The 1955 Film "Les Diaboliques" shows the story of the interactions between a man, his wife, and his mistress.
The first thing I noticed about the film was that it was filmed in black and white. This is due to the decade it was filmed in, but it definitely affects the overall feel of the film and adds to the mystery of the film. The movie opens on a car driving. The scene is filmed in one continuous shot with the camera being a significant distance away from the car. The next scene pictures a playground with children on it and then fades to the children being gone and there being Christina and Nicole, the wife and mistress, sitting on the swings. According to Kat Ellinger, "It is interesting how Clouzot manages to contrast the two leading ladies Christina in gingham and braids, very reminscent of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, perhaps more browbeaten than wide-eyed, but the way he choses to style the character is interesting. This is in direct opposition to Simone as Nicole the husband’s lover who is harsh, chain smoking, peroxide blonde, and physically bigger build and more powerful than her counterpart. Yet these two very different women form a relationship which is complex and intriguing". I agree. These two women are almost exact opposites but still are able to form a relationship where they are able to work as a team. Christina keeps stating that her husband is horrible to her but she doesn't want a divorce, while Nicole keeps urging her that she does and that she should leave with her. Throughout the next few scenes, her husband, Michel, keeps being horrible towards her. He even states during an argument that he doesn't care if she dies. Christina decides to leave, and sneaks out in the middle of the night. A scene ends with a view of stairs while the next scene opens right after on another set of stairs. I noticed that this was a very common technical shot, showing a scene ending on one object and the next scene opening on the same object but in a different situation. Shortly after, Michel finds out his wife has left and he is enraged. The camera cuts to a scene of Christina and Nicole in the car, with the camera angle being straight on the front windshield. The next scene features them opening the door to the home they are staying at, while the scene cuts to another door opening in the next clip, which is a repetition of the technical shot I had made mention to earlier. Christina calls Michel and tells him that she wants a divorce, but he will not accept it and tells her that he is coming to get her. In the next scene, Nicole is ordering Christina around, which reminded me a lot of the man Christina had left which seemed odd to me, but now almost seems like a foreshadowing to show that Nicole and Michel were on the same team and are similar. Michel shows up, and Christina is very upset and hesitant on what she needs to do, which is to sedate him. The camera features a clip of the front of them two, where he is holding her tightly and telling her to be with him and she is clearly trying to pull herself away. This specific angle shows the viewers how much he is controlling her. According to Terrence Rafferty, "Michel Delassalle is, in short, begging to be killed, for the general good; he’s pretty much the Platonic ideal of a deserving murder victim. So it’s really no surprise that his wife and his mistress should become, for this worthy purpose, partners in crime". Eventually, Michel drinks the sedative which is hidden in the wine and he passes out. Nicole comes back, and they hold him underwater in the bathtub and kill him. It has been made known previously that Christina has heart problems, so she is kept up late worrying and listening to the dripping sounds of the bathtub. Eventually the two woman put his body in a trunk and bring it back to their hometown. They dump the body into the pool at the school, and wait for someone to find the body. Lots of time passes by and the body has not been found. Christina becomes overcome with anxiety, while Nicole does not worry. The camera angle throughout this movie is very casual as it showcases the natural feel of the characters. The pool is drained, and the body has disappeared, which makes the women nervous. Eventually Christina is approached by a police officer, who decides to join the case. He tells her that if he finds nothing, then she will not owe him any money. After being overcome with guilt and anxiety, Christina confesses everything to the officer, in hopes that this will help reduce the heart problems she is having. In the next scene, the camera features a far away view of the entire building. There are lots of lights turning on and off throughout building, and the camera cuts to a close up of Christina looking outside. She investigates the building, opening and closing doors, while the scene keeps turning to black every time she closes a door. She is extremely anxious, with the darkness around her causing heavy breathing. Lots of specific camera angles and technical elements are being used in this sequence, such as a slow moving camera that showcases lots of shadows and the creaking of doors and other elements that are meant to showcase and parallel her feeling and our own throughout this shot. We as viewers are unsure of what is going on, so the suspense in this scene not only shadows what she is feeling, but what we are as well. She hears a typewriter in the next room, and when she investigates, the paper that was typed on has her husbands name. She eventually finds the bathroom, where is body is in the bathtub. He starts to stand up, and she shrinks as it gets harder and harder for her to breathe. She dies of a heart attack. Nicole runs in and embraces Michel with a hug and a kiss, stating they can now be together which shows us as viewers that they had this plan all along. The movie goes to darkness as the final clip ends. https://thegoresplatteredcorner.com/2013/08/13/les-diaboliques-1955/ https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/1859-diabolique-murder-consideredas-one-of-the-fine-arts
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