Événement

Diabolique @ Robert Classic French Film Festival

Friday, March 18, 7:30 p.m.
Diabolique/Les diaboliques
Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1955, 117 min., B&W, Blu-ray projection source

Before "Psycho," "Peeping Tom," and "Repulsion," there was "Diabolique." This thriller from HenriGeorges Clouzot, which shocked audiences in Europe and the U.S., is the story of two women -- the fragile wife and the willful mistress of the sadistic headmaster of a boys' boarding school -- who hatch a daring revenge plot. With its unprecedented narrative twists and terrifying images, "Diabolique" is a heart-grabbing benchmark in horror filmmaking, featuring outstanding performances by Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot (the director's wife), and Paul Meurisse. Featuring a bathroom murder that was said to have inspired the Master of Suspense to make "Psycho," "Diabolique" is often referred to as the best Hitchcock film that Hitchcock never made. (A further connection: The authors of "Diabolique's" source novel also wrote the book on which "Vertigo" was based.)

The Guardian calls the film "satisfying, elegant and nasty" and an "icily brilliant suspense thriller." Noting that the movie "still has the power to scare the heebie-jeebies out of audiences," the Telegraph concludes: "'Les Diaboliques' is not only a black comedy about the limits of sisterhood; it's an exhilaratingly cold film that treats all its characters as flawed or self-interested. It's a diabolical masterpiece."

With an introduction and post-film discussion by Kathy Corley, professor and chair of the Electronic and Photographic Media Department at Webster University.