrault | ... | M. Raymond, le surveillant | |
| Thérèse Dorny | ... | Mme. Herboux | |
| Noël Roquevert | ... | M. Herboux | |
| Yves-Marie Maurin | ... | Moinet, une jeune Moynet | |
| Georges Poujouly | ... | Soudieu, un élève | |
| Georges Chamarat | ... | Dr. Loisy | |
| Jacques Varennes | ... | M. Bridoux, professeur | |
| Robert Dalban | ... | Le garagiste | |
| Jean Lefebvre | ... | Le soldat |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
114 min | UK:92 min | USA:116 minCountry:
FranceLanguage:
FrenchColor:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1 moreSound Mix:
MonoCertification:
Finland:(Banned) (1966) | Finland:K-18 (1956) | Finland:K-18 (1968) | South Korea:15 | Australia:PG | Sweden:15 | USA:Unrated | Norway:16 | Italy:VM14 | UK:X (original rating) (1955) | UK:15 (re-rating) (1985)Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Two women drive from the outskirts of Paris to Niort, the birthplace of director Henri-Georges Clouzot. moreGoofs:
Continuity: When M. Delassalle has fallen into bed, Christina Delassale removes his shoes at his request. Later when Nicole Horner comes into the room, his shoes are on him again, and Nicole tells Christina to remove them. The shoes are still on his feet when he's put into the tub. moreQuotes:
Alfred Fichet, le commissaire: To commit suicide in the Seine, one doesn't need to undress. moreFAQ
How do you interpret the final scene?How far is Niort from Paris?
Why does Nicole tell Christina to take off Michel's shoes before they carry him into the bath? Hadn't Christina already taken them off?
more
more (101 total)
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Les diaboliques is an unusually intense movie. I believe this is due to the well thought out choice of real locations and the masterful use of spatial entities and textures. Your memory really gets hooked on those things, and it gives the story a sense of reality that makes you feel uneasy.
Les diaboliques is as much a horror movie as it is a thriller. When I watch this I perceive an intense mouldy smell throughout. The crumbling boarding school where the main characters live and act is worse than any nightmare even the swimming pool filled with murky water appears like a menacing abyss. The stifling crummyness is accentuated by the plot: School teachers sit at the sadistic principal's table in the refectory and have to force unspeakably ghastly meals down their throats (only one glass of wine is allowed). The second location is the principal's lover's apartment in a dead borough somewhere in no man's land. It's stuffy and utterly claustrophobic. The transfer between the two places is made with a "deux chevaux" station wagon its characteristic back part of corrugated sheet metal once was a common feature in our parts of the world, as was the snarling sound of the deux chevauxs engine. In the corrugated iron "box" sits a creaky wicker crate, which on the way back from the lover's apartment contains evidence of the crime, wrapped in a checkered wax tablecloth. So you see shells within shells, not unlike one of those Russian wooden dolls. You don't know what you will find in the innermost until the end.