Que la bête meure (1969)

Director:

Claude Chabrol

Writers:

Nicholas Blake (novel)
Claude Chabrol (dialogue)
(more)

Release Date:

20 October 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Crime | Thriller

Plot:

Single father obsessed with murdering the hit&run driver who killed his only child, poses as a screenwriter...

Plot Keywords:

Family Relationships | Search | Hit And Run | Small Community | Father Son Relationship

Cast

Michel Duchaussoy	...	Charles Thenier
Caroline Cellier	...	Helene Lanson
Jean Yanne	...	Paul Decourt
Anouk Ferjac	...	Jeanne Decourt
Marc Di Napoli	...	Phillippe Decourt
Louise Chevalier	...	Madame Levenes
Guy Marly	...	Jacques Ferrand
Lorraine Rainer	...	Anna Ferrand
Dominique Zardi	...	Police inspector
Stéphane Di Napoli	...	Michel Thenier
Raymone	...	La mère de Paul
Michel Charrel	...	Le casseur
France Girard
Bernard Papineau
Robert Rondo	...	Le garagiste
Jacques Masson	...	Le fils du paysan
Georges Charrier	...	Le chauffeur de taxi
Maurice Pialat	...	Police Inspector
Jean-Louis Maury	...	Le paysan

Directed by
Claude Chabrol

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Nicholas Blake		novel "The Beast Must Die"
Claude Chabrol		dialogue
Claude Chabrol		screenplay
Paul Gégauff		dialogue
Paul Gégauff		screenplay

Produced by
André Génovès	....	producer

Original Music by
Pierre Jansen

Cinematography by
Jean Rabier

Film Editing by
Jacques Gaillard

Production Design by
Guy Littaye

Makeup Department
Louis Bonnemaison	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Georges Casati	....	production manager

Sound Department
Guy Chichignoud	....	sound engineer
Monique Fardoulis	....	sound editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Claude Zidi	....	camera operator

Music Department
André Girard	....	musical director
Dominique Zardi	....	composer: song "La Terre"

Production Companies

• Les Films de la Boétie
• Rizzoli Film

Distributors

• Allied Artists Pictures (1970) (USA) (subtitled)
• Galileo Medien AG (2006) (Germany) (DVD) (Claude Chabrol Classic Edition)
• Pathfinder Pictures

Also Known As:

Killer!
The Beast Must Die
This Man Must Die
Ucciderò un uomo (Italy)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Sweden:11 | USA:GP | Argentina:13 | UK:15 (original rating) | UK:12 (DVD rating) (2005)

Filming Locations:

Brittany, France

Company:

Les Films de la Boétie

Movie Connections:

Featured in Le cinéma passe à table (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Vier ernste Gesänge

The ogre.

"Que la bête meure " belongs to Chabrol's golden era.This is one of his most brilliant achievements,and,nevertheless,he would do even better with the next one"le boucher",with,again,Jean Yanne,an actor,who,before ,was featured in generally mediocre commercial movies.In his two films with Chabrol ,Yanne will show skills we would never thought of.Both characters,in "que la bete..." and "le boucher" are monsters;but monsters of different kinds:in "le boucher",Yanne is pitiful,moving,a product of the war (in Algeria?)On the other hand,in "Que la bête...",he's a hateful vulgar petit bourgeois brute.Compare the way Chabrol introduces his characters:in "le boucher",Popaul appears in the first scene,the wedding banquet,and he seems a good guy.In "Que la bête...",Chabrol does not show his face during Duchaussoy's son death on the road.When finally,the father discovers the reckless driver's house,we meet first his scared family circle.Then we hear his formidable voice.All happens like in a fairy tale:Tom Thumb entering the ogre's den.Perhaps Chabrol's most terrifying character, he holds up to ridicule his wife's attempt at poetry and he cannot understand his son ,a frail,sensitive,and clever teenager. The plot will take shape quickly,and after this story of sound and fury,the last pictures brings the audience some relief.Note,in both films,"le boucher" and "Que la bête.." ,the presence of water in these last pictures.