Le boucher (1970)

Director:

Claude Chabrol

Writer:

Claude Chabrol (writer)

Release Date:

19 December 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Plot:

An unlikely friendship between a dour, working class butcher and a repressed schoolteacher coincides with a grisly series of Ripper-type murders in a provincial French town.

Plot Keywords:

Lighter | Butcher | Schoolteacher | Murder | Stabbing

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 wins

Cast

Stéphane Audran	...	Helene
Jean Yanne	...	Popaul
Antonio Passalia	...	Angelo
Pascal Ferone	...	Père Cahrpy
Mario Beccara	...	Leon Hamel
William Guérault	...	Charles
Roger Rudel	...	Police Inspector Grumbach

Also Known As:

Il tagliagole (Italy)
The Butcher (International: English title) (literal title)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:GP | Argentina:13 | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Cougnac Caves, Lot, France

Company:

Les Films de la Boétie

Quotes:

Helene: [Walking through a cavern] You must understand that the instincts, the feelings, and even the intelligence of Cro-Magnon man was definitely human. The only differences to the problem were his needs to survive.
Student: What does "survive" mean?
Helene: It means to stay alive. He began to draw. Do you know what we call desires when they lose their savage quality? Aspirations. If Cro-Magnon had not survived, the world in which we live wouldn't exist.

Movie Connections:

References Foreign Correspondent (1940)

The horror of irresolution

is The Butcher a thriller? Yes. Is it a psychological drama? Yes. Is it an idyllic small town romance? Yes. Is it a horror film? Yes. Should those descriptions be compatible? But The Butcher is indeed all of those things. It's a film that deals with the greatest, most puzzling, and most disturbing mysteries of humanity, but it's also a small, simple film with a style so subtle it sometimes appears to be no style at all. Chabrol's French contemporaries are known for their flair- for their attention-grabbing camera work and editing. Hitchcock was known for his stylish set-pieces. But Chabrol has an amazing knack for convincing us that we're not watching a stylish film. The color scheme, the manipulation of light, and the stifling editing are as meticulous as in a Hitchcock film, or a Truffaut film, but are at the same time nearly invisible. His direction is heavily stylized but appears nearly accidental. Chabrol manages to transform picnics, schoolhouses and cobblestone streets into a landscape that is horrifying for its lack of apparent horror and for its incongruity with the horror being committed. The Butcher is also the story of two people who have adapted, in their own ways, to modern society. A man adapts by becoming a killing machine, and a woman adapts by becoming a cold narcissist. Both were apparently functioning, normal human beings until they meet each other. But, when they meet each other, their neuroses come into the foreground: his animalistic passion and her ultra-civilized coolness nearly destroy each other. Some say that the woman is the monster and some say it is the man. It is the man who commits truly monstrous acts, but it is the woman who, by way of her repressed attraction to such a monstrous man, sets his gears turning. The schoolteacher never could have known the effect she would have on the butcher, but she is still responsible, and that is what is terrifying. The Butcher, however, is not a masterpiece because of its cynicism; it's a masterpiece because it manages to be cynical while having utmost respect for its characters. It's a great film because of the way it explores how hard its characters try and how pathetically they fail. It's a horror film about how impossible it can be for people to change.