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11 out of 16 people found the following review useful: Astonishing fusion of Hitchcock and Bresson. (possible spoiler), 8 May 2000 Author: miss douce (hitch1899_@hotmail.com) from dublin, ireland
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
The films of Claude Chabrol are, more than those of any other director, highly unnerving. I don't just mean in subject matter, which are generally taken from pulp fiction. This plot is Double Indemnity as if written by Nabokov. The beautiful Julie, is married to overweight, rich, impotent, drunk, self-loathing Louis Wormser, and plots with her young hack writer lover, Jeff Marle, to kill her husband. Things generally go to plan, but Jeff panics and lies low in Italy, sending Julie letters, while she has to face the insinuating investigations of two detectives.For a director of his intellectual reach, Chabrol shows a strange affinity for Golden-Age style mystery stories. Unlike the fiction of Pynchon and Borges, or the films of Bertolucci and Antonioni, he has no interest in formally deconstructing the mystery story, subverting its narratives, ironising its principle characters, obviously undermining its tenets (although his double act of Epicurean detectives, teasing out the crime like cross word puzzles over dinner, making lecherous jokes and misogynistic comments, unbelievably hitting on solutions, yet completely missing the point, are a comic, disturbing joy, as are the upturned faces of the Law searing Julie at the climax). It is perfectly possible to watch INNOCENTS as a straight thriller with a recognisable crime, investigation and solution, and plenty of excellent twists and turns.Even on this conventional level, the film is unnerving. The abruptness of the decision to murder. The shocking, callous act of murder itself. The brutal, climactic rape. But Chabrol's real nagging is in his whole-hearted artifice. Many directors, from Chabrol heroes Lang, Welles and Hitchcock to Von Sternberg, Sirk and Ophuls are artificial, but they create convincingly hermetic worlds, which are totally artificial and plausible on their own terms. Chabrol's is different.Although not as breathtakingly formal as LA DECADE PRODIGEUSE, INNOCENTS is highly artificial, from the stylised acting, the unrealistic dialogue, dissonant score and stunningly contrived plot, to the breathtakingly intrusive camera movements and alienating shifts in point of view, and, especially, the setting, the futuristic/modernist architecture which swallows up its characters; the decor that moves and closes in on them. With Chabrol, however, this artifice is not self-sufficient. It co-exists, jarringly, with a sublime feeling for nature, for the French countryside, the shadows cast by wind-blown trees, the wide green fields, the parched roads. The two realms refuse to merge, and this disjunction of registers moves the film away from mystery to something much more metaphysical.An interesting question that arises from this film is whether it is a film about misogyny, or a misogynistic film. We are shown quite clearly how a female protagonist who is in almost every frame of the film, who seems to be in control and driving the plot, is completely betrayed by men - husbands, lovers the law - an object of contempt, whose desires are made seem guilty, whose grasping for love in a chilling, loveless evnironment and marriage are reduced to petty motives. Maybe they are - she does collude in murder and theft. She is often featured in scenes, present but silent, as men decide her fate. The director, further, is obviously a man, colluding in this too, filming her pain and humiliation, witholding from her all the information. Yet, despite this, the film is very sympathetic to Julie, its visuals often seeming to arise from her emotions.However, I don't think the film is really a post-feminist 70s comment on the still marginal and oppressed role of women in French society. Before Chabrol became a filmmaking genius, he was one of the brilliant critics of Cahiers du Cinema, co-writing a book on the religious underpinnings of Hitchcock's thrillers. In one sense INNOCENTS (a religiously loaded title) can be seen as an allegory in the Bresson tradition of the spiritual progress of a woman, a three part processo of Sin, Suffering and Redemption. The final image, when Julie rises in the darkness, stripped of material wealth, defining environment and human companionship, and walks towards a flickering light is compellingly enigmatic, possibly indicating suicide, but, such is the theorematic godlike structure of the film, the sly, allusive imagery, I prefer to think of it as Julie existentially completing her spiritual journey. In any case, an endlessly rich masterpiece.
8 out of 11 people found the following review useful: Film Noir in Sunny Setting, 23 April 2001 Author: Carlo Houtkamp from Netherlands
Claude Chabrol's Les Innocents aux Mains Sale sometimes runs the risk over becoming very, very slow-paced. Particularly the scene in the judge's office in which Julie's attorney cunningly pleads for her innocence is way, way too long. A little less dialogue, and a little more suspense would have helped this film, although it is really not bad.But... The major attraction in this film is not the story, which, I must say, does have some highly unexpected twists and does indeed show Chabrol's creative skills and pleasure in directing. The star of Les Innocents is no one less than the wonderful Romy Schneider, whose acting performance, charm and beauty in this film are more stunning than ever before. I am very happy that Chabrol has chosen her character as the central one, for now we can admire gracious Scheider in almost every scene. I have the impression the camera man was in love with her, and who can blame him. Romy even looks amazing in the scene where she is putting curlers in her hair. She is the perfect cast for this complicated Femme Fatale role.Although mainly the mediteranean filming locations in combination with the outstanding weather are to be credited for providing this Film Noir with a deceptively pleasant yellow, warm glow, it is Romy Scheider's radiance and talent that make Les Innocents aux Mains Sales a joy to watch.
6 out of 8 people found the following review useful: Steiger & Schneider do it!, 24 April 2005 Author: eva25at from Vienna, Austria
(Contains spoilers) Chabrol's stylish and mood-laden thriller begins with an impudent opening-shot: Julie (Romy Schneider) basking in the sun - with nothing on, of course. Jeff (Paolo Giusti), her young neighbor, flies a kite. The kite lands on her backside and she invites its owner to fetch it - then she turns round...Her husband Louis (Rod Steiger) is a tearful alcoholic who neglects his conjugal duties since his cardiac infarction. Booze transforms Louis into a cry-baby: "Why don't you kiss me anymore? Do you hate me?" and his whining is getting on her nerves: "You're wretched. Stop drinking". Jeff and Julie intensify their relationship on the fleecy living-room carpet and hope for Louis' speedy death. Hopes develop into plans: Soon the night comes when Julie bashes her sleeping husband's head in with a club - she hesitated, though; Hubby bought her a new Datsun just the other day. She watches her lover drag off the body in the dark. Soon Julie realizes that Louis has withdrawn his entire fortune a few days before his death. And it goes without saying that grief-stricken widows are prime-suspects in husband-vanishing-cases. The detective and his inspector inform her gloatingly that Louis never suffered a cardiac infarction. He was merely imp...well, you understand. Julie is smart and says nothing while her smooth-tongued lawyer (Jean Rochefort in great form) gets her out of this quandary. Guess who awaits her at home - the deceased! Louis informs his "widow" that he knew of her murderous scheme from the start and carried it out in his own way. He is in a forgiving disposition - voyeurism turned to be rejuvenating in his case - and eager to er, bury the hatchet on the fleecy carpet...There are a few more "unexpected" turns and even a rape, but don't hold this against this film. Chabrol is as good as Hitchcock in stirring up suspense and as good as Losey in exploring the "weird" atmosphere of houses and gardens and better than both in the scrutiny of secret corners of his protagonists hearts. Romy Schneider is ideally cast as half ice-cold, half vulnerable femme fatale and Rod Steiger makes a deep impression as her ingenious but credulous husband. Try to ignore Giusti's overacting if you can and enjoy the wisecracking performances of an excellent supporting cast. Not everything is perfect but I have never seen a boring Chabrol film!
4 out of 5 people found the following review useful: More twists in the tale than usual, and another excellent film from the great Claude Chabrol!, 8 April 2008 Author: The_Void from Beverley Hills, England
Innocents with Dirty Hands appears to have something of a poor reputation among it's viewers and that made me go into it expecting something a bit sub-par from the great French director, so you can imagine my delight when I found that there's very little wrong with this twisted thriller and while it's not quite up there with the best of Claude Chabrol (films such as This Man Must Die, The Butcher and The Breach); it's a thriller that keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat for the duration of the film and provides plenty of shocks and twists along the way! The film is unlike some of Chabrol's other films in that the plot is rather simple and the film focuses on a couple with the surname Wormser. Louis Wormser is 18 years senior to his wife Julie and can no longer have sex after suffering a heart attack. When Julie meets young stud Jeff Marle, the two plot to kill Louis and hatch a plan to dispatch him and deflect suspicion from themselves. However, things go awry immediately after the murder when Julie finds herself alone and under suspicion.The main influence for this film would seem to be The Postman Always Rings Twice as the two plots share a lot in common. Innocents with Dirty Hands does get criticised for being a bit too long, and this is a bit of a problem. The story has plenty to it and is constantly interesting thanks to the numerous twists in the second half; but it could have benefited from being a bit more streamline as the way it pans out does remove some of the suspense. However, this is hardly enough to condemn the film. The first hour building up the initial twist is absolutely superb and Chabrol keeps the tension bubbling nicely. After the initial twist, the film changes somewhat and the focus is more on surprising the audience, but despite this change in pace; the film still flows well. The film is bolstered by two excellent performances from the leads; the beautiful Romy Schneider is superb as the young wife while Rod Steiger is thoroughly convincing in the opposite role. The film works on a number of levels; it's entertaining, thrilling and also funny in places and while it's filmed with Chabrol's familiar verve and focuses on the marital relationship - it's also a change of pace for him. Overall, this is well worth seeing and I'm sure that anyone who enjoys Chabrol's films will find a lot to like in this one.
5 out of 7 people found the following review useful: Much more complicated story than necessary, 18 March 2002 Author: taylor9885 (taylor9885@sympatico.ca) from Ottawa, Canada
Chabrol just can't be bothered with mcguffins and creating suspense, that's where he differs from Alfred Hitchcock. Instead of a meticulous recreation of a social group (the rich), we are given careless expressionistic filmmaking using the repertory actors Attal and Zardi (here as buffoonish policemen) plus a name Hollywood actor (Steiger), an Italian pretty-boy (Giusti) and the greatest European actress of her time, Romy Schneider.You know the plot's clumsy when two characters keep having to discuss it at length for the viewer's benefit. There's a murder scene using some sort of club that falls completely flat in dramatic terms. There are simply too many twists and turns for a simple adultery story to bear, so we are left to admire the gracefulness of Schneider's performance. She is a trophy wife who must start to make decisions on her own, in the absence of her husband and her lover; she must also learn to lie convincingly to suspicious detectives. The eroticism of the lovemaking on the livingroom carpet, taunting her frustrated husband is well evoked.The interrogation before the judge is the one scene that really holds up dramatically. The impatient judge who finds the beautiful woman suspect very desirable, the eager lawyer who smells a way out for his client--fabulous acting by Jean Rochefort--and the woman herself who hardly says a word while the two men argue over her fate. The only such scene I can recall with this power is the one in Altman's The Player.
9 out of 15 people found the following review useful: some voices dubbed, some not, 14 July 2005 Author: PM from New York, NY
Well done thriller - I won't add to the other comments save this -- just so you know -- Rod Steiger and Romy Schneider were filmed speaking in English while all other characters were filmed speaking in French: So, you have two choices (assuming you're either English or French speaking - and not Spanish): Watch the film in French (with or without English subtitles) - but keep in mind Rod Stieger and Romy Schinedier's voices will be DUBBED into French. It is definitely not Steiger speaking French (although I think Romy speaks both languages) Watch it in English - and the voices of the all other (French) actors (except Steiger and Schneider) will be DUBBED into English.Didn't bother me tooo much...but I'm a Steiger fan - so I needed to hear him speak in his native tongue.
4 out of 6 people found the following review useful: Very good, but it seems to go on too long--lessening the impact of the film, 10 August 2007 Author: planktonrules from Bradenton, Florida
First, as another reviewer pointed out, the two leads (Romy Schneider and Rod Steiger) do their parts in English and the rest of the cast are speaking French--making it irrelevant whether or not you watch the French-dubbed or English-dubbed version. However, and this is odd, you probably should NOT watch the film with captioning, as the subtitles are inferior to both dubbed versions! I know this makes no sense, but often the subtitles were inaccurate or didn't convey the message as well as the actors originally spoke! I actually watched about half the film in French and then watched the other half in English. But boy were those subtitles annoying--even getting little details wrong.As for the film itself, through the first half of the film, it all seems pretty familiar--especially for a tale directed by Claude Chabrol. He made a career out of films about infidelity and murder. However, midway through the film, the film has many excellent twists and turns. BUT I CANNOT REALLY TALK ABOUT THEM WITHOUT WRITING A FEW SPOILERS, SO BE ADVISED!!! Romy and boy-toy, Jeff, begin a torrid affair as the husband (Steiger) drinks himself to oblivion. Eventually, the lovers come up with a plan to murder Steiger and live off his fortune. Unfortunately for the lovers, the plan goes awry but it isn't certain exactly what happened--all we know is Romy is now being blamed for possibly killing BOTH men, as there isn't much trace of them.When Steiger returns later and is indeed alive, this created a wonderful opportunity for the film, as Romy suddenly found that her formerly impotent husband is very potent indeed and their dead relationship is rejuvenated. This would have been a wonderful point to end the story. In essence, the woman's lover is killed by the impotent man, who, in doing this regains his own power and sexuality--a somewhat kinky but fascinating idea. Unfortunately, while this was where the film was going, the movie had an additional 30 minutes of plot twists that did a lot to confuse everything and make the story much more difficult to believe. It's a great example of a film that didn't know when to stop. Without the next 30 minutes, I'd have scored the movie an 8. With it, the impact is greatly lessened. I strongly agree with the review that saw this film as needlessly complicated--a problem common to many of Chabrol's films.Finally, a note to parents that this isn't a great film for kids due to its sexual nature and nudity. Miss Schneider, at age 37, is quite lovely in her many nude scenes--it's a real shame her life off-screen was so short and tragic.
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: twists and turns like some manic giallo, 28 September 2009 Author: christopher-underwood from Greenwich - London
Top notch Chabrol! I was a bit worried at first as after the initial nude appearance of the delectable Romy Schneider, a rather puffy faced Rod Steiger does not look too good. His being dubbed does not help but soon enough with such a fast moving tale, any misgivings are forgotten. This twists and turns like some manic giallo and Chabrol does not take himself too seriously, even allowing us to laugh - out loud at one point, that must be a first for me in this directors films. I'm sure if analysed carefully there are plot holes but it is clever, involving and very enjoyable. It can also be taken very seriously as Schneider' s character as the only female, takes a little more than the 'male gaze' from everybody else in the film and the varying relationship between the two leads is as puzzling as the film itself.
1 out of 2 people found the following review useful: Pilate was right: you should wash your hands ,dearest Julie., 5 October 2008 Author: dbdumonteil
"Les Innocents" was released at a time when Chabrol's career was slowly but inexorably slipping..Among a handful of horrors ("nada" "Les Magiciens" and the nadir "Folies Bourgeoises" ),before Chabrol regained his mastery with his underrated "Alice Ou La Dernière Fugue" or "Violette Nozières" ,but only for a while.Except for the 1968-1971 period or his debut,Chabrol's career has been erratic ,mainly because he has made too many films ."Les Innocents" inaugurated a new genre for Chabrol: a tongue-in-cheek thriller ,it paved a reliable way for such works as "Inspecteur Lavardin" "Masques" "Poulet Au Vinaigre" or "Rien Ne Va Plus" .None of these works were major works but some of them (particularly "Masques" ) are pleasant enough.A foreign viewer may take this story seriously ,compare it with Bresson (!) but a French one cannot be fooled.Chabrol actually laughs at the audience as he laughs at Julie: although a criminal,Julie almost appears as a victim....of men of course as Lawyer Mr Legal (what a name!) says .We come to pity Julie (the scene in the bank where she learns that all the money she has left is 92 francs is priceless)and her character sometimes resembles that of Stephane Audran in "la Rupture " ,this great 1970 work.With its spate of "unexpected " twists ,"Les Innocents " may seem today ahead of its time.But not only "Alice ou La Derniere Fugue " which had only one (unexpected twist) packed a real wallop -in the grand tradition of "carnival of souls" "Jacob's ladder" and "the sixth sense"-,those of "the innocents do not make sense cause the characters are uninteresting (Do you care for them as you did for the characters of ,say,"le Boucher" or "Que La Bête Meure" ?)and RomySchneider ,one of my favorite actresses ,does not belong in Chabrol's world.Neither does Rod Steiger.Only Mischievous Jean Rochefort and the pair of Colomboesque cops (Pierre Santini and François Maistre who play cat and mouse with Julie)really survive in this hotchpotch.
2 out of 5 people found the following review useful: The Only Hand That Can Beat This ..., 27 July 2005 Author: writers_reign
... is a misdeal. Chabrol does it again. This time the colours tend more toward rich oil than the pastel water he invariably favours but maybe the rich stew of the plot dictated the palette. The basic premise is a mixture of The Postman Always Rings Twice/Double Indemnity and/or any of the rip-offs in which a young, virile wife is saddled with an older and/or sexually dormant husband, finds a young stud and what begins as healthy lust graduates to 'let's murder rich husband and spend his money'. Chabrol merely uses this as a jumping-off point and is soon introducing more twists than a hairpin bend on that very Riviera that forms the setting (St Tropez). The strongest factor is Romy Schneider as the wife and Chabrol has had the good taste to include her in virtually every scene. Rod Steiger as the husband plays Rod Steiger but that isn't necessarily bad but the weakest link is definitely Poalo Giusti, who has to be the most wooden actor since Laurence Harvey, as the stud cum assassin and for good measure Hitchcock buff Chabrol has thrown in a comic couple who clearly had their genesis in Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne in Hitch's The Lady Vanishes but are now transformed into a Greek Chorus of cops. You may not want to see it again for a decade or so but it's diverting enough for a couple of hours.
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