L'enfer d'Henri-Georges Clouzot

Daniel S.

Strange how I've the feeling to have watched the completed version of Clouzot's L'Enfer now, as though the film doesn't exist at all. This documentary is another proof that an artist, without being bridled, causes his own destruction. Masterpiece.

Elijah Drenner

Man, I wish that I made this movie. Amazing documentary of about Henri Clouzot's decent into madness, consumed with obsession for his leading lady. The film was never finished. The only remaining bits of test shots and dialogue scenes were edited into the film, while those who worked on the project discuss its production. Fascinating. One of the best movie docs I've ever seen.

MostlyDead

Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno is a real trip. It gives you a fresh look at a movie that could've been a revolutionary hit at the time. The movie is dazzling, the clips are spectacular, and the effects are beautiful. If you're into Henri-Georges Clouzot or whatever, you're sure to lose youself in the story of a movie that never finalized.

josé neves

35mm. In Portuguese, the expression "que inferno!" means an unbearable situation. To pour on soundless images a wealth of illustrative and vacuous sounds and soundtrack, presenting testimonies with a dispensable background of 3 screens, makes me wonder where are the filmmakers who uses images' expressivity without normative accommodations - where?, for instance, in René Vautier's "Mourir pour des Images".

Ozu_Teapot

(4) If you enjoyed the experimentation with kinetic and optical art, image distortion, and lighting shown in L'enfer then Clouzot's final film La prisonnière (AKA Woman in Chains) is well worth checking out.

dionysus67

The directors wisely, and progressively, give the floor to the stunningly beautiful footage from this unfinished masterpiece, instead of further insisting in the nonetheless enlightening testimonials. Supremely exquisite shots of sensual vitality interrupted by bizzare, yet arresting, visuals of Reggiani's character descent into mad jealousy. Magnetic and mesmerizing, this is a majestic tribute to a manic genius!

smndvdcl

'L'enfer' with a final cut could have become Clouzot's magnum opus. It touches on something innately universal despite its abstractions. Towing the line between genius and madness is the archetype of the finest art; stretching the faculties as a catalyst to volatility, to the limits of what the soul can bear is often where magic happens. Creative masochism, to subjugate oneself for truth is a gift to the audience.

Wee Hunk

They kept talking about this film as if it would be an amazing revolutionary film. Hitchcock made Vertigo back in 1958, and this would have been very similar to the older film. The real story is not the film, but how Cluzot did a Heaven's Gate. Also it seemed pretty obvious to me that he was suffering from depression. Lots of work with little results. Grandiose notions.