Maybe my expectations were just too high for this, but I have to say it was quite the disappointment. I didn't find Diabolique bad by any means, but hearing people say that it's better than anything Hitchcock ever did is pretty laughable in my eyes. I think it looks worse by comparison to Hitchcock, but in it's own right it's a solid, if not particularly impressive work. Concerning the wife and mistress of a school headmaster who conspire to murder him together, Henri-Georges Clouzot's film took a while to get going for me but once it did I found some solid enjoyment out of it.
A lot of what makes it work comes more from the work of the two women at it's core. Simone Signoret, as the mistress, takes charge of the murderous plot and stands firm in her beliefs, cold and calculated. She's always trying to remain in control, remain collected, and when things start to unravel you can see her slowly twist at the idea of potentially suffering the consequences. Vera Clouzot, as the wife, takes on the more unstable, emotional role and she really makes it sing. She is wild, uncontrollable and never at rest. Whereas Signoret is very still and mannered, Clouzot bounces off the walls in her distress and this contrast between them drives the film more than anything the director himself does.
There are some nice twists in the narrative that keep the mystery alive in the latter half of the film, along with a stunning final sequence that finally lived up to the hype that had been built around the film. The final sequence was mesmerizing and terrifying, culminating in a twist that I was surprised I didn't see coming. That being said, the resolution itself was disappointingly pedestrian. Overall though, I didn't find much to write home about here, although it was certainly good. This was my first Clouzot film and I'll be sure to check out several more of his works, but if this is a sign of what he has to offer me then I'm afraid I'll never be able to understand those who rank him above his English companion.
A lot of what makes it work comes more from the work of the two women at it's core. Simone Signoret, as the mistress, takes charge of the murderous plot and stands firm in her beliefs, cold and calculated. She's always trying to remain in control, remain collected, and when things start to unravel you can see her slowly twist at the idea of potentially suffering the consequences. Vera Clouzot, as the wife, takes on the more unstable, emotional role and she really makes it sing. She is wild, uncontrollable and never at rest. Whereas Signoret is very still and mannered, Clouzot bounces off the walls in her distress and this contrast between them drives the film more than anything the director himself does.
There are some nice twists in the narrative that keep the mystery alive in the latter half of the film, along with a stunning final sequence that finally lived up to the hype that had been built around the film. The final sequence was mesmerizing and terrifying, culminating in a twist that I was surprised I didn't see coming. That being said, the resolution itself was disappointingly pedestrian. Overall though, I didn't find much to write home about here, although it was certainly good. This was my first Clouzot film and I'll be sure to check out several more of his works, but if this is a sign of what he has to offer me then I'm afraid I'll never be able to understand those who rank him above his English companion.