Claude Chabrol Films

Likely to be dubbed ‘the French Hitchcock’ until the end of time, Claude Chabrol was the first of those tagged ‘the French New Wave’ to actually get a film out - Le Beau Serge in 1958.

Starting out as a critic on Cahiers du Cinéma Chabrol amassed a vast body of work spanning six decades, much of which arguably set him apart from his con... show more >

Likely to be dubbed ‘the French Hitchcock’ until the end of time, Claude Chabrol was the first of those tagged ‘the French New Wave’ to actually get a film out - Le Beau Serge in 1958.

Starting out as a critic on Cahiers du Cinéma Chabrol amassed a vast body of work spanning six decades, much of which arguably set him apart from his contemporaries in terms of both how dark it could be but also how consistent a filmmaker he became.

After his early promise Chabrol then achieved his full potential by the late 1960s with Les Biches (1968), a well-played out puzzle of a menage-a-trois. This ushered in Chabrol’s Golden Period where he honed his unique style of suspense thrillers. Notable at the time were the films comprising his loose ‘Hélène cycle’ where his first wife Stéphanie Audran repeatedly played a character with the same name and same set of femme-fatale associations. These included La Femme Infidèle (1968), La Rupture (1970), Juste Avant La Nuit (1971) and Les Noces Rouges (1973).

Later, Chabrol worked prominently with the French actress Isabelle Huppert starting with the Violette Nozière (1978), a true life murder case about a teenage prostitute turned poisoner. Their collaborations also included the Ruth Rendell adaptation La Cérémonie (1995) and more recently A Comedy of Power (2006).

Claude Chabrol died on Sunday 12th September 2010 aged 80. < show less