Claude Chabrol

[domino harvey]

Am I the only person who didn't get (let alone like) Fille coupee a Deux?

Benoît Magimel saves the film everytime he's on screen. Regardless, I do think it's Chabrol's weakest film since probably Betty. I disagree that you can't see his hand though-- it's everywhere, but perhaps not for those who haven't dipped into his recent output more. Everything he's made post-La Ceremonie is of a piece for me, almost jazz-like reorchestrations of existent tonal and thematic minutiae within his oeuvre. While Bellamy is a fun riff in tone of his recent work, I'd rate films like The Bridesmaid and La fleur du mal in the top tier of Chabrol-- they're definitely "move to the front" films and might help ground his new focuses within a more concrete frame of reference. I can't even imagine getting through something like Comedy of Power without it!

[domino harvey]

Spoiler

I think there was a French DVD of it that this was sourced from... I bet your mystery online benefactor went to town on that and not the English-friendly Mongrel disc. I posted some caps in the screencap thread, which were awful hard to get considering how nearly every frame is just ridic with the ghosting

[MichaelB]

Claude Chabrol.

[ellipsis7]

Rohmer and Chabrol in the same year, 53 years after their pioneering book on Hitchcock.... RIP both!...

[ellipsis7]

Yes, David, it's all very sobering, reminder of our mortality etc.... JLG avec Oscar last man standing!...

[RossyG]

Sad news.

[Cde.]

I'm very surprised. It did seem like he could go on for many years to come.
Very sad.
Cinema is changing.

Yes, David, it's all very sobering, reminder of our mortality etc.... JLG avec Oscar last man standing!...

Don't forget Rivette.

[HypnoHelioStaticStasis]

God, how awful... a consistently wonderful director and author. Many of his films are bonafide masterworks, and he's been an influence to so many people in cinema.

Truly RIP.

[LQ]

That is immensely saddening news to hear. I've only seen a fraction of his output but love those films I've had the opportunity to catch. Wouldn't it be a wonderful tribute if in the wake of Chabrol's death Criterion would finally put together releases of his harder-to-obtain films...

RIP.

[domino harvey]

The world is a lesser place now that Chabrol can no longer contribute new films. Horrible, devastating news-- I thought he could keep going for another ten years

[prokosch]

Quite terrible news -- my stomach twisted when I finally realized the "-2010" in the thread title. I agree that the rate with which he was developing new projects suggested he'd be going at least until 2020.

[Murdoch]

This is devastating, another nouvelle vague director gone. I always got the feeling he'd be around as long as de Oliveira.

[Jeff]

Some English-language obits:

AP via NPR
The Guardian

[justeleblanc]

I went through a Chabrol binge this summer and caught up on a fair amount of his rarer films such as Dr Popeul and The Breach. He was prolific and many of these films were quite bad on first glimpse, but he had a terrific, dark sense of humor that none of the other new wavers had. Godard comes closest with his puns, but Chabrol was really the funny one.

[Peacock]

I'm always really interested in what the final shot in a directors career is (the two dancing boys in Salo, the young girl selling her virginity in Street of Shame, for example). Can anyone here remember the final shot of Bellamy?

[colinr0380]

A wonderful filmmaker and a great loss. Some of his films might have been bizarre or even outright failures but I can't imagine many other directors who would have so readily been prepared to commit to the ' throwing yourself in at the deep end' opportunities to work with Orson Welles or Anthony Perkins, or in Canada, and in so many genres (political thrillers, historical dramas, barbed comedies, relationship films, sci-fi neo-noirs, along with the murder mysteries) with such diverse ranges of source material, and made the most out of all these different kinds of opportunities. He also felt far more attuned to the contemporary times throughout his career, for better and worse, than any of the other new wavers, at least after Godard's departure in the late 60s.

I find something like Dr M, Nada or Masques as wonderfully fascinating, if more (enjoyably) uneven, as anything from the classic Stéphane Audran or Isabelle Huppert periods. He might lament in that Guardian piece that he didn't resolve his body of work, but that's also part of what gives Chabrol's films their unique charm as I get to see more of them.

[prokosch]

prepared to commit to the ' throwing yourself in at the deep end' opportunities to work . . . in Canada

I'm curious: what did he film in Canada?

[antnield]

Blood Relatives

[James]

Am I the only person who didn't get (let alone like) Fille coupee a Deux?

Wait a tic, I thought I was the only one who really liked it!

R.I.P. La cérémonie is one of the best movies ever made and hopefully he'll continue his prolific career wherever he goes.

[lacritfan]

Claude Chabrol L.A. Times obit

[Richard--W]

How sad for us there won't be a new Claude Chabrol film every year. He was a refined and sophisticated storyteller who always appealed to the intelligence of his audience. Once you become attuned to Chabrol's style, his films are emotionally gripping. I've made quite a study of his work over the years. I have all the available DVD's. I wish the transfers were better quality on most of them. I find it interesting that his career started with, and was sustained by, private money. He got to make the films he wanted in the way he wanted because there was no committee telling him what to do or judging the value of him. If Chabrol had been dependent on the Horowitz organization in Beverly Hills, for example, he would never have had a career in the first place.


Richard

[MichaelB]

I find it interesting that his career started with, and was sustained by, private money.

Jean Renoir was the same (or very similar), as I recall- he funded his first films by selling his dad's paintings, but he always kept the empty frame to remind him of what he'd sacrificed for his career.

[tavernier]

PIcked up the Canadian disc of Bellamy off eBay...I wouldn't hold my breath for an American release, especially in this market.

The new IFC release has a solid transfer and includes an hour-long making-of feature that's worth the price of admission by itself.

[domino harvey]

Sweet, thanks for the heads-up. I had no idea it was getting a stateside DVD release!

[domino harvey]

Pathfinder released two Chabrol films in March, one for the first time anywhere subbed-- the Twist and Just Before Nightfall