The Unfaithful Wife (1969) La femme infidèle (original title)

Popularity:

Up 1% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

Claude Chabrol

Writer:

Claude Chabrol (writer)

Release Date:

22 January 1969 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

A Psycho-Sexual Study in Murder!

Plot:

Charles Desvallées has good reasons to believe that his wife is cheating on him and hires a P.D. in order to prove himself right...

Plot Keywords:

Writer | Police | Versailles | Suspicion | Investigator

Awards:

4 wins

Cast

Stéphane Audran	...	Hélène Desvallées
Michel Bouquet	...	Charles Desvallées
Michel Duchaussoy	...	Police Officer Duval
Maurice Ronet	...	Victor Pegala
Louise Chevalier	...	Maid
Louise Rioton	...	Mamy, Charles'mother-in Law
Serge Bento	...	Bignon
Henri Marteau	...	Paul
Guy Marly	...	Police Officer Gobet
François Moro-Giafferi	...	Frederic
Albert Minski	...	King Club owner (as Albert Minsky)
Dominique Zardi	...	Truck driver
Michel Charrel	...	Policeman
Henri Attal	...	Man in cafe
Jean-Marie Arnoux	...	False Witness
Stéphane Di Napoli	...	Michel Desvallees
Donatella Turri	...	Brigitte
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Anne-Marie Peysson	...	TV announcer (uncredited)

Directed by
Claude Chabrol

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Claude Chabrol		writer

Produced by
André Génovès	....	producer
Felice Testa Gay	....	producer

Original Music by
Pierre Jansen

Cinematography by
Jean Rabier

Film Editing by
Jacques Gaillard

Art Direction by
Guy Littaye

Costume Design by
Maurice Albray

Makeup Department
Louis Bonnemaison	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Alain Belmondo	....	unit manager
Georges Casati	....	production manager
Patrick Delauneux	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jean-François Detré	....	assistant director
Jacques Fansten	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Guy Chichignoud	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Roger Robert	....	key grip
Claude Zidi	....	camera operator
Pierre Zucca	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Music Department
André Girard	....	musical director

Other crew
Claudine Gaubert	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Cinegai S.p.A.
• Les Films de la Boétie

Distributors

• Compagnie Française de Distribution Cinématographique (CFDC) (1969) (France) (theatrical)
• Davis Films (1968) (worldwide) (theatrical)
• La Société des Films Sirius (1969) (France) (theatrical)
• Neue Filmkunst Walter Kirchner (1972) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Pathé Consortium Cinéma (1969) (France) (theatrical)
• Union Générale Cinématographique (UGC) (1969) (France) (theatrical)
• Allied Artists Pictures (USA) (subtitled)
• Galileo Medien AG (2006) (Germany) (DVD) (Claude Chabrol Classic Edition)
• Opening Distribution (France) (DVD)
• Pathfinder Pictures
• Umbrella Entertainment (2012) (Australia) (TV)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2012) (Australia) (video) (VOD)

Other Companies

• Bixio France  music published by
• CTR  titles and opticals
• Carita  makeup: Stéphane Audran
• S.I.S.  sound post-production

Also Known As:

"La femme infidèle" - Italy (original title)

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 (DVD rating) | Norway:16 | Portugal:17 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | USA:M | West Germany:16 (f)

Filming Locations:

Jouy-en-Josas, Yvelines, France

Company:

Cinegai S.p.A.

Trivia:

Visa de contrôle cinématographique France : #34585

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Brigitte is always wearing the same frock, despite the passage of several days.

Movie Connections:

References Doctor Zhivago (1965)

The Talented Monsieur Michel

What Michel Bouquet does in his role as the husband to Stephane Audran's title character can only be described as an acting tour-De-force. MAGNIFICENT!

Audran is not bad herself, but a notch less than stellar. Or maybe her performance just pales in comparison to her co-star. As does pretty much everything else in the film. From a certain point onwards, it is Bouquet who becomes the co-auteur, as for as the viewer is concerned.

The film has a very remarkable score, which Chabrol uses effectively as if both checking, and challenging the Hitchcockian legacy of pronounced scores in the thriller realm.

With unmistakable, (still his kind of) nouvelle-vague elements, the film admirably reflects director's familiarity with the classic genre and its (then) modern subversion.

With unmistakable, (still his kind of) nouvelle-vague elements, the film admirably reflects the director's familiarity with the classic genre and its (then) modern subversion. The economy and brilliance of shots is such that viewer cannot take eyes off screen, not for one sec. The last shot alone informs a good lot more than an average novella. And demands a separate essay I am not gonna write. However, it becomes quite clear early on that this auteur, unlike some others, is not at all that keen on subversion for the very sake of it.

La Femme Infidele has all the bearings of a rebellion forgone, if you please. It definitely looks like the work of an auteur, but not just a rebel kind, but a mature mind, someone well on his way to become a real master of the medium: already he affords to be audacious, or flexible, every which way to fulfill demands posed by his art. This audacious flexibility in turn provides the auteur opportunity to comment, in his fashion, if not alter the rules of the genre that he is seen, here as well, rebelling against and compromising with.