‘Les diaboliques‘ made in 1955 by Henri-Georges Clouzot ends with an explicit request from the viewers of not sharing the plot and especially the end of the film. Of course, I will honor this request. I will say, however, that it’s a long time since I had the pleasure of seeing a smart thriller like this. It’s a film that shows its age in the way it’s filmed and acted, but that does not bother at all, but on the contrary, like the best alcohols, it seems to be better appreciated now, in the perspective of the 64 years that have passed since its launching on screens.
I wonder why Clouzot ‘s name is not mentioned in the dialogue book between Truffaut and Hitchcock. Truffaut definitely knew this movie, and I would be amazed if Hitchcock did not know about it as well. I dare to fantasize that if this clever scenario (based on a novel) with characters well-characterized psychologically, with the story taking place in two closed spaces (a boarding school and a province house) linked one to the other by a journey with the car, with its suspense and permanent changes of situations and evolution of the characters that keep the audience’s interest constant, Hitchcock the master of suspense would not have refused the opportunity to make this film.
Simone Signoret achieves in ‘Les diaboliques‘ one of the most memorable roles of her career. There are many contrasts between the character played by her and the one acted by Véra Clouzot. Strong woman vs. weak woman. Mistress vs. wife. The apparent mismatch is accentuated by the fragility of the wife, in a role where a tragic real life coincidence involved the death of the actress, wife of director Clouzot, a few years after the film was made. Paul Meurisse in the role of the despicable school director is so credible that many of the spectators would like to cross the screen to kill him with their own hands. It is worth watching also each of the secondary roles, which offer the opportunity of unique creations, original typologies mostly in the comic register , in the best tradition of the classic French film and theater. Among them you will find with more than a decade in advance the character that inspired the creators of Inspector Columbo.All these make of ‘Les diaboliques‘ a jewel of the classic French cinema and of the psychological thriller genre of all times.