As I've suggested elsewhere, Clouzot's oddity may come closer to the absurdist humor of Franz Kafka than any of the literal adaptations of his work, such as Orson Welles' version of The Trial, and the secondary cast is especially memorable: not only Clouzot's wife Vera Clouzot (who also figured in his better-known Diabolique and The Wages of Fear, but also Hollywood actor Sam Jaffe (The Asphalt Jungle), English actor Peter Ustinov (Lola Montes), and German actor Curt Jurgens (Bitter Victory).
Jonathan Rosenbaum
juillet 1, 2007