60/60 Extra: Les Diabolique.

It wasn't until I had already started watching this movie that I realized I already knew the twist. Years ago, I had watched a TV show where they discussed like... 100 movies with twisted endings. This was on the list. So add another to the list for this month where I knew it going in. Between Jason Soto and I, we've often talked about French horror films these days and how messed up they are. Well, I wouldn't exactly say this is horror, but it is a thriller. And it's French. And despite the fact it was made in 1955, it's still messed up. Oh, how those French remain consistent.

The film is about Christina (Vera Clouzot), the wife of an abusive school headmaster named Michel (Paul Meurisse). Christina, however, teams up with Michel's mistress, a woman named Nicole (Simone Signoret), to kill him, but giving themselves a perfect alibi. And after they go through the entire process and wait for the body to be discovered "accidentally," they first discover that the body has gone missing. Now the women--particularly Christina--start going crazy, trying to figure out where the body went and what they should do next.

The first 30 minutes of this movie is horribly boring. I thought it dragged immensely, and I just waited and waited for it to go anywhere. I was really worried considering it was a 2 hour movie. Thankfully, it picks up pretty fast right around the 30 minute mark and the murder stuff starts. For the next hour and a half, it kept my attention (mostly due to the fact I was forced to pay attention to the subtitles). It did get a bit repetitive sometimes (I get it... she's paranoid). But there were some fun moments. Early on, when they're transporting the body, there's some suspense that they could be found out. Granted, I figured they wouldn't, but it was there. And then later, a detective joins the story, and I wish he would have been in the film more. I liked his character, and he's really only in it minimally.

There's not a lot I really have to say about the movie. The mood it sets is perfect. There are disturbing images (particularly anything with a bathtub), and there's a lot of shadow and stormy weather. I found it interesting that, while it shares a lot in common with even modern day murder thrillers, the story wasn't focused on the whodunit--or even the whydunit--but the will-they-get-away-with-it. And then the twist happens, and you realize it really was a whodunit and a whydunit all along. It's very clever like that.

Overall, it was an entertaining movie once it got going. If you like murder mysteries and thrillers--and/or french cinema--I'd say to check it out. I didn't love it by any means, but it was good. I actually really wish I hadn't had it spoiled for me. I honestly think I would have loved the movie had I not known and been surprised by the ending. Oh well.


I Am McLovin!

Little Known Movies You Need To See... Angel-A.

For this Little Known Movies You Need to See, I’m going to talk about a movie that’s so little known, it almost bypassed me. Over the years, I’ve become wary of buying movies I either haven’t seen or haven’t heard a whole lot about. So when I stumbled upon Angel-A, I wasn’t sure whether or not to get it. I had read a little bit about it online ages ago and had forgotten about it until I saw it in the store. On one hand, it’s completely in French and it’s in black and white. But on the other hand, the most compelling selling point to me for this movie is that it was written and directed by Luc Besson, who was writer/director of one of my all-time favorite movies, Léon (He’s also done movies such as The Fifth Element and La Femme Nikita). So I bought it.

And my God (no pun intended), I’m glad I did. This movie is beautiful, in more than one way. It has a beautiful story. It has beautiful imagery/shots. It’s just a great, beautiful movie. The basic premise would be like if you mixed the more dramatic parts of Léon with It’s a Wonderful Life. And at points, I mean that literally. For instance, the dialogue of “‘stop saying okay!’ ‘okay.’” is used in this movie, just as it was used in Léon. That made me laugh. As for It’s a Wonderful Life, well… the story is about a no-good scam artist (and by that I mean he sucks at it), André, who is really down on his luck and owes a lot of money to a lot of people. He tries to kill himself by jumping off a bridge, but a mysterious woman (with incredibly long legs) shows up and jumps first, prompting André to save her life. She introduces herself as Angela (which is French for both Angel and the name Angela) and promises him that she’ll help him with all his problems in return for saving her life. And then she slowly starts to reveal just what her true nature is.

The story is one of discovering and accepting and loving who you truly are inside. It’s not easy to put into one genre, either. It’s a fine mix of drama, comedy, romance, and supernatural. Without giving too much more away about the plot, let’s just say that this movie should have caught more attention from the Catholic League than The Golden Compass did.

The visuals are also beautiful, as mentioned before. The movie was shot in Paris, so you get to see a lot of its beautiful scenery (and in black and white, to boot). There are some great cinematic choices, too, such as Angela standing on the other side of the angel statue, so it looks like they’re one and the same. There really isn’t much to complain about with this movie. It even went by very quickly because I was so involved in it.

I give it a Royale with Cheese.