March 20, 2007

On Claude Chabrol.

"The murderously genteel Claude Chabrol has been compared to Alfred Hitchcock by so many critics, capsule biographers, trailer producers and pressbook writers that the label 'France's master of suspense' is forever stuck to his lapel. The seed was planted back in the 50s when Chabrol co-authored an early book on the then-undervalued British filmmaker with fellow Cahiers du Cinéma critic (and soon-to-be fellow Nouvelle Vague instigator) Eric Rohmer."

Claude Chabrol and Jean-Luc Godard

Chabrol and Godard in their Cahiers days.

As The Bridesmaid sees a stateside DVD release, Michael Fox offers an overview of some of Chabrol's most memorable works.



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Posted by dwhudson at March 20, 2007 3:48 PM

Comments

When I was a teen, I wanted to be like Godard, then in my 20s Hitchcock, but now more than ever I'd like be a Chabrol and hang out with actresses like these!

Oh and of course do good work, too!

Posted by: Jerry Lentz at March 21, 2007 12:13 AM

"While everyone in the bridal party is laughing and looking in one direction, she's gazing cold-bloodedly the other way. The shot is clearly intended to not simply evoke the memory but provoke an association with Robert Walker's fixed gaze amidst the sea of pivoting heads at a tennis match in Strangers On a Train."

I'm not certain if Rendell had that in mind, as the scene is taken from the novel.

Posted by: Flickhead at March 21, 2007 4:33 AM