Claude Chabrolwas a prolificFrench New Wavedirector active between 1958 and 2009.
Over those five decades, he directed dozens of movies and acted in many more.
Like his peersJean-Luc GodardandFrancois Truffaut, Chabrol started out as a film critic before stepping behind the camera himself.
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Chabrol’s movies tend to be slow-burners, with the tension steadily ratcheting up to an explosive climax.
These are Chabrol’s finest movies, ranked.
10’La Rupture'
Released: 1970
“That’s enough!
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We’re not kids anymore.”
One day, after Charles harms their son Michel in a rage.
Helene snaps, striking Charles with a frying pan and making an escape with the boy.
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However, it soon becomes clear that Wolf has ulterior motives involving the disappearance of his sister.
In the process, he discovers that Legagneur is drugging Catherine to make it exploit her.
The two men become locked in a battle of wits, trading verbal barbs and ever-escalating threats.
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She is an alcoholic who has just been caught cheating on her husband.
However, Paul begins to suspect that Nelly is cheating on him and grows increasingly paranoid and unstable.
He’s a truly loathsome figure, toxic masculinity incarnate, who hides his threats behind mean jokes.
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Its ending is a gut punch, and one of Chabrol’s finest finales.
For every great guy who pursues them, there’s a villain (or three).
These are simply ordinary people going about the small drama (and often boredom) of everyday life.
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Still, much of the film’s power is indebted to Duchaussoy’s complex performance.
He makes Charles simultaneously awful and sympathetic and one of the best character’s in Chabrol’s filmography.
And I don’t see how it’ll ever change.
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She begins having an affair, which angers Paul and leaves him vengeful.
Plus, its themes of feminism and reproductive rights remain crucial and relevant over 30 years later.
2’The Butcher'
“Yes, war is a horrible thing.
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That’s a fact, but murder like this - it’s barbaric!
However, beneath his affable exterior lies a deeply disturbed individual with a penchant for violence.
It’s a recipe for disaster.
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Jeanne encourages Sophie to stand up to her employers, which eventually metastasizes into a plot for revenge.
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