Feb 17, 2025
L'enfer (Torment, 1994)
"I'm jealous."
"Jealous? Of whom? Of what?"
"I don't know. But it's killing me. It's killing me."
#l'enfer#hell#torment#french cinema#claude chabrol#1994#henri georges clouzot#jean ferry#josé andré lacour#emmanuelle béart#françois cluzet#nathalie cardone#andré wilms#marc lavoine#christiane minazzoli#dora doll#mario david#jean pierre cassel#sophie artur#thomas chabrol#noël simsolo#matthieu chabrol#Chabrol's film was adapted from a Clouzot script; Clouzot had attempted to film it himself 30 years earlier‚ but the production was a#notorious disaster and filming was abandoned after the director suffered a heart attack. it's irresistible‚ watching this‚ to wonder what#Clouzot would have done with the material. irresistible but pointless. the version we have is very recognisably the work of Chabrol‚#with his signature restless camerawork and very gradual escalation of tension without the catharsis of conclusion#largely a two hander between Béart and Cluzet‚ this is an increasingly uncomfortable study of one man's jealous insecurity and his#gradual descent into a madness of his own creation. it's a tough watch at times‚ particularly in the final act‚ and an infuriating one too#if i had to guess I'd imagine Clouzot may have (MAY have) had a little more empathy for the leads‚ where Chabrol's treatment is in the main#part a fairly clinical one (not that it doesn't let that final scene punch you in the gut‚ lent even more unease by its uncertainty)
