What seems like minimalist Hitchcock thrill in the beginning
slowly turns out as striking Bunuelian bourgeoisie revenge finale. I’m ending
up watching my first Claude Chabrol film; the man who pushed the envelope of
French New Wave in 60s along with Godard, Truffaut, Rohmer and company.
It opens with a slender, reticent and inscrutable dame named
Sophie (Sandrine Bonnaire) hired and employed as a new house maid by rich
Lelievre family. The family is consist of husband- wife and two young kids.
Though slightly reserved, she seems to be a perfect maid for the family in the
initial phase. Her dyslexic illiteracy led her to befriend Jeanne (Isabelle
Huppert), an eccentric and errant postal clerk and that’s where tension starts
rolling on her and Lilievre family’s life. Slowly it leads towards the tragic
and operatic gritty finale.
What I loved about my first experience of Chabrol is the way
he used sheer minimalist framing of the whole film keeping the aestheticism of
the film as classic as possible. His directorial style emphasized in brilliant
use of mise en scene, which is absolutely treat. Bonnaire’s act is worth
mentioning but its Isabelle Huppert who’s the bitchy dame to watch without
fail. Chabrol brilliantly pointed out the undermined tragic irony of poetic
justice of two social classes in the striking climax where tragic opera on TV
runs parallel to the life.
Ratings-8/10
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