Les Diaboliques
Henri-Georges Clouzot deserves a much higher profile in this country, not only because he was a masterful director, but also because his films are such entertaining thrillers. Throughout the 1950s, Clouzot rivaled Hitchcock as the master of suspense.
With Les Diaboliques (1954) Clouzot ventured into the realm of Horror. Allegedly, Clouzot managed to snatch away the rights to the novel from Alfred Hitchcock. If that was truly so, in my opinion Hitchcock repaid Clouzot a few years later with Psycho (1960). More about that later.
Les Diaboliques is the story of Christina, the frail, abused wife of Michel, headmaster of a shabby boys school. Christina actually owns the school, but Michel runs it and his wife’s life with a cruel, iron hand. Michel makes no attempt to hide his affair with Nicole, a teacher at the school, from Christina, and generally acts like a pig.
Nicole, who expresses disgust with her lover, convinces a reluctant Christina that the only way to put an end to their abuse is to kill Michel. The middle third of the movie details the murder, the harrowing effort to dispose of Michel’s body, and the attempts to maintain the cover-up when the authorities arrive and begin asking questions.
What moves the film firmly into the realm of horror is the last third, where it appears that Michel is reaching out to torment Christina from beyond the grave. The story culminates in a famous shock/twist sequence that bursts poor Christina weak heart.
There are numerous scenes and sequences in this film which are unforgettable and masterful. Clouzot takes a simple noir murder plot and wrings every bit suspense out of it. And because the plot and twists are based on the wretchedness and weaknesses of the characters, the horror and tension seem all the more real.
At the time of its release, Les Diaboliques was a sensation. Like The Sixth Sense or Psycho it was successfully marketed on the basis of the twist ending, but the sex and shocks were pretty strong stuff for the mid-1950s, which didn’t hurt.
Which leads me to Hitchcock’s Psycho. I am convinced that Psycho was directly influenced by Les Diaboliques. The plot twists, the sly juxtaposition of sex and violence, the framework of a simple noir murder story, and the set-piece shock sequences all directly mirror the success of Clouzot’s masterpiece.
That’s not to say that Hitchcock ripped off Clouzot. Hitchcock expressed admiration for Clouzot and Les Diaboliques and admitted that one of the reasons he filmed Psycho in black and white was out of appreciation of Clouzot’s success with the format. Psycho is a horror masterpiece and stands on its own merits. But I firmly believe that there would be no Psycho without Les Diaboliques.
Tags: Alfred Hitchcock, Henri-Georges Clouzot, les diaboliques, Psycho
