Le cri du hibou (1987)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Claude Chabrol

Writers:

Odile Barski (writer)
Claude Chabrol (writer)

Release Date:

28 October 1987 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Thriller

Plot:

After separation from his wife Robert moves to Vichy where he observes beautiful Juliette. Her fiance Patrick becomes jealous and attacks Robert. When Patrick disappears Robert is suspected to have killed him.

Plot Keywords:

Vichy | Foreign Language Adaptation | Missing Person | Farce | Small Town

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Christophe Malavoy	...	Robert
Mathilda May	...	Juliette
Jacques Penot	...	Patrick
Jean-Pierre Kalfon	...	Le commissaire / Police commisionneer
Virginie Thévenet	...	Véronique
Patrice Kerbrat	...	Marcello
Jean-Claude Lecas	...	Jacques
Agnès Denèfle	...	Suzie
Victor Garrivier	...	Le médecin
Jacques Brunet	...	Le père
Charles Millot	...	Le directeur
Yvette Petit	...	La voisine
Dominique Zardi	...	Le voisin
Henri Attal	...	Un flic
Albert Dray	...	Un flic

Also Known As:

Il grido del gufo (Italy)
The Cry of the Owl

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:18 | West Germany:12 | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Vichy, Allier, France

Company:

Civite Casa Films

Movie Connections:

Remade as Cry of the Owl (2009)

Implausible, but not too blame for it

This Chabrol movie seems to be almost forgotten - given the few comments printed here and given the fact that it's unlikely to be mentioned among the maestros masterpieces. Even though it is based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith, and has some degree of tension in it, "Le Cri du Hibou" doesn't really draw the viewer inside the small world of it's handful of characters. Everyone in this film seems to have his private neurosis, and when fate bonds them all together, an explosive mixture is the result. Unfortunately (and unusually for Chabrol) the narration is not clever enough to tantalize the viewer. Instead, quite a bunch of implausible elements make it hard to enjoy the unfolding of the story. Then again, since it is the story of a man regarded as threat by his surrounding without ever wanting to threat anyone, a man seen as guilty without guilt (or is there guilt at his hands?), Chabrol had to avoid all too much realism. An ultra-realistic view at the same story would stop at 40 minutes; it would not be able to display the ideas driving the characters to their deeds like Chabrol does. Seen through this perspective, the film is quite an interesting statement.