La Femme Infidele
La Femme Infidele
La Femme Infidèle (1969) in French, with English subtitles.
A fully restored version of Claude Chabrol’s ‘La Femme Infidèle’ is released in cinemas on 11 September, and out on BluRay etc in 2027. It is the highlight of the BFI’s ‘Claude Chabrol; Elements of Crime’ season, running from 1st September to 6th October.
In what must rank as one of the most subtle of cinema thrillers, Stephane Audran stars as Hélène, bored wife of successful insurance broker Charles Desvallées played by Michel Bouquet and lover of writer Victor Pegala, played by Maurice Ronet. The genteel world of the French middle class is the setting for this simple tale of revenge, told at a stately, civilized pace.
Introducing the prosperous, comfortable world Hélène inhabits, complete with charming country home, servants, a son she dotes on and a husband who loves her, we see early indications that all may not be well in her marriage. Charles’ working days in Paris are predictably dull; with his partner’s office jokes and a flirtatious secretary he barely notices. His wife’s visits to Paris are frequent, to the hairdresser, or clothes-buying trips, occasions when Charles often meets with her and drives her home.
Charles, becoming suspicious of his wife’s more frequent absences from home, hires a private detective, who quickly provides him with a picture, name and address of lover Pegala. Charles calls on Pegala and once invited in, behaves in a brisk, chatty manner, putting Pegala at ease. It is Charles’ sheer, unnerving politeness that fascinates, until Pegla’s guard is finally down and Charles strikes the blow that kills him. In a scene which could not have been handled better than by even Hitchcock, Charles goes about methodically cleaning the murder scene and disposing of the body with minute care and attention.
‘La Femme infidèle’ eschews the drawn-out detective work and pell-mell car chases more typical of this popular genre; instead, simply showing the slow realisation of the affair in the wronged husband’s mind, his neat, swift revenge on the lover and the violent act’s inevitable discovery. It is a quiet and worthy addition to a genre cluttered with noisier stories.
Scenester
26/7/26
Link ; BFI What's On https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/Online/default.asp
