From the DVD Shelf: Josh Reviews Diabolique (1954)

My wife borrowed the French movie Diabolique from her step-father, but after reading the description on the back of the case, which described the film as “an acknowledged influence on Psycho,” she decided that it would probably be too scary to watch.  I, however, had never seen the film, and was intrigued enough by what I’d heard about it to give the DVD a spin.

Diabolique (which is apparently the film’s title in the U.S., although the title card of the film itself reads Les Diabolioques — “The Devils”) was made in 1954 by acclaimed French director Henri-Georges Clouzot.  The film is in black-and-white, and is in French (with English subtitles).

Christina and Nicole are an unlikely pair.  Christina is married to the cruel Michel Delasalle, who runs a fairly shoddy boarding school for boys.  Nicole is one of the teachers, and is also Michel’s mistress.  Christina and Nicole have bonded over their mutual hatred of Michel, who is vicious in his treatment of them both.  Ultimately, the two women hatch a plan to escape their troubles by murdering Michel.  While being sure to carefully cover their tracks, they carry out the grisly deed and dump Michel’s body in the school’s swimming pool.  Their hope is that Michel’s corpse will soon be found, and people will assume that he committed suicide.  But when the pool is drained soon after by the school’s groundskeeper, the body is gone.

Part of the charm, for me, in watching older movies often has to do with the leisurely pace at which they unfold, and Diabolique is no different.  The film takes its time, introducing the small group of teachers at Mr. Delasalle’s sad little school, and allowing us to see exactly why Christina and Nicole feel that murder is their only escape from their current situations.  But the pacing of the film is also, to me, its greatest flaw.  The real fun of the film doesn’t start until the pool is emptied and the two women realize that Michel’s body has vanished.  The mystery of just-what-is-going-on, and the two women’s descent into fearful paranoia as they grow convinced that somehow Michel is not actually dead, is the real heart of the film.  But it takes quite a long time (over an hour) to get to that point — a little too long, for my tastes.

That being said, I quite enjoyed the film.  It’s a pretty grim little tale, filled with characters who are either cruel or hopeless or both.  The actors are all fairly naturalistic — there’s none of the stilted “Hollywood-speak” that one can find sometimes in older films.  The photography is also very well done — the black-and-white imagery is quite haunting, and provides a perfect setting for the story being told.  Mr. Cluzot’s direction is to be credited for this — and also for allowing the film to feel fairly expansive.  Although most of the story takes place in just a few locations, the scenes don’t feel too “stagey,” with the actors all lined up before the camera in front of simple sets.  (The school looks to me to be an actual location, as opposed to a set, which really helps.)

I can see why the film is seen as an influence on Psycho.  The focus on murder and paranoia is very similar to what one can find in many great Hitchcock films.  Although I was somewhat critical, above, of the time the film takes in getting to the murder, I really enjoyed the amount of time spent on the act itself.  We follow precisely all the steps that the two women take to set up their plan to dispatch Mr. Delasalle and dispose of his body, without drawing any undue attention to themselves.  It’s a grim little puzzle, and a very well-executed sequence on film.  And, of course, once the women must confront the possibility that somehow Mr. Delasalle might not actually be dead, that’s when the real horror and suspense kicks in.

Although I can see how this film might have been horrifying back in 1954, I’m sure it’s not terribly surprising that I must tell you that Diabolique is not all that scary today.  But this second half of the film is very engaging and entertaining, and while I wasn’t frightened, I was hooked in to trying to puzzle out, along with the women, just what the heck was going on.

Diabolique is a fine film, and I’m glad to have seen it.  Bravo once again to the Criterion Collection for such a fine presentation of this older film on DVD.  (And thanks, Steph, for borrowing it!!)