Les Cousins (1959)

A pair of cousins share a flat, but animosity begins to build between the two when a woman gets involved.

Director:

Claude Chabrol

Writers:

Claude Chabrol (scenario), Paul Gégauff (dialogue)

Stars:

Gérard Blain, Jean-Claude Brialy, Juliette Mayniel

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gérard Blain	...	Charles
Jean-Claude Brialy	...	Paul Thomas
Juliette Mayniel	...	Florence
Guy Decomble	...	Le libraire
Geneviève Cluny	...	Geneviève
Michèle Méritz	...	Yvonne
Corrado Guarducci	...	Italian Count Minerva
Stéphane Audran	...	Françoise
Paul Bisciglia	...	Marc
Jeanne Pérez	...	La femme de ménage
Françoise Vatel	...	Martine
André Chanal
Gilbert Edard
Clara Gansard
Jean-Louis Maury	...	Un étudiant joueur de bridge

Storyline

Charles is a young provincial coming up to Paris to study law. He shares his cousin Paul's flat. Paul is a kind of decadent boy, a disillusioned pleasure-seeker, always dragging along with other idles, while Charles is a plodding, naive and honest man. He fell in love with Florence, one of Paul's acquaintances. But how will Paul react to that attempt to build a real love relationship ? One of the major New Wave films.

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Plot Keywords:

student | boys and girls | russian roulette | paris france | french new wave | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French German

Release Date:

23 November 1959 (USA)

Also Known As:

Les Cousins

Filming Locations:

Studios de Boulogne-Billancourt/SFP - 2 Rue de Silly, Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Box Office

Budget:

FRF 6,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ajym Films,Société Française du Cinéma pour la Jeunesse

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min 108 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Les Cousins (1959) was originally intended to be Claude Chabrol's first film as a director. However, due to its Paris setting, the movie would be more expensive to shoot. Chabrol decided to make Le Beau Serge (1958) first instead since it would be made on a smaller budget, and then make 'Les Cousins' after.

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Quotes

Le libraire: Read Dostoyevsky. He addresses all your concerns.

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Connections

Featured in Godard, l'amour, la poésie (2007)

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Soundtracks

Le Crépuscule des Deux (Mort de Siegfried)
Music by Richard Wagner
Performed by Orchestre de la Société du Conservatoire
Conducted by Carl Schuricht
Disque DECCA

User Reviews

Decadence and Death

Charles is a young provincial coming up to Paris to study law. He shares his cousin Paul's flat. Paul is a kind of decadent boy, a disillusioned pleasure-seeker, always dragging along with other idles, while Charles is a plodding, naive and honest man. He fell in love with Florence, one of Paul's acquaintances. But how will Paul react to that attempt to build a real love relationship?

Of the so-called French New Wave directors, Claude Chabrol has been called possibly the most mainstream (though less celebrated than Truffaut or Godard). We could also say he has a remarkable amount of stamina. "Les Cousins" was at the beginning of his career, and for decades he kept making great movies, including the notable "Madame Bovary" in 1991... and still kept going.

I love this film's blend of decadence and death. A simple man, with studies on his mind, is exposed to some bizarre scenes of sensuality, violence, crime, and even Nazi elements (in 1950s France?). This is what it is like if you take two opposing elements and allow them to spin out of control.