"Ophelia " was Claude chabrol 's biggest flop ;in 1963 ,it was screened in two theaters in Paris where it only attracted 5,000 persons ; instant karma: it was not released in the Provinces and, being never screened on TV, remains one of the most obscure works in the director 's huge erratic career .
Featuring both female leads of Georges Franju's masterful "les yeux sans visage" (aka "eyes without a face") ,the excellent Alida Valli and the then up -and -coming Juliette Mayniel , did it deserve such a fiasco? Hindsight displays some of its charms : the usual splendid black and white cinematography by Henri Rabier creating outside a haunting atmosphere , the disturbing music (typically Chabrolesque) by Pierre Jansen and the silent movie , by far the best moment ,the film in the film (to echo the play in the play in "Hamlet " ) called "la souricière " (the mousetrap ): its amateur actors are much fun to watch and one regrets that Chabrol did not treat his whole movie a a comedy .He was able to do it ,as his underrated spoof on the thriller genre " docteur Popaul" bore out :it was his biggest commercial success , even though it was a far cry from his great achievements of the golden period 1967-1973.
Handicapped by André Jocelyn 's hysterical dismal performance (the people who only saw the dubbed version or with subtitles are spared) , who gets one's nerves in the long run; no wonder it was his last movie .Gérard Blain, Jean-Claude Brialy ,where were you?
Of course ,Chabrol's social concerns are present; the king of Elseneur becomes a big boss , the squire of Erneles (sic) ,who has hired a milice to protect him against the workers/anarchists but Ivan Lesurf (re-sic) does not show any rebellion against the bourgeoisie he's part of ,no "rupture" with his privileged world,and the ending remains ambiguous for that matter.
Featuring both female leads of Georges Franju's masterful "les yeux sans visage" (aka "eyes without a face") ,the excellent Alida Valli and the then up -and -coming Juliette Mayniel , did it deserve such a fiasco? Hindsight displays some of its charms : the usual splendid black and white cinematography by Henri Rabier creating outside a haunting atmosphere , the disturbing music (typically Chabrolesque) by Pierre Jansen and the silent movie , by far the best moment ,the film in the film (to echo the play in the play in "Hamlet " ) called "la souricière " (the mousetrap ): its amateur actors are much fun to watch and one regrets that Chabrol did not treat his whole movie a a comedy .He was able to do it ,as his underrated spoof on the thriller genre " docteur Popaul" bore out :it was his biggest commercial success , even though it was a far cry from his great achievements of the golden period 1967-1973.
Handicapped by André Jocelyn 's hysterical dismal performance (the people who only saw the dubbed version or with subtitles are spared) , who gets one's nerves in the long run; no wonder it was his last movie .Gérard Blain, Jean-Claude Brialy ,where were you?
Of course ,Chabrol's social concerns are present; the king of Elseneur becomes a big boss , the squire of Erneles (sic) ,who has hired a milice to protect him against the workers/anarchists but Ivan Lesurf (re-sic) does not show any rebellion against the bourgeoisie he's part of ,no "rupture" with his privileged world,and the ending remains ambiguous for that matter.