La fleur du mal (2003)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Claude Chabrol

Writers:

Claude Chabrol (writer)
Caroline Eliacheff (writer)

Release Date:

14 February 2003 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Plot:

Three generations of a wealthy Bordeaux family are caught in the crossfire when Anne decides to run for mayor, thanks to a political pamphlet that revives an old murder scandal.

Plot Keywords:

Mayor | Election | Family Relationships | Female To Male Foot In Crotch | Scrabble

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Benoît Magimel	...	François Vasseur
Nathalie Baye	...	Anne Charpin-Vasseur
Mélanie Doutey	...	Michèle Charpin-Vasseur
Suzanne Flon	...	Aunt Line
Bernard Le Coq	...	Gérard Vasseur
Thomas Chabrol	...	Matthieu Lartigue
Henri Attal	...	Fanny's Father-in-law
Kevin Ahyi	...	First Kid
Jérôme Bertin	...	Volunteer
Françoise Bertin	...	Thérèse
Caroline Baehr	...	Fanny
Didier Bénureau	...	Brissot
Yvon Crenn	...	Yves Pouët
Jean-Marc Druet	...	Lab Assistant
Michel Herbault	...	Mayor

Also Known As:

The Flower of Evil (International: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for brief language.

Runtime:

104 min | Canada:101 min (DVD)

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Hong Kong:IIB | Singapore:PG | Australia:M | Argentina:13 | France:U | Germany:12 | Spain:13 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | USA:R

Company:

Canal+

Quotes:

Aunt Line: [Observing that Marthe is washing the dishes by hand] Why don't you use the dishwasher, Marthe?
Marthe: I work faster than it does. I never asked for it.
Aunt Line: Try to move with the times.
Marthe: Progress isn't all good.

Movie Connections:

References Casablanca (1942)

Chabrol treading water, but treading it with style

La Fleur du Mal isn't quite Chabrol on auto-pilot, but he's clearly more interested in the usual bourgeois side issues than the identity of the author of an anonymous leaflet that threatens Natalie Baye's campaign to become mayor of a small town by raking over the coals of the family's history of murder and Nazi collaboration. History is obviously going to repeat itself, but there's no sense of impending dread, merely a feeling that Chabrol has left himself too little time to remember the plot and wrap it up. Thus we get a somewhat hurried finale that feels practically like an afterthought – you can almost imagine him looking at his watch and thinking "Is that the time? I'd better kill someone so we can all go home." It's at its best dealing with local politics and petty ambitions on the campaign trail, and Baye and Suzanne Flon have the best of the film, but Chabrol's reunion with La Ceremonie scripter Caroline Eliacheff seems far more a time-filler than an essential.