The Unfaithful Wife: Difference between revisions
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En route he his rear-ended by a van and a crowd gather, and a policeman. The boot is jammed. For obvious reasons he does not want to make a fuss and drives on. He dumps the body into a murky pond from a bridge. |
En route he his rear-ended by a van and a crowd gather, and a policeman. The boot is jammed. For obvious reasons he does not want to make a fuss and drives on. He dumps the body into a murky pond from a bridge. |
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Two policeman turn up soon after... but they are looking for his wife, whose name appeared in Victor's address book. She is flustered and avoids giving direct |
Two policeman turn up soon after... but they are looking for his wife, whose name appeared in Victor's address book. She is flustered and avoids giving direct answers as to how she knew Victor. The police seem suspicious but leave. Her husband denies knowing the man or his home. |
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However, she finds a photograph of Victor in his jacket pocket with his address on the rear. She looks as if she is going to confront him but she goes outside and burns it. She |
However, she finds a photograph of Victor in his jacket pocket with his address on the rear. She looks as if she is going to confront him but she goes outside and burns it. She now realises her husband is to blame for Victor's disappearance. |
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The police investigation points more and more to the wife. |
The police investigation points more and more to the wife. |
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In the final scene the family are in their garden when the two policemen walk up the drive (it is not explained why they are not in a car, having come from Paris). We do not hear the conversation, but the husband |
In the final scene the family are in their garden when the two policemen walk up the drive (it is not explained why they are not in a car, having come from Paris). We do not hear the conversation, but the husband moves towards them and tells them something. The camera then views back to the wife and child, slowly panning until they disappear hidden by soft focus foliage. The implication is that he has confessed and thereby has been taken from his family. |
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==Cast== |
==Cast== |
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Revision as of 20:00, 7 December 2010
| The Unfaithful Wife | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Claude Chabrol |
| Written by | Claude Chabrol |
| Produced by | André Génovès |
| Starring | Stéphane Audran Michel Bouquet Maurice Ronet |
| Cinematography | Jean Rabier |
| Edited by | Jacques Gaillard |
| Music by | Pierre Jansen Dominique Zardi |
| Distributed by | Compagnie Française de Distribution Cinématographique |
Release date | January 22, 1969 |
Running time | 98 min. |
| Language | French |
The Unfaithful Wife[1] (Template:Lang-fr) is a 1968 French film directed by Claude Chabrol. It was remade in English in 2002 as Unfaithful, directed by Adrian Lyne.
Plot
Charles Desvallées lives in a beautiful house in the countryside near Paris with his beautiful wife and their young son. Their marriage has obviously lost its spark. He works in the city in a leisurely job, often drinking and smoking. His wife often goes into Paris for shopping or beauty treatments.
By accident he discovers she was not at the hairdresser when she was meant to be. He gradually grows more suspicious believing that his wife is unfaithful. To know for certain, he employs a detective. When he learns that her lover is the writer Victor Pégala, Desvallées goes to his house.
At first he tells Victor that they have an open marriage and sits and talks pleasantly with him. He asks for a tour of the small flat. On seeing the bed his demeanour changes, as he pictures his wife there. He spots a giant cigarette lighter at the bedside. This had been a 3rd anniversary present to his wife from him. He starts to feel sick. He then changes, and strikes Victor on the head with a stone bust, and kills him. It is not clear if this was premeditated.
Rather than run off he meticulously cleans up and removes all fingerprints. He then brings his car round near the back gate. He bundles up the body, and drags it (in broad daylight) to the car, where he stuffs it in the boot.
En route he his rear-ended by a van and a crowd gather, and a policeman. The boot is jammed. For obvious reasons he does not want to make a fuss and drives on. He dumps the body into a murky pond from a bridge.
Two policeman turn up soon after... but they are looking for his wife, whose name appeared in Victor's address book. She is flustered and avoids giving direct answers as to how she knew Victor. The police seem suspicious but leave. Her husband denies knowing the man or his home.
However, she finds a photograph of Victor in his jacket pocket with his address on the rear. She looks as if she is going to confront him but she goes outside and burns it. She now realises her husband is to blame for Victor's disappearance.
The police investigation points more and more to the wife.
In the final scene the family are in their garden when the two policemen walk up the drive (it is not explained why they are not in a car, having come from Paris). We do not hear the conversation, but the husband moves towards them and tells them something. The camera then views back to the wife and child, slowly panning until they disappear hidden by soft focus foliage. The implication is that he has confessed and thereby has been taken from his family.
Cast
- Stéphane Audran - Hélène Desvallées
- Michel Bouquet - Charles Desvallées
- Michel Duchaussoy - Inspector Duval
- Maurice Ronet - Victor Pegala
- Louise Chevalier - Maid
- Louise Rioton - Mamy
- Serge Bento - Bignon
- Henri Marteau - Paul
References
- ^ "The Unfaithful Wife." Amazon.com. Retrieved on 7 January 2009.
External links
 | This article related to a French film of the 1960s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |