Rien ne va plus (1997)

Director:

Claude Chabrol

Writer:

Claude Chabrol (writer)

Release Date:

24 October 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Plot:

Betty and Victor are a pair of scam artists. One day Betty brings in Maurice, a treasurer of a multinational company...

Plot Keywords:

Money | Scam | Holiday Resort | Beach | Criminal Gang

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Isabelle Huppert	...	Elizabeth / Betty
Michel Serrault	...	Victor
François Cluzet	...	Maurice Biagini
Jean-François Balmer	...	Monsieur K
Jackie Berroyer	...	Robert Chatillon
Jean Benguigui	...	Guadeloupe Gangster
Mony Dalmès	...	Signora Trotti (as Mony Dalmes)
Thomas Chabrol	...	Swiss Desk Clerk
Greg Germain	...	Chatty Man
Nathalie Kousnetzoff	...	Blond Woman
Pierre Martot	...	Conventioneer
Eric Bonicatto	...	Conventioneer
Pierre-François Dumeniaud	...	Conventioneer
Yves Verhoeven	...	Pickpocket
Henri Attal	...	Greek Vendor

Also Known As:

The Swindle (USA)

Runtime:

Argentina:105 min | France:104 min | USA:101 min

Country:

France | Switzerland

Language:

French | Hungarian

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Chile:18 | Germany:16 (bw) | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Hotel Waldhaus, Sils-Maria, Kanton Graubünden, Switzerland

Company:

CAB

Soundtrack:

Tosca act 3

Lighter Chabrol, but enjoyable

The movie is certainly lighter Chabrol, with a plot that inherently depends on his frequent theme of the ambiguous relationships between people and their capacities for deception, but generally chooses to concentrate on understated elegance: even when Huppert finds a man dead in the bathtub with a spike through his eye (a moment of genuine shock value even though you more or less know it's coming) the nastiness is quickly absorbed into sophisticated exchanges with the (rather cliched) gangsters. The ambiguity extends to the relationship between the two protagonists, which appears to be father-daughter although the movie often seems to be hinting otherwise - the long lingering final shot is probably the final tease in this respect. Serrault plays his character in an engagingly grumpy, short-fused manner, which contrasts pleasantly with Huppert's pure show of elegance. Even though the opening scam seems like a dress rehearsal for a more complex and challenging movie than we ever actually get, the thing glides by most enjoyably; no less so for the faint air of slumming.