Claude Chabrol

[Stefan]

Haha! Oh, I was wrong. This thing. When I saw it on German television being 12 I thought it was funny ...

[Stefan]

Change of subject ... Could SOME label on earth please have the kindness to release a watchable "Le boucher" after all? It would be - irony off - a stellar achievement in humanism. Judging from the godawful cover, the aforementioned Spanish variant cannot be the final aim.

[domino harvey]

Yet another Chabrol TV work, this time the Paul Gegauff-scripted Une invitation à la chasse, has been subbed on back channels

[domino harvey]

And one more TV work, Chabrol's Poe adaptation Le système du docteur Goudron et du professeur Plume, now has subs as well

[diamonds]

In an interview where Chabrol was asked about the origins of The Color of Lies, he makes reference to a book he wanted to adapt but couldn't secure the rights to:

One of my motivating principles was to come back to the Cancale area in Brittany where I had shot La Cérémonie, but without using all the same settings that I had found for that film. And then, it was pleasant to be able to capture the moving sands. I remembered that I loved a little detective novel that I had tried to buy the rights to adapt. It wasn't possible because the widow of the novelist said that her husband, an old British soldier, would never have allowed his book to be adapted by the vandals of the cinema. There was a tasty story there, which would have made a good subject for a film. Well, I kept just the idea of the moving sands, as an homage to this man […]

Obviously it's not a lot of information to go on, but does anyone here with an extensive knowledge of crime fiction have a lead on the book or author he could be referring to?

[GoodOldNeon]

In an interview where Chabrol was asked about the origins of The Color of Lies, he makes reference to a book he wanted to adapt but couldn't secure the rights to:

One of my motivating principles was to come back to the Cancale area in Brittany where I had shot La Cérémonie, but without using all the same settings that I had found for that film. And then, it was pleasant to be able to capture the moving sands. I remembered that I loved a little detective novel that I had tried to buy the rights to adapt. It wasn't possible because the widow of the novelist said that her husband, an old British soldier, would never have allowed his book to be adapted by the vandals of the cinema. There was a tasty story there, which would have made a good subject for a film. Well, I kept just the idea of the moving sands, as an homage to this man […]

Obviously it's not a lot of information to go on, but does anyone here with an extensive knowledge of crime fiction have a lead on the book or author he could be referring to?

ChatGPT thinks it is The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers:

You’re on to something intriguing—and indeed that detective novel Claude Chabrol refers to is The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers (1903).

A few details back him up:

- Chabrol speaks about returning to the Cancale area in Brittany and being inspired by the “moving sands.” In The Riddle of the Sands, the climactic and atmospheric scenes hinge upon the treacherous mudflats and shifting sands of the Frisian coast, which become navigable at low tide and completely flooded at high tide. These “sands” are central to both the plot and the symbolic tension in the novel.

- He also mentions attempting to adapt a detective novel whose rights he sought—but couldn’t obtain because “the widow of the novelist…said that her husband, an old British soldier, would never have allowed his book to be adapted by the vandals of the cinema.” Erskine Childers was indeed an army officer and an old soldier, and his widow might well have held firm to his estate’s rights. This aligns very well with Chabrol’s recollection.

- Supporting details: The Riddle of the Sands has a strong espionage-meets-adventure vibe, with detailed navigation, small‑boat seamanship, and confronting the elements of sandbanks—very much echoing the “moving sands” that Chabrol mentions. These sandbanks are not merely scenic but integral to the fiction’s suspense and sense of place.

So, all signs point to The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers as the novel Chabrol remembered—with its evocative moving sands and its author’s military background—fitting perfectly with what he described.

[diamonds]

Hmm. Based on the Wikipedia entry, The Riddle of the Sands sounds like it's more of a seafaring espionage/adventure novel than a detective novel, a bit outside Chabrol's wheelhouse. His widow Molly Childers also died in 1964, which seems just a tad early for Chabrol to have been making inquiries into adapting it. (The book was also adapted into a film in 1979)

[domino harvey]

It was probably released in the Serie Noire line, but so many books were that it won’t help much with winnowing the list of possibilities down

[tolbs1010]

Been catching up on several Chabrol films this year (thank you Kanopy). One has to marvel at how prolific and consistently good he was for so long.

L'oeil du malin has been one of the nice surprises for me as I work my way through his oeuvre. I had never heard of this one before. The original script by Chabrol (though he gives himself a writing credit under the name Martial Matthieu for some reason; union or compensation reasons maybe?) and Paul Gégauff has strong Ripley vibes. If ever there was a Director who SHOULD have made a Ripley or other Highsmith adaptation, it was Chabrol. His feel for the subtle power plays that exist between people in seemingly friendly interactions is used to great effect here. Visually, it is one of the best Chabrols I've seen. The compositions, camera movements, lighting, and visual metaphor/commentary are superb. Jacques Charrier, who died earlier this month, is the lead, and while he isn't very expressive, his blankness fits the pathetic bland malice of the character. Walther Reyer, whom I had never seen in anything before, is outstanding as the object of Charrier's envy. He brings the right mix of charisma and self-loathing. Stéphane Audran is radiant, as usual, and

Spoiler

is given an especially beautiful death close-up.

It's only 80 minutes and nowhere near as rich as a Highsmith story, but it's spare in the right ways and has a couple of scenes that I would rank among the best I've seen from Chabrol.

L'enfer was very disappointing for me. Maybe my expectations were too high for Chabrol taking on an unfinished Clouzot story/film. The way the film progresses feels unconvincing at every turn. We are presented with a blossoming, then crumbling, then destructive marriage in rapid succession with the slightest of threads to connect all of it. That can still work if there is great acting to mask the script deficiencies. Emmanuelle Beart is ideal in her role, but François Cluzet doesn't have it in him to convey the necessary intensity and inner turmoil to make his character's swift descent into madness believable. The visualization of that madness also felt uninspired, particularly in the scenes that depict the jealous imaginings of Cluzet's character. For all the filmmaking skill and understanding of human weakness/motivation that Chabrol displays across his body of work, his films (that I've seen) never flood the screen with a feeling of overwhelming emotion/passion. There's always a tasteful reserve with Chabrol. L'enfer needs to be pitched higher, reckless even, for it to work. The story is puny and ineffectual in Chabrol and Cluzet's hands.

Looking forward to watching La ligne de démarcation next.

[andyli]

Claude Chabrol set in November. Eight discs with seven features, all from 2K restoration.

[Finch]

This would be a golden opportunity for Radiance to improve the quality of their very underwhelming French choices so far.

[Aunt Peg]

Claude Chabrol set in November. Eight discs with seven features, all from 2K restoration.

Would be a day one purchase for me if there were English subtitles.

I'm also hoping Nada, Blood Relatives & The Blood of Others are forthcoming.

[Aspect]

This would be a golden opportunity for Radiance to improve the quality of their very underwhelming French choices so far.

I would be shocked if Criterion doesn’t grab these up stateside. I just hope the wait isn’t long!

[MichaelB]

Claude Chabrol set in November. Eight discs with seven features, all from 2K restoration.

Would be a day one purchase for me if there were English subtitles.

French hard-of-hearing subtitles as far as I can see, plus a French audio transcription track.

I assume the extras are unsubtitled.

[kekid]

Let's hope Radiance or Criterion would pick this up.

[Stefan]

Let's hope Radiance or Criterion would pick this up.

I am sure they will. To disregard a major (perhaps the best) creative phase of a Nouvelle Vague deity would be idiotic. The only question is who gets there first - my guess is Criterion.

[MichaelB]

I wish people would stop using pejorative terms like "idiotic" or "lazy" in these contexts - a decision whether or not a boutique label acquires a particular title and takes the sometimes considerable commercial risk of releasing it is pretty much never underpinned by idiocy or laziness.

[Peacock]

Because those decisions are often hidden from the public it breeds all sorts of speculation as to the reason. Frank Tarzi’s podcast thing is pretty cool for explaining their decision making, ditto when Fran posts lists of films he wasn’t able to acquire over the previous year and why.

[Maltic]

Not to dunk on Madame Bovary and what not, but I assume Arrow and others would've loved to "launch" Chabrol with a set of those late 1960's / early 1970's films instead, had they been available.

[Glowingwabbit]

My dream boxset would be the Hélène cycle starring Stéphane Audran: La Femme infidèle, Que la bète meure, Le Boucher, La Rupture and Juste avant la nuit

[GoodOldNeon]

How do these seven films compare to Chabrol's first films: Le beau serge, Les cousins, À double tour, Les bonnes femmes, Les godelureaux?

[Glowingwabbit]

How do these seven films compare to Chabrol's first films: Le beau serge, Les cousins, À double tour, Les bonnes femmes, Les godelureaux?

The 7 films in the set definitely represents Chabrol's strongest period. It's my favorite run of films in the French New Wave.

[Matt]

I don't have any faith at all that Criterion would swiftly usher these all onto disc. They're too important to stick in an Eclipse set with no extras but not commercial enough to release as a box set. Criterion might release one or two on disc and let the remainder languish on the Channel. Aren't they still sitting on Masques and Une affaire de femmes?

[knives]

They are indeed.

[starmanof51]

I find it much easier to see Kino picking up all the mid-70s and older Chabrols than Criterion.