Les affinités électives

It was not the first time Claude Chabrol had worked for TV . He had already made a series of bizarre shorts("histoires insolites") and a good faithful adaptation of Souvestre -Allain's "Fantômas" starring Helmut Berger ;he would come back to the classics with Flaubert's "Madame bovary" .

Here we find the director on a territory unknown to him : "Die Wahlverwandschaften" von Goethe;the German writer was interested in science ,particularly chemistry ,and the human beings are considered elements :mix them and see what happens .

In a French -German- Czecholslovakian production, the director uses actors from the three country; the usual Chabrol fan has only Stephane Audran ,his best actress, to cling to although Helmut Griem is known too .

Charlotte and Edouard live in their desirable property ,and they build a hut to be cut off the outside world (why burry yourself in the country ? a friend asks );both have experimented a failed marriage and they hope that alone together they can pick up the pieces.The arrival on the place of an old friend ,the captain ,and Charlotte's ward will,slowly but inexorably , destroy the couple .

A scientifico-romantic drama , it includes a "moral adultery" even though Charlotte tries to separate her husband from her clueless protégée ; romantic almost turns gothic in the last quarter which includes three deaths.

Not your usual Chabrol standard fare,but worth a look .