One reason why this film probably has a hard time to find love in young audiences is that they feel it has all been done before. Well, you probably already spotted the glaring anachronism here and that is exactly what I am talking about. The film inspired hundreds of other thrillers, horror films, ghost stories and whatnot with its unique and great mixture of solid craftsmanship in cinematography and directing as well as a script that is bordering on the mysterious without losing its foothold in reality and being the more terrifying for that.

A masterpiece for all the right reasons and a film that is almost the defining milestone when it comes to the infamous open endings and twists. Top that off with a great performance by Simone Signoret and Clozot’s orchestral and lyrical visuals he paints with light and shadow and you will be entertained quite pleasingly.

I found that Vera Clouzot lacked a bit of that touch of Bette Davis, considering that she is the axis around which the mayhem of fear evolves and she did not really carry apart and express to an extent that it conveyed of the silverscreen and I could spot some irritation in her but all the while investing too much of my concentration on doing so and would have preferred to have been captivated by the abyss of her despair.

Maybe it is just my person taste and slightly anti-male stance in life, but I found the character of Michel a tad one-dimensional and would have prefered his character’s core energy to be the opposite of this function in the film, too make him the more bedazzling and hard to read.

Still, a great film !

HX v