Les Cousins [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: Claude Chabrol

Overview

Claude Chabrol provides a few new wrinkles to the old "city mouse/country mouse" fable in Les Cousins. Bucolic Gerald Blain heads to Paris, where he enters into a romantic rivalry with his urbane cousin Jean-Claude Brialy. Their mutual object of affections is Juliette Maynal. Despite Brialy's glib tongue and worldly approach, he is beaten-nay, ruined-by the supposedly ingenuous Blain. In this second of Chabrol's feature-length efforts, the director introduces the generic character names "Charles" and "Paul", the former representing bourgeois values, the latter the embodiment of modern decadence. In various guises, Charles and Paul would reappear in virtually every subsequent Chabrol-directed domestic drama.

Product Details

Release Date:	09/20/2011
UPC:	0715515086516
Original Release:	1959
Rating:	NR
Source:	Criterion
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[B&W]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:49:00
Sales rank:	14,936

Special Features

Audio commentary featuring film scholar Adrian Martin ; Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Gerard Blain	Charles
Jean-Claude Brialy	Paul
Claude Cerval	Clovis Dalbecque
Juliette Mayniel	Florence
Genevi?ve Cluny	Genevi?ve
Michele Meritz	Yvonne
Corrado Guarducci	Italian Count
Guy Decomble	Librarian
Paul Bisciglia	Marc
Stephane Audran	Fran?oise
Andre Jocelyn	Actor
Gilbert Edard	Actor
Jeanne Perez	Cleaning lady
Jean-Louis Maury	Actor
Jean-Pierre Moulin	Actor
Jean-Marie Arnoux	Actor
Paul Misraki	Composer

Technical Credits

Claude Chabrol

Paul Gegauff

Claude Chabrol	Screenwriter,Producer
Paul Gegauff	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Most tales of the "city mouse, country mouse" variety tend to be rather lighthearted, but Les Cousins takes a darker view of the situation, resulting in a fascinating, mesmerizing, bleak film, the comedy of which is distinctly black. In director/writer Claude Chabrol's tale, the simple virtues of "good" cousin Charles cannot compete with the decadent force of will the "bad" cousin Paul. In Charles' eyes, it is all unfair, yet Chabrol doesn't see it that way. There isn't really fair or unfair, or perhaps it's more correct to say that determining fair and unfair requires a more complex way of looking at things than is normally assumed. Moral ambiguity and guilt are Chabrol's stock in trade here, and he layers the story with them in a most affecting manner. The result is a cruel film, but its brutality has an honesty to it. One cannot warm to Paul, whose arrogance and sadism keep him at a distance. But Charles never quite captures one's heart either, despite his role as the victim. Chabrol contrasts them in a complicated pas de deux that brings them vividly to life. He's aided immeasurably by Gerard Blain and Jean-Claude Brialy's letter-perfect performances, as ell as by an equally effective on from Juliette Mayniel. Some will find Cousins difficult to watch, especially the orgy sequence with its Nazi ending. But those who can stick with it will be amply rewarded.

Dubbed the "French Hitchcock" because of his yen for thrillers, film critic-cum-prolific director Claude Chabrol (1930-2010) debuted with Le beau Serge, which was inspired by Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt. A young man returns to his home village only to find he no longer identifies with his roots. Les cousins presents the flip side, with a provincial chap going to live in Paris. In his signature style, Chabrol keeps his scenarios and characters at a cool remove, which makes his movies an acquired taste. For serious film buffs.

Library Journal