Les Noces rouges
1973 Drama / Romance / Thriller
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Credits
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Summary
Pierre Maury and Lucienne Delamare are conducting a frenzied extra-marital affair.
The intensity of their clandestine meetings is a reflection of their otherwise empty lives.
Both are trapped in loveless marriages with partners they despise. Pierre’s wife
Clotilde is perpetually ill and has no desire for physical contact. Lucienne’s husband,
Paul, is a self-important businessman who is also deputy mayor of the local community.
By killing his wife, Pierre believes he will be free to spend more time with Lucienne.
However, to avoid arousing suspicion, Pierre and Lucienne are compelled to meet only during
the night. Then Paul discovers his wife’s infidelity. He intends to blackmail
Pierre, whom he has roped in as his mayoral assistant, to participate in a dubious land
development scheme. Disgusted, Pierre and Lucienne decide to dispose of Paul…
Review
Once again, director Claude Chabrol sets about exploring the not so discrete charm of
the bourgeoisie in another well-honed psychological thriller. Here the central theme
is how the endless pursuit of freedom can rebound and result in ever-growing imprisonment.
The characters Pierre and Lucienne find release from the shackles of their barren marriages
by defying the standards of middle class respectability and acting out love making trysts
in the manner of a cheap porno movie. When the obstacles to their perceived lack
of freedom are removed one by one, they each find it more difficult to get together –
either because they genuinely believe there is a risk of their seedy affair being discovered
or, equally probably, because the excitement has begun to wane. There is a resonance
with classic film noir, where the pursuit of freedom almost invariably ends with failure
or disillusionment.
Whilst less intense and artistically striking than Chabrol’s earlier great thrillers of this period – Le Boucher (1969), La Femme infidèle (1969), Que la bête meure (1969), to name just three – Les Noces rouges is nonetheless just as effective as a satire of bourgeois double standards and an exploration of the darker side of human behaviour. It is possible to regard the film as a black comedy rather than a conventional thriller, and indeed the trio Pierre-Lucienne-Paul makes a far more amusing triangle than in most of Chabrol’s other films (where the triangle is a recurring motif). Part of the reason for this is Claude Piéplu’s delightfully parodied portrayal of a pompous businessman with grand political ambitions. But there are other comical elements which Chabrol uses to cleverly darken the mood (note that most other directors use comedy to lighten the mood). For one, there’s a slight comic veneer to Michel Piccoli and Stephane Audran’s performances. Their love scenes look as if they were written for a debauched sex comedy, and the scenes where they meet in public “as near strangers” to keep up appearances are irresistibly funny. One intriguing aspect of the film is Hélène, Lucienne's daughter. In three of Chabrol’s previous films, the character of Hélène was played by Stephane Audran and was central to the story, to a greater or lesser extent a victim of the bourgeois milieu she inhabits. In Les noces rouges, Hélène is a minor character who provides a crucial part in closing the narrative – a kind of self-appointed judge who acts with supreme innocence to restore order and harmony to a broken universe. Here, Hélène is the epitome of the bourgeois system, smug and content in her comfy middle class bubble. But she is also an angel of virtue, motivated solely by the desire to bring happiness to those around her – just like the self-righteous little politician she will inevitably become… © James Travers 2006 Write a review for this film... |
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