Key
Collaborators:
Jean Rabier
(Cinematographer), Jacques Gaillard (Editor), Stephane Audran (Leading
Player), Pierre Jansen (Composer), Andre Genoves (Producer), Monique Fardoulis
(Editor), Paul Gegauff (Screenwriter), Matthieu Chabrol (Composer), Guy Littaye (Production
Designer), Michel
Bouquet (Leading Player)
Highly Recommended: The
Third Lover (1962), La Femme infidèle (1969), This Man Must Die (1969), Le Boucher (1970), L'Enfer (1993)
Recommended: Le
Beau Serge (1958), A double tour (1959), Les Bonnes femmes (1960), Les
Biches (1968), Just Before Nightfall (1971), Wedding in Blood (1973),
Pleasure Party (1975), La Ceremonie (1995), Merci pour le chocolat (2000),
A Comedy of Power (2005)
"If
Jean-Luc Godard appeals to
critics because of his extreme interest in politics and film
theory and if François Truffaut
appeals to the popular audience because of his humanism and
sentimentality, it is Claude Chabrol - film critic, filmmaker,
philosopher - whose work consistently offers the opportunity for
the most balanced appeal...Chabrol's work can perhaps best be
seen as a cross between the unassuming and popular genre film
and the pretentious elitist art film." - Charles Derry (The St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia, 1998)
"Chabrol, whose admiration for the
Hitchcock thriller style is evident in some of his own films
(The Champagne Murders,This Man Must Die, Cop
au Vin), is more typically concerned with exploring, in a
curiously detached way, personal relationships (Les Cousins,
Les Biches). His favorite target remains the urban
French petite-bourgeoisie, the milieu of his youth." - (The
MacMillan International Film Encyclopedia, 1994)
"While
Claude Chabrol is certainly one of the most important filmmakers
to have emerged from the the French New Wave, his consistency of
theme and assured, expressive style are often betrayed by poor
material, resulting in a career as uneven as it is prolific...A
consummate craftsman, his interest in human emotions often seems
intellectually motivated, which may explain the erratic nature
of his work." - Geoff
Andrew (The Film Handbook, 1989)
"I
like making black and white films in natural surroundings, but I
much prefer shooting a color film inside a studio where the
colors are easier to control." -
Claude Chabrol
"It's
often wrong to write for specific actors because one ends up
using what is least interesting about them, their mannerisms and
habits. I prefer not to write for specific people." -
Claude Chabrol
