Le corbeau (1943)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Henri-Georges Clouzot

Writers:

Louis Chavance (screenplay)
Henri-Georges Clouzot (adaptation) ...

Release Date:

28 September 1943 (France)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Une petite ville comme il en est tant en France. [Original Version]

Plot:

French village doctor becomes target of poison-pen letters sent to village leaders, accusing him of affairs and practicing abortion.

Plot Keywords:

Letter | Poison Pen Letter | Secret | Village | Town

Cast

Pierre Fresnay	...	Le docteur Rémy Germain
Ginette Leclerc	...	Denise Saillens
Micheline Francey	...	Laura Vorzet
Héléna Manson	...	Marie Corbin, l'infirmière
Jeanne Fusier-Gir	...	La mercière
Sylvie	...	La mère du cancéreux
Liliane Maigné	...	Rolande Saillens
Pierre Larquey	...	Michel Vorzet
Noël Roquevert	...	Saillens, la maître d'école
Bernard Lancret	...	Le substitut
Antoine Balpêtré	...	Le docteur Delorme (as Antoine Balpétré)
Jean Brochard	...	Bonnevie, le trésorier de l'hôpital
Pierre Bertin	...	Le sous-préfet
Louis Seigner	...	Bertrand
Roger Blin	...	François, le cancéreux du 13

Also Known As:

L'oeil du serpent (France) (working title)
L'oiseau noir (France) (working title)
Laura (France) (working title)
Lettres anonymes (France) (working title)
Maladie contagieuse (France) (working title)
The Raven

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Wide Range Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) (cut) | UK:PG (re-rating)

Filming Locations:

Montfort-l'Amaury, Yvelines, France

Company:

Continental Films

Trivia:

Because he worked for Continental Films, Henri-Georges Clouzot was barred from working in the film industry for two years.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Le docteur Rémy Germain: [washes blood off his arms] I saved the mother.
Grand-mother: And the baby?
Le docteur Rémy Germain: No.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Camp de Thiaroye (1987)

The first of Clouzot's dark masterpieces

Le Corbeau aka The Raven is a surprisingly vivid piece of film-making, a wonderfully cinematic dissection of a town torn apart by the poison-pen letters of 'The Raven.' The initial balance of power that maintains the status quo (A knows B's indiscretion, B knows A's, so neither can destroy the other without disgracing himself) is soon destroyed as the whole town learns each other's dirty linen, with suspicions, half-truths and outright lies soon lead to the town turning on each other in the search for a scapegoat. Tragedy, suicide and murder inevitably follow…

This, of course, was the film that earned Clouzot a lasting reputation as a collaborator – made for the infamous German Continental films, it was attacked by both the Nazis for discouraging the French from informing (their main source of information during the occupation) and the resistance for attacking the French moral character. Of the two, it's pretty obvious the Nazis were on the right track. Even though the Germans are conspicuous by their absence, it makes clear that the anonymous informer/s are undermining solidarity and making the town easy prey for predators (it is implicit in the film that the Raven is not the only poison-pen writer in the town as a veritable flock of Ravens emerge).

The suspense comes not from the Raven's identity, which is blindingly obvious in this era of double-endings but must have seemed groundbreaking at the time, but from what damage the Raven will do next. Blessed with a surprisingly unlikable hero and a frankness lacking in US and British films of the period – abortion and drug-addiction are discussed as readily as adultery and embezzlement – there is a somewhat awkward Catholic moral imposed at the end (the good doctor learns it is better to let a mother die in childbirth to save the child than vice versa because the future is more important than the past) but it's still refreshingly dark. The script establishes character, setting and guilty secrets with remarkable economy and the film is blessed with a great use of location and some visually impressive set pieces: the funeral where people step around a letter left by the Raven before a child picks it up or the huge church silenced by a single letter fluttering down from the gallery are particularly striking. It also has a biting black wit and an interesting discussion about the interdependent nature of good and evil.

A genuine masterpiece, and entertaining with it, the Criterion DVD boasts exceptionally good print quality - sharp and clear - with an interesting 18-minute interview with Bertran Tavernier on Continental and Clouzot and an interesting extract from a French documentary with Clouzot and others talking about the film and French cinema during the Nazi occupation.