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Diaboliques, Les (1955)
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Overview
Tagline:
See it, be amazed at it, but... BE QUIET ABOUT IT! (original Finnish poster tagline) morePlot:
The wife of a cruel headmaster and his mistress conspire to kill him, but after the murder is committed, his body disappears, and strange events begin to plague the two women. full summary | add synopsisAwards:
3 wins moreUser Comments:
Macabre and depressing story makes for somber viewing moreCast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Simone Signoret | ... | Nicole Horner | |
| Véra Clouzot | ... | Christina Delassalle (as Vera Clouzot) | |
| Paul Meurisse | ... | Michel Delassalle | |
| Charles Vanel | ... | Alfred Fichet, le commissaire | |
| Jean Brochard | ... | Plantiveau, le concierge | |
| Pierre Larquey | ... | M.Drain, professeur | |
| Michel Serrault | ... | M. Raymond, le surveillant | |
| Thérèse Dorny | ... | Mme. Herboux | |
| Noël Roquevert | ... | M. Herboux | |
| Yves-Marie Maurin | ... | Moinet, une jeune Moynet | |
| Georges Poujouly | ... | Soudieu, un élève | |
| Georges Chamarat | ... | Dr. Loisy | |
| Jacques Varennes | ... | M. Bridoux, professeur | |
| Robert Dalban | ... | Le garagiste | |
| Jean Lefebvre | ... | Le soldat |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
114 min | UK:92 min | USA:116 minCountry:
FranceLanguage:
FrenchColor:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 moreSound Mix:
MonoCertification:
Finland:K-18 (1968) | Finland:(Banned) (1966) | South Korea:15 | Finland:K-18 (1956) | Australia:PG | Sweden:15 | USA:Unrated | Norway:16 | Italy:VM14 | UK:X (original rating) (1955) | UK:15 (re-rating) (1985)MOVIEmeter: 
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The film is based on Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac's novel "Celle qui n'était plus" (She Who Was No More). Alfred Hitchcock also attempted to buy the rights to this novel; Boileau and Narcejac subsequently wrote "D'Entre les Morts" (From Among the Dead) especially for Hitchcock, who filmed it as Vertigo (1958). moreQuotes:
Christina Delassalle: Don't you believe in Hell?Nicole Horner: Not since I was seven.
Christina Delassalle: I do.
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FAQ
A NOTE REGARDING SPOILERSIs this movie based on a novel?
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Director Henri Georges Clouzot must not have had a sunny disposition. This movie is painful to watch, the angst-ridden actors bite and hack each other to bloody pieces, and the camera contemplates the action like a vulture, waiting for raw carcasses to dismember. All this, without really showing any violence. It's all in the mind.
Les Diaboliques is shot in black and white, but as I remember it, it was all murky grey. Maybe it was just the worn-out print, maybe it was intentional, but it really worked on me. Like the constant drizzle of October rain, the dirty, bedraggled schoolchildren, the delapidated buildings, the rotten school-lunches! I felt deeply suicidal!
The movie is full of scary scenes, of something unspeakably bad waiting to happen to the "murderesses". The long-awaited bathroom climax is not the most scary part, yet it is a welcome release for all the pent-up emotion, and Vera Clouzot truly appears to be near death. Her features twisted and tortured,her expressive body wretched and thin like a concentration-camp prisoner. She looks to be in real pain.
Les Diaboliques means The Devilish, and the Devil is clearly at work here. I have seldom felt a stronger presence of evil, and Clouzot manages this feat without a single concession to the bloodbath that is the modern horror-movie. This one has influenced everything from "the Exorcist" to "Rosemary's baby", yet still feels like an original, subtle classic. I loved it.