Pair this fine film with its Hollywood remake, Unfaithful, with Diane Lane and Richard Gere, and you’ve got an intriguing example of how a clever suspense story can be told successfully in more than one style.

Historical Background: Claude Chabrol was born in 1930 and, before turning to directing, worked as a film critic for the magazine Cahiers du Cinema, along with future New Wave directors Truffaut, Godard, and Rohmer. Chabrol was a prolific director, averaging more than a film per year over a long career. Although Chabrol himself was from the working class, he married into money and used that advantage to fund his first film, Le Beau Serge. After the success of his next film, Les Cousins (1959), Chabrol was able to organize a production company not only for his own films but for some of the other New Wave auteurs. His third film was another box-office success, Les Bonnes Femmes (1960). In the middle part of his career, Chabrol separated himself from the other directors of the New Wave, turning mainly to suspense films and mysteries. He reached his pinnacle in the years 1968-1972, when he directed several of his best known works, including Bad Girls (1968), La Femme Infidèle (1969), Le Boucher (1969), This Man Must Die (1970), and Just Before Nightfall (1971). Thus, La Femme Infidèle came in the midst of Chabrol’s most productive period. In this middle phase of Chabrol’s career, his style shows a distinct noir influence of Alfred Hitchcock. The late phase of Chabrol’s career resulted in fewer truly compelling films, but some of the better ones include Story of Women (1988), Madame Bovary (1991), and The Color or Lies (1999). One of Chabrol’s favorite themes is the decadence and perverseness of the French bourgeoisie, and Michel Bouquet, one of the stars of La Femme Infidèle has sometimes been said to epitomize the French bourgeoisie mannerisms about as well as any actor.

The Story: Charles Desvallées (Michel Bouquet) and his wife Hélène (Stéphane Audran) live in a lovely upscale home with extensive grounds in Versailles, near Paris. Charles is a bit stodgy and pudgy (at least his mother says so) and Hélène is very attractive and the two seem happy together after eleven years of marriage, though there seems to be little overt passion remaining in their relationship. They have a son who is bright, prefers reading to television, and studies hard. They are seemingly leading the dream life of the bourgeoisie.

Charles, however, has started to notice little clues suggestive of Hélène being involved in an affair. She is startled when he interrupts a phone conversation she is having and then claims it was a wrong number. She makes a trip into Paris indicating that she is going to a particular beauty salon but, when he calls, she is not there. She later says that she decided to go instead to another one, which she had previously told him she didn’t like. Charles is suspicious but uncertain whether his suspicions are founded, so he hires a detective, Bignon (Serge Bento), to follow Hélène. He tells the detective that he wants to know the truth, whatever it might be. Four days later, the detective reports that Hélène is indeed seeing another man – about three times per week, about two hours at a time, and they never go out. The man is identified as Victor Pegala (Maurice Ronet), a writer. Charles is given a picture and an address. Charles hurries home and learns that his son has won a prize for being top in his history class at school. They celebrate with a bottle of champagne, toasting “To a wonderful day.”

SPOILER ALERT THROUGHOUT THE REMAINDER OF THIS “STORY” SECTION. SKIP IT IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE FILM OR ITS REMAKE AND WANT TO RETAIN SURPRISES.

Charles says nothing to Hélène but decides instead to confront the man and goes to his apartment. Feigning indifference but curiosity about Victor’s relationship with his wife, Charles coaxes his way into Victor’s apartment for a drink and a man-to-man tête a tête. Victor is relieved that Charles is so understanding about the affair and seemingly indifferent. Victor shows Charles around his apartment, including the bedroom. In the bedroom, Charles spots a cigarette lighter that he had given to Hélène on their third anniversary. She has made a present of it to Victor. Back in the living room, Victor comments that what he most likes about Hélène is her softness. Charles becomes nauseated and seems on the verge of passing out. When Victor comes close to help hold him up, Charles suddenly picks up a heavy carved knickknack and strikes Victor over the head with it, killing him abruptly.

Charles then methodically cleans up the blood, wipes away his fingerprints from everything he has touched, and bundles Victor’s body up in a sheet. He pulls his car up close to the entrance to the building, and drags the corpse out to his car, piling it into his trunk. While driving to the place where he plans to dump the body, Charles is momentarily distracted, stops abruptly, and is rear-ended by a truck driver (Dominique Zardi). The lid of his trunk is damaged but fortunately for Charles remains shut. Later, he dumps the body in a marshy pond. Back home, Charles arrives for his son’s birthday party and pours himself a glass of whiskey.

The next day, Hélène returns from Paris out of sorts. We and Charles both know, of course, that it is because she didn’t find Victor at home for their scheduled tryst. She, of course, can say nothing of what’s on her mind. Some days later, two police inspectors, Duval (Michel Duchaussoy) and Gobet (Guy Marly), arrive at the Desvallées home. Victor has been reported missing by his ex-wife and Hélène’s name and phone number are among those found in his address book. She acknowledges knowing him but declares that she doesn’t even remember when she last saw him. Later, the police return to question Charles, but he denies knowing the man at all. Later, while doing housework, Hélène discovers the picture of Victor that the detective gave to Charles in his coat pocket, with Victor’s address written on the reverse side. A very subtle, wry smile comes over Hélène’s face. She takes the picture out to the walkway and burns it. She says nothing about it to Charles, but goes over to Charles, who is working in the yard. She tells him that she loves him and he says the same to her. The inspectors arrive once again and Charles goes to talk with them. They are apparently there to advise the Desvallées that Victor has been found dead, though we don’t hear the particulars.

Themes: It probably qualifies as a twisted kind of theme, but the main message of this film seems to be that nothing reinvigorates a stale marriage like a murder committed out of jealousy. Here is this stolid kind of man of whom his wife has probably long since despaired of any passionate expression murdering her lover out of his intense love for her. I can’t say that I’m much of a fan of that kind of turn-on. Murder is murder and love or no love, Hélène should have turned Charles over to the police with the evidence. I understand, however, that some people believe that loyalty to one’s friends and family comes before even justice and would protect a loved one who they knew to be guilty of murder. I would support a loved one who had committed murder to the extent of helping them accept justice and standing by them in prison (for example), but I wouldn’t help them evade justice, unless I was thoroughly convinced that the murder was somehow justified, which would hardly ever be the case. I would ask no more than that of my loved ones were I the perpetrator of a violent crime. I guess all we can do in the aftermath of this film is hope that Hélène has no more affairs. Otherwise, the body count will begin to pile up.

Production Values: La Femme Infidèle pretty much epitomizes Chabrol’s particular approach to a suspense story. It’s marked by a subtlety that requires active participation by the viewer. A lot of the drama is played out internally, in the thought processes of the characters, and it’s up to the viewer to figure out what each is thinking at each moment. Charles never reveals to Hélène his knowledge of her affair and she never reveals her awareness that he knows and, most likely, that he has murdered her lover. Instead of words, the essence of the story is told through facial expressions and gestures. Both Stéphane Audran and Michel Bouquet were ideally cast for Chabrol’s concept, both having icy exteriors that reveal little in an obvious way but much subtly. Chabrol also incorporates some interesting cross-references between his films. Three that I spotted in this film were (a) Charles and Hélène drive past a movie theater that is showing Chabrol’s own film Les Biches; (b) the name of Audran’s character, Hélène, was reused for the lead female in each of Chabrol’s next three films; and (c) a cigarette lighter played a key role in the plot of this film as well as in Chabrol’s next film, Le Boucher. Although this film is entitled “The Unfaithful Wife,” it is told almost exclusively from the husband’s point of view. It would have been more aptly named “The Cuckolded Husband,” though perhaps less appealingly.

It looks to me like this film was shot through soft filters. The cinematography is a bit diffuse and grainy, but not irritatingly so. The soundtrack is quite interesting, featuring well-timed discordant piano chords.

I have been very impressed with Audran’s acting skill in the several films in which I’ve seen her. She has that rare ability to seem simultaneously to reveal nothing of her interior thoughts or feelings while very subtly revealing those same feelings. I find myself watching her intently because she cloaks her emotions in a veneer of detached sophistication but allows us to see just a few flashes of her shimmering interior. She was born Colette Suzanne Dacheville, the daughter of a physician, and was raised in Versailles. Her first husband was Jean-Louis Trintignant and her second was Chabrol. Her other work includes Bad Girls (1968), Le Boucher (1969), The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972), Coup de Torchon (1981), and Babette’s Feast (1987). Michel Bouquet began acting lessons during the war years and had to settle for secondary roles until the advent of the New Wave, when he was singled out for some leads. His other credits include Mississippi Mermaid (1969), Just Before Nightfall (1971) and Toto the Hero (1991).

Comparison With the Hollywood Remake: The Pathfinder DVD release of La Femme Infidèle was clearly timed to coincide with the release of the recent Hollywood remake of the film, Unfaithful (2002), starring Diane Lane and Richard Gere. I imagine the producers were anticipating that those who like the new version might be curious about the original. The DVD cover for La Femme Infidèle mentions the remake, so clearly Pathfinder is inviting comparisons. Let me say right off that I am fond of both versions. Chabrol’s original is more subtle and cerebral; Adrian Lyne’s remake is far more explicitly passionate, both emotionally and sexually. If I had to pick one over the other, I’d take the remake for its intensity. As best as I can recall, this is the first time I’ve encountered a Hollywood remake of a foreign film that I found as good or better than the original!

Diane Lane quite deservedly earned an Academy Award Nomination for her performance and Richard Gere was excellent as well, but it seems hardly fair to compare their performances against those of Audran and Bouquet because the demands were so different. The French performers had to convey their mental states subtly while the American performers were required to reveal much more of their internal machinations.

Another big difference between the two films is that the French version of the story is told entirely from the husband’s viewpoint. The American film takes the wife’s viewpoint for roughly the first half and then switches to the husband’s viewpoint. We therefore develop much more sympathy for the woman’s motivations in undertaking the affair in the American version. It’s also a lot spicier to get to watch the details of the affair rather than be limited to just the point of view of the adulterer’s spouse.

Bottom-Line: The DVD video transfer was adequate but not spectacular. The colors are a bit faded. The aspect ratio is about 1.77:1, which is just a shade short of full-screen. Apparently it was shot this way rather than widescreen. The audio transfer is very good. The English subtitles are optional and easy to read. The only extras are short biographies for Chabrol, Audran, and Bouquet and the theatrical trailer. There are chapter selections. The running time is 94 minutes.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age