L'Enfer (1994)
"L'enfer" (original title)

Paul, an irritable and stressed-out hotel manager, begins to gradually develop paranoid delusions about his wife's infidelity. As he succumbs to green-eyed jealousy, his life starts to ... See full summary »

Director:

Claude Chabrol

Writers:

Claude Chabrol, Henri-Georges Clouzot,

Stars:

Emmanuelle Béart, François Cluzet, Nathalie Cardone

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Emmanuelle Béart	...	Nelly
François Cluzet	...	Paul Prieur
Nathalie Cardone	...	Marylin
André Wilms	...	Doctor Arnoux
Marc Lavoine	...	Martineau
Christiane Minazzoli	...	Mme Vernon
Dora Doll	...	Mme Chabert
Mario David	...	Duhamel
Jean-Pierre Cassel	...	M. Vernon
Thomas Chabrol	...	Julien
Noël Simsolo	...	M. Chabert
Yves Verhoeven	...	Young Boy
Amaya Antolin	...	Mariette
Jean-Claude Barbier	...	M. Pinoiseau
Claire De Beaumont	...	Mme Rudemont

Storyline

Paul, an irritable and stressed-out hotel manager, begins to gradually develop paranoid delusions about his wife's infidelity. As he succumbs to green-eyed jealousy, his life starts to crumble. Each step on his downward spiral to madness seems to accelerate, driving him further along the path to a personal hell. Finally, the former shell of his personality cracks completely, with tragic consequences.

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Plot Keywords:

hotel | madness | infidelity | jealousy | obsession | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

November 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

L'Enfer

Filming Locations:

Castelnaudary, Aude, France

Box Office

Gross:

$194,223 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

MK2 Productions, CED Productions, France 3 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Remake of Inferno (1964)

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Soundtracks

"L'enfer de mes nuits"
Composed by Bill Baxter
Performed by La Belle Equipe

User Reviews

Grand Guinol of Love

Chabrol will always be Chabrol - sometimes less, rarely if ever more (maybe in La Femme Infidele...). But he's Chabrol, God bless him: love, lakes, bourgeoisie, jealousy, sex, meals, bonhomie, kids who appear and disappear, murderous thoughts, weird surrealism right before the end. You can set your watch by him. Emmanuel Beart is unbelievably sexy. And the film is a perfect illustration of some (dimly understood by me) Lacanian theories: sexual intercourse's dream of fusion is impossible, for example. Having possessed the ideal object, Cluzet knows that, in fact, one possesses nothing. Everything that makes Beart alluring also makes her dangerous in that she freely chooses...whatever she freely chooses. Freely choosing fidelity means that any moment you can freely choose infidelity. So a guy just can't win. That's why DeCordova in Bunuel's El (adroitly cited by another one of the readers here) pulls out the needle and thread. This film has none of the humor and acuity of Bunuel's neglected masterpiece. But it's Chabrol, and he's doing his thing. That ain't nothing...As a study of a man's descent from jealousy into madness, however, the film is powerful and well made but not super subtle.