Les Diaboliques

A noir horror thriller straight outta France

Today’s header comes by way of 1955’s Les Diaboliques (in the US, released as Diabolique), directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot and starring his real-life wife Véra as the delicate and terrorized Christina, owner of a second-rate boarding school and wife of abusive husband, headmaster Michel (played by Paul Meurisse) whom she eventually drowns in order to escape his cruelty. Aiding her in this murder is Michel’s mistress, fellow teacher Nichole (Simone Signoret), another woman he has abused. Although Nichole is relatively unbothered by the deed, Christina is racked with guilt, to the point that she still sees signs of Michel everywhere—a problem amplified by the fact that although the conspirators dump his body into the school’s filthy swimming pool to make the death appear as a drowning accident, the corpse of Michel has failed to surface. We see the stagnant pool of water in the opening scene, and revisit the location; the theme of rot, corruption and decay a motif that winds its way throughout the move. From the shabby boarding school location, to the closeness of Nichole’s flat to the dark interior of Christina’s private shrine, even in the consistently overcast skies, all is oppressive and heavy. The weight settles on the viewer, keeping one on-edge as the movie builds towards resolution.

In preferred genre, the use of meaningful cinematic hooks, and in building heart-pounding suspense, Henri-Georges Clouzot is oft compared to Alfred Hitchcock, and with good reason. Both men were controlling perfectionists, and both could be tyrants in pursuit of their celluloid vision. Each respected the work of the other, and were influenced in turn. But while Hitchcock generally inserted humorous moments of levity into his scripts, Clouzot perused a more unflinchingly dark vision. It is said that Hitchcock had hoped to make his own movie from the book from which Les Diaboliques’ plot was taken, the 1952 novel Celle qui n’etatit plus (She who was no more) by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narceja. But Clouzot boasted that he beat the American to the rights by mere hours. Using the novel as a screenplay inspiration was Véra Clouzot’s idea, suggesting the book to her husband, who read it in a single night and optioned the rights the very next morning. He and his brother worked for 18 months developing the screenplay that would become the movie, changing some of the original plot to create a better vehicle in which Véra could play a larger role. Véra was not a seasoned actress, but her hesitancy and uncertainty work perfectly in her portrayal of the fragile Christina. Needing a strong foil to balance his wife’s performance, Clouzot cast veteran Simone Signoret in the role of Nichole, meant to be a brassy, brash, take-charge woman, very much the opposite of Christina’s timid character. Simone Signoret’s actor husband had worked previously with director Clouzot, and the couples were on friendly terms, although by the end of filming, Simone thoroughly detested Henri-Georges, who had finagled a contract to pay her for only 8 weeks of work even though filming ended up well over estimated, taking 16 weeks in total. The extended schedule cut into the actress’ obligations on another film, and as a result she got very little sleep during her final weeks working on Les Diaboliques.

The film is regarded as one of the groundbreaking classics of the horror movie genre. It’s a suspenseful slow-boil of a plot that steadily builds to a heart-stopping conclusion. It is a film best experienced, rather than discussed, because there are scenes that are most enjoyable with unspoiled eyes (you can read the links below for discussion and reactions after viewing). Alfred Hitchcock himself took ideas from the movie for his own horror masterpiece Psycho. In fact, the author of the book from which the screenplay for Psycho was developed, Robert Bloch, stated that his all-time favorite horror film was Les Diaboliques. Check it out below and experience it for yourself.

TCM: Diabolique (Various reviews linked therein)

Rotten Tomatoes: Diabolique

Wikipedia: Les Diaboliques (film)