Release CalendarDVD & Blu-ray ReleasesTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsIn TheatersComing SoonMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysAPA Heritage MonthSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)

This Man Must Die

Original title: Que la bête meure
  • 19691969
  • GPGP
  • 1h 50m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
4.5K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Que la bête meure (1969)
  • Crime
  • Drama
  • Thriller
A man asserts himself within the life of an actress he believes is somehow responsible for his son's death.A man asserts himself within the life of an actress he believes is somehow responsible for his son's death.A man asserts himself within the life of an actress he believes is somehow responsible for his son's death.
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
4.5K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Claude Chabrol
  • Writers
    • Cecil Day-Lewis(novel "The Beast Must Die")
    • Claude Chabrol(dialogue)
    • Paul Gégauff(dialogue)
  • Stars
    • Michel Duchaussoy
    • Caroline Cellier
    • Jean Yanne
Top credits
  • Director
    • Claude Chabrol
  • Writers
    • Cecil Day-Lewis(novel "The Beast Must Die")
    • Claude Chabrol(dialogue)
    • Paul Gégauff(dialogue)
  • Stars
    • Michel Duchaussoy
    • Caroline Cellier
    • Jean Yanne
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 36User reviews
    • 34Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win

    Photos16

    Que la bête meure (1969)
    Caroline Cellier, Michel Duchaussoy, and Jean Yanne in Que la bête meure (1969)
    Orson Welles, Stéphane Audran, Romy Schneider, Michel Bouquet, Jacqueline Sassard, and Jean Yanne in Les biches (1968)
    Que la bête meure (1969)
    Michel Duchaussoy and Jean Yanne in Que la bête meure (1969)
    Caroline Cellier and Michel Duchaussoy in Que la bête meure (1969)
    Michel Duchaussoy and Jean Yanne in Que la bête meure (1969)
    Michel Duchaussoy and Jean Yanne in Que la bête meure (1969)
    Caroline Cellier in Que la bête meure (1969)
    Stéphane Audran in La femme infidèle (1969)
    Que la bête meure (1969)
    Que la bête meure (1969)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Michel Duchaussoy
    Michel Duchaussoy
    • Charles Thénieras Charles Thénier
    Caroline Cellier
    Caroline Cellier
    • Hélène Lansonas Hélène Lanson
    Jean Yanne
    Jean Yanne
    • Paul Decourtas Paul Decourt
    Anouk Ferjac
    Anouk Ferjac
    • Jeanne Decourtas Jeanne Decourt
    Marc Di Napoli
    • Philippe Decourtas Philippe Decourt
    Louise Chevalier
    • Madame Levenesas Madame Levenes
    Guy Marly
    • Jacques Ferrandas Jacques Ferrand
    Lorraine Rainer
    • Anna Ferrandas Anna Ferrand
    Dominique Zardi
    Dominique Zardi
    • Le premier inspecteur de policeas Le premier inspecteur de police
    Stéphane Di Napoli
    • Michel Thénieras Michel Thénier
    Raymone
    • La mère de Paulas La mère de Paul
    Michel Charrel
    • Le ferrailleuras Le ferrailleur
    France Girard
    Bernard Papineau
    Bernard Papineau
    • Le policieras Le policier
    Robert Rondo
    • Le garagisteas Le garagiste
    Jacques Masson
    • Le fils du paysanas Le fils du paysan
    Georges Charrier
    • Le chauffeur de taxias Le chauffeur de taxi
    Maurice Pialat
    Maurice Pialat
    • Le commissaire de police Constantas Le commissaire de police Constant
    • Director
      • Claude Chabrol
    • Writers
      • Cecil Day-Lewis(novel "The Beast Must Die")
      • Claude Chabrol(dialogue) (screenplay)
      • Paul Gégauff(dialogue) (screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Le Boucher
    7.4
    Le Boucher
    Les noces rouges
    6.9
    Les noces rouges
    Just Before Nightfall
    7.2
    Just Before Nightfall
    La femme infidèle
    7.4
    La femme infidèle
    The Breach
    7.2
    The Breach
    Les Biches
    6.9
    Les Biches
    Dirty Hands
    6.8
    Dirty Hands
    Ten Days Wonder
    6.1
    Ten Days Wonder
    Pleasure Party
    6.4
    Pleasure Party
    Violette
    7.1
    Violette
    Nada
    6.6
    Nada
    Les Bonnes Femmes
    7.2
    Les Bonnes Femmes

    Storyline

    Edit
    Single father obsessed with murdering the hit&run driver who killed his only child, poses as a screenwriter to get close to an actress who was in the death car. He feels fully prepared to kill the pretty young woman if she was the driver, but as his knowledge of her family grows, so does his empathy for them. —David Stevens
    • reference to alain robbe grillet
    • reference to homer's iliad
    • reference to homer
    • driver
    • actress
    • 102 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Taglines
      • ...a Thriller
    • Genres
      • Crime
      • Drama
      • Thriller
    • Certificate
      • GP
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      When Paul's wife talks to Charles about the "Nouveau Roman", she mentions several writers, including Paul Gégauff, who is credited in this movie for the screenplay and dialogue.
    • Goofs
      At the beginning Paul is shifting several times although the Mustang has an automatic transmission.
    • Connections
      Featured in Le cinéma passe à table (2005)
    • Soundtracks
      Vier ernste Gesänge
      Written by Johannes Brahms

      Sung by Kathleen Ferrier (as Katleen Ferrier)

    User reviews36

    Review
    Top review
    7/10
    Stylish and intelligent existential revenge drama from Chabrol
    After a speeding car kills his young son, Charles Thenier (Michel Duchaussoy) vows there and then that he will kill the man responsible. The police begin a frantic hunt for the killer, but Charles has little confidence in them and starts an investigation of his own. In a chance encounter, he discovers that the brother-in-law of actress Helen Lanson (Caroline Cellier) is the man he is looking for, and sets about seducing Helen under a false name. He eventually gets to meet Paul Decourt (Jean Yanne, who also stars in Godard's Weekend - one of my all-time favourite films), who is such a repulsive human being that even his own son also wants him dead. As Charles' struggles with the idea of killing him, he must deal with the fact that he may be falling in love with Helen.

    The revenge film is a sub-genre that has been done to death. Lazy film- makers and the generally uninspired can see it as a relatively simplistic premise that can be tampered with and altered to an endless degree. They range from the genuinely brilliant (Memento, Oldboy, The Virgin Spring) to the genuinely horrific (Taken, Death Wish), and the exploitation genre made very grisly use of it (The Last House On The Left, Thriller - A Cruel Picture). The fact is that it's starting to get a bit boring. Which makes it all the more refreshing when you stumble upon a gem from the past that takes the idea and spins out something fresh. Que La Bete Meure (The Beast Must Die, or This Man Must Die to give it its US title) is one of these.

    Claude Chabrol's existential drama plays out like a Greek tragedy. We are with Charles all the time and we are made to suffer like our protagonist, and suffer he does. When he finally meets Paul, he realises that he is the monster he hoped him to be, which fuels his determination. Paul is grotesque - his voice spews out loutish insults before we even see him, and then we join him at dinner where he sadistically humilities his own kin. But does this mean that he truly deserves to die? As Charles sets in motion his plan of murder, he becomes noticeably uncomfortable yet fiercely determined.

    Chabrol's film-making style comes across as mixing the tension-building thrills of Alfred Hitchcock, with the philosophical ponderings of Ingmar Bergman, and the result is often astonishing. Charles almost mirrors the doomed film noir detective, with Duchaussoy putting in a fantastic performance. From this to La Femme Infidele, the other Chabrol film I've had the fortune to see, it seems that he is relatively uncelebrated compared to his French associates Godard, Truffaut, Renoir and Cocteau (amongst many others) which, on the basis of this film alone, is wholly unfair.

    www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com
    helpful•6
    2
    • tomgillespie2002
    • Jul 10, 2011

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 20, 1970 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • France
      • Italy
    • Language
      • French
    • Also known as
      • Neka zvijer krepa
    • Filming locations
      • Argol, Finistère, France
    • Production companies
      • Les Films de la Boétie
      • Rizzoli Film
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 50 minutes
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.66 : 1

    Related news

    To Begin With...
    Jul 6MUBI
    Michel Duchaussoy obituary
    Mar 20The Guardian - Film News

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Que la bête meure (1969)
    Top Gap
    By what name was Que la bête meure (1969) officially released in Canada in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    View list
    List
    The 10 Most Anticipated Marvel and DC Movies
    See the full list
    Image caption not available
    2:14
    The Most Anticipated Movies and Shows to Watch in May
    Watch the video

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Interest-Based Ads

    © 1990-2022 by IMDb.com, Inc.