Bluebeard

Claude Chabrol was a very good and very prolific French film director. He worked uninterruptedly between 1958 and 2010, sometimes also producing three feature films per year. Named "The French Hitchcock," he had in my opinion his own unmistakable style. Charles Denner was an excellent French actor who made memorable roles in some of the best French films of all time, working with the greatest directors, Truffaut, Lelouch, Marcel Carné, Costa-Gavras. One of my favorite films of all time is "The Man Who Loved Women" (1977) L'homme qui aimait les femmes (original title). In this "Landru" Denner does also an extraordinary role. Along with him, many great names of the French cinema, Stéphane Audran, Michèle Morgan, Danielle Darrieux, etc. Jean-Pierre Melville, the great director, makes a small excellent role. Mario David, who usually makes in most of the movies the slapstick idiot, here he makes a very good and subtle Prosecuter. Very funny scene when, waiting in front of the door to arrest Landru, one of the policemen says, "He sings out of tune!" Do not go to Gambais, Yvelines, France, Landru may still be active, you can never know with the French...

Kauffmann was a distinguished critic and one I read avidly over many years. He loved this film. Out of respect for him I was curious to see it and now, I'm sorry to say, have and feel disappointed.

For one, very disappointed in Jean Rabier's flat colours - too pale orange and boring browns. The film looks like a mediocre Hollywood musical. Which is doubly sad because the costumes are spot on. One would think that with Claude Chabrol at the helm, the Belle Epoque would have been conveyed so well.

Charles Denner is a bit stiff, mannequin-like in the lead role but still impressive due to his intensity and voice. His voice, like so many first-rate French actors, is his best instrument - deep, rich, wonderful to hear. Less stiffness in body movements would have rounded out a first-class performance.

The women are wonderful - Danielle Darreaux, Michele Morgan, Catherine Rouvel, etc. Luminous and moving, even under the flat colours.

There are occasional Chabrol pleasures to be had now and then - the opening shot of Denner's head at the family dinner table followed by the WW1 newsreel, his time in bed with his lover and his walks with the other women were impressive and promised much but alas, the work felt repetitive, even predictable and never did come together for me. It felt more like a teasing theatrical matinee play than a gripping film about a notorious serial killer, caught between the beauties and horrors of his age.

Henri Désiré Landru was guillotined for the murder of ten women but this would appear to be a conservative estimate for of the 283 with whom he had correspondence, 72 were never found. During his trial the courtroom was packed with attendees, he received offers of marriage(!?) and it is said that women rushed from nightclubs whilst still in evening dress so as to witness his execution.

Landru, despite his troll-like appearance, was cultured, had a great deal of charm, was attentive to women and possessed what Shakespeare has called 'the glib and oily art' all of which enabled him to ingratiate himself with vulnerable war widows seeking companionship and security. Director Claude Chabrol has made Landru a sympathetic villain despite his unspeakable crimes and in this respect Charles Denner's portrayal cannot be faulted whilst the screenplay by Francoise Sagan guarantees the feminine point of view.

The film's lack of success probably lies in it's unevenness of tone for the irony and black humour bordering at times on the farcical are distinctly at odds with the grim material. Left-leaning Chabrol cannot resist taking his customary swipe at the bourgeoisie and as one film historian has pointed out, audiences did not care to be reminded that there was something rotten in the State of France. Despite its length many facets of the case have been glossed over.

These factors have not resulted in a bad film for there are some fine moments and engaging performances from gifted actresses who are naturally far more glamorous than the original victims.

Chabrol stated that he intended the film 'to be faithful to the legend and to be funny with it.' Therein lies the problem.

One of Chabrol first investigations of bourgeois morals was this ambitious depiction in colour of the activities of France's most notorious serial killer - who had already inspired Chaplin's Monsieur Verdoux' - the failure of which would confine Chabrol to spending the next five years on journeyman work.

The scene that serves to remind you that it was the work of one of the nouvelle vague is an extended take in which the police head for the exit, pile through the wrong door and run straight into a brick wall. Any normal director would have simply done it again; but Chabrol obviously liked the effect. So in it stayed.

Landru aka. Bluebeard may not be one of Claude Chabrol's best films, but it's still a good and interesting one that does a lot right. Landru and his life and crimes are fascinating but infamously shocking and complex, the film follows the subject very closely and deals with it also in a way that entertains and interests. If you are interested in Landru you're not going to be short-changed here and there's a good deal to like judging it as a film too.

As with all Chabrol films, Landru looks great. The colour photography is very handsome and tasteful, the period costumes are sumptuous and evocative and the scenery nothing short of exquisite. Chabrol handles the atmosphere, cultures and environment of early 20th century Paris masterfully to the extent one feels like they're actually there in the era. He also directs beautifully with charm and tension, Landru's scenes with his victims are both charming and chilling like Landru himself(in how he managed to get women to fall for him while being such an irredeemable monster on the inside) and his crimes wrench the gut in how shocking they are(even if some details are still ambiguous). The way Landru's written is enjoyable on the whole too, considering the subject Landru could easily have been melodramatic but the script opts for the sly and sardonic approach and does so cleverly and wittily, without being too cartoonish, that the most acidic moments are very juicy and the most cynical parts bite. The cast are stellar, with a brilliant Charles Denner, who cuts a very magnetic presence, whether funny, cold-hearted, cynical, urbane or charm-on-the-surface, and even looks eerily like Landru. Some may find that Landru is like a cartoon figure here but to me that added to how chilling a person he was. Michèle Morgan, Danielle Darrieux, Juliette Mayniel and Catherine Rouvel are beguiling and poignant, not with a lot to do but you really care what happens to them and Stephane Audran also really comes to life.

The film's not without its problems, once Landru is captured the pace does slacken and the film loses its charm, the trial being on the tedious side rather than suspenseful and would have benefited from tighter pacing and more developed writing. What also would have helped was having Landru arrested a little earlier and dwelling a little less on his methods, the film covers them well enough and I did wish that the same amount of detail went a little more into the trial. The music is also a little intrusive at times as well. Overall, lesser Chabrol, and I did prefer Charlie Chaplin's Monsieur Verdoux as a (loose?) version of the story, but still very interesting. The part of the film covering the arrest, trial and execution doesn't come over as strongly as the parts detailing his life and crimes but the look of the film, the atmosphere, the direction, most of the writing and the acting make it a most worthwhile film. 7/10 Bethany Cox