When the name of a film can be translated as 'The Devils' or 'The Fiends', you may think you’ll be dealing with a clear embodiment of evil but that’s not what
Les Diaboliques offers. The film may be shot in black and white but the characters and narrative are anything but.
For example, we may be in support of the wife that teams up with her husband’s mistress to put a permanent end to his abusive and adulterous ways, even if the method is murder. Sure murder is wrong, but so are unrepentant patterns of abusive behaviour. At what point do two wrongs make a right? That is the first question begged of the audience. To what extent can we support this crime? We are sucked into a place of sympathy for the female leads, putting us on their side, so as their sadness becomes sinister, we are taken along for the ride.
It’s an ingenious ploy; the audience become culpable, a co-conspirator and supporter of the murderous act so when the body vanishes, we share the anxiety of our cinematic sisters in crime. For the rest of the film we’re stuck in a paranoid frenzy, pointing fingers in all manner of directions, piecing together an ever expanding puzzle to convince ourselves that Michel has not risen from the dead. But the shadows in the hall and faces in windows tell a different story as does Michel’s freshly dry cleaned jacket.
It’s a masterclass of suspenseful story telling. It lures the viewer into a murder plot, a tale of vengeful women, and then slaps them into the middle of a psychological thriller. Director Henri-Georges Clouzot feeds crumbs of information to his audience, teasing their hunger for answers but starving them of the full truth, at least until the film climaxes with a shocking final scene when all is revealed. It rewards the viewer for sticking it out, but it is a nervous job doing so. The uncomfortable uncertainty installs a quiet panic, feeding on a desperation for resolution, and as the tension builds, so do our apprehensions. Simply put, it’s a thrilling, perfectly timed and executed adrenaline ride.
A film that inspired Hitchcock’s
Psycho, but certainly not a lesser film by any means.
Les Diaboliques is daring, bold, and brave. A French phenomenon filled with fear, just like a good horror should be.
