July 29th: LES BICHES (Claude Chabrol, 1968)

A young artist is seduced by a socialite and plunged into a web of decadence, obsession, and betrayal.

Claude Chabrol is a key figure of the French New Wave, first writing criticism for the influential magazine Cahiers du Cinéma and then directing his own films for over fifty years. Known reductively as "The French Hitchcock", Chabrol used the thriller/crime genre not just to entertain but to highlight the various hypocrisies of the bourgeoise class.

After a span of several years in the mid 1960s of diminishing critical and financial success, Chabrol hit his stride with a new producer, a renewed focus on theme, and a bolder visual style. He reunited with Paul Gégauff, who had co-written earlier success A Double Tour.

The cast is headed by Chabrol's then-wife Stéphane Audran (whom he would collaborate with on over 20 films), Jean-Louis Trintignant (Amour, Three Colors: Red), and Jacqueline Sassard.  Behind the camera is cinematographer Jean Rabier (The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg) .

Shot on location in Paris and St. Tropez, Chabrol inverts the sunny glamour of the latter city by setting the action in winter and steering away from livelier colors. Even the outdoor locations are photographed to accentuate the atmosphere of stagnation and claustrophobia.

Chabrol adds another layer of theme to his standard satire of the wealthier class, focusing on sexual politics and the shifts in power of romantic relationships. Bisexuality and homosexuality are depicted as matter-of-fact but also to illustrate the fluidity of his female characters.

The coastal ennui and near-chamber drama proceedings contrast with Chabrol's inquisitive camera, intricate blocking and geometrical compositions that bring Fritz Lang and Ingmar Bergman (specifically Persona) to mind.

Chabrol has said Les Biches was the first film made to his satisfaction, and began what is considered by many to be his peak artistic period. Audran won Best Actress honors at the Berlin Film Festival

Running time is approx. 100 min.