I’m sometimes surprised that I’m able to watch movies that’s are more than 50 years old without knowing anything about it. Of course I try to do this as well with newer films, but that’s a lot more difficult. Les Diaboliques is a movie that I hadn’t heard of before and wanted to watch since it appears in the IMDB top 250. So going into this blind, does it earn its place in the list?
This really is a movie you have to watch with as little knowledge as possible, so if you want to see this skip to the last part of the review. The story of Les Diaboliques is about two teachers at a boys school who have cooked up an evil plan for the husband of one of them. When the school is closed for a holiday the two decide to try to kill the husband. Will they be able to do it and get away with it?
Les Diaboliques manages to slowly build the tension. As I was watching this I felt for these two women and was really rooting for them. Could they successfully do what they were planning. Would they be able to keep their mouths shut? When during the second half of the movie strange things start happening you start to wonder as much as these women what is going on. The ending of the movie was a bit weird and to me felt out of place, but overall this was really an amazing piece of filmmaking.
If you are looking for a classic French film then this is one I’d definitely recommend seeing. It’s got lots of tension, manages to really create a tense atmosphere where everything seems about control and power and once these women decide to play that game too the results are fun to watch. Simone Signoret and Véra Clouzot are exquisite in their roles and really carry the movie.
Score: 9
The film has such a storied history, too. Clouzot really out-Hitchcock’d Hitchcock with that one.
Yeah, you could say that although I don’t know if Hitchcock would ever do something like that 🙂
I really love this movie, it has one of the best twists I’ve ever seen and the tension is absolutely amazing throughout the film.
Yes, there is so much of it that you really hope they will manage to handle all the pressure on their shoulders. You are in on it while watching it and feel the same as them.