This movie was ABYSMAL.
Please ignore the ludicrous and inexcusable 7.5 user rating and save yourself the two hours. This movie was horrendous beyond belief.
sharehow typically bourgeois
shareIt was good. Slow-paced at first but builds up to the ending which stays with you.
shareI actually think this is Chabrol's greatest achievement. A lot of people think that the movies he did between the late 60's and early 70's represent his golden period, but I disagree. While I think there are some very fine movies to be find in that period, I believe they're usually diminished by the frozen, one-dimensional performances of the director's wife and muse of the time, Stéphane Audran. I believe Huppert and Bonnaire are the best actresses he's ever used. I consider Isabelle the quintessential Chabrolian actress because of the 7 movies he did with him. This long partnership still pales next to the number of collaborations between Chabrol and Audran (24 films!), but.. let's say it: any talent comparison between Isabelle (or Sandrine) and Stéphane would be a bit dishonest.
I seem to understand that some people have a problem with the final minutes of "Le Cérémonie": for me it is the best Chabrol ending and probably a rare occasion where he didn't screw everything up in the last few minutes. I think that a recurring flaw of his movies is that they are ruined by their rushed or totally unbelievable conclusion. The over the top, grotesque final act of "La Rupture" is probably the worst example of this. I find Chabrol to be the most inconsistent filmmaker ever, but I think it's quite understandable to find some garbage in a filmography that includes a formidable 73 titles (Woody Allen, eat your heart out!). The quality of his movies was probably directly proportional to the precision/rush they were done with. Had he done less movies, his resume wouldn't be so uneven I think. He must be the only director whose movies have received every vote in the scale from me. Meaning from 10 (La Cérémonie) to 0 (Folies Bourgeoises). Well, I gave Folies Bourgeoises 1 because 0 isn't an option, but you got the idea. But overall, I think some of his best movies are to be found later in his career: "Une affaire des femmes" is another big favourite of mine.
My top 5 Chabrol movies:
1.La Cérémonie
2.Que la bête meure
3.Une affaire de femmes
4.Le boucher
5.La femme infidèle
The first three have the advantage of being completely Audran-free of course. Well, technically we see a clip of "Les noces rouges" in "La cérémonie", but I did survive that. It's interesting that the first three are also the only ones to receive some critic awards outside Europe. Guess America never warmed up to the icy Stéphane to explain it with an oxymoron (or sort of) ..
I do keep hearing that Chabrol`s wildly inconsistent... yet so far I`ve seen 9 of his films and none are remotely bad. Guess I`ve just been lucky in picking his stuff... so far. In fact, based on those 9, he`s more like `too` consistent as all of them, with the exception of La Ceremonie which sits at 6/10, fall squarely between the ratings of 7/10 and 8,5/10 as far as I´m concerned; no one work really stands out as some great, defining masterpiece. And I should also note that none of these 9 has an outright preposterous ending far as I recall.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan
I’m having a real time fathoming what would compel anyone who’s seen more than, I dunno, six French films to count this among its better offerings. It seems pretty telling that not a single person singing this turd’s praises in this thread thus far has been able to offer up anything approaching an intelligent, articulate case for its supposed “brilliance” – just the usual laundry list of vague positive adjectives expected to do the heavy lifting on their own (Well, the artist known as ‘MrEdnablackadder’ did manage to type an awful lot of words, but without saying anything substantial re: La Ceremonie’s merits). Yeah, ok, there’s a wafer-thin element of class warfare, but…so what? As 'Franzkabuki' said, it isn’t developed or explored in anything approaching an insightful or meaningful way. Aside from that, some pretty faces (Valentin Merlet was captivating as Giles, the younger daughter!) and some pleasant establishing shots of French countryside, what does this tepid excursion have to offer? The closest thing to an insight comes from the priest who smells of urine who insinuates Jeanne is in need of psychological help. I agree wholeheartedly. Beyond that? I’m at a loss. "Subtle and multidimensional"? Expound! “Unbelievable”? Uh, if you say so. “Incisive”? I'm perplexed as to how a piece of art can have that particular trait, but sure. Why it's a minor miracle that in 17 posts no one has called it (whispers) provocative! The pungent aroma of “French = brilliance beyond reproach, because, uh, that's how I'm supposed to feel as a serious cineaste" hangs thick in the air…
shareWell, technically we see a clip of "Les noces rouges" in "La cérémonie"I knew it was an Audran film but didn't know which one. What's funny is that Catherine (Bisset) says to her husband Georges that the film they were planning to watch and which he would miss, was a 'good one'. Was this Chabrol's way of saying that Catherine is a poor judge? An offering on her character's inner life?
I give my respect to those who have earned it; to everyone else, I'm civil.share
What's funny is that Catherine (Bisset) says to her husband Georges that the film they were planning to watch and which he would miss, was a 'good one'. Was this Chabrol's way of saying that Catherine is a poor judge?
Well, that would be very self-ironic considering he directed "Les Noces Rouges" himself.. :-) share
Well, that would be very self-ironic considering he directed "Les Noces Rouges" himself.. :-)I thought you wrote once that Chabrol himself realised Audran had not been a very good actress; in which case the self-irony/mocking would be appropriate and deserved.
I give my respect to those who have earned it; to everyone else, I'm civil.share
I thought you wrote once that Chabrol himself realised Audran had not been a very good actress; in which case the self-irony/mocking would be appropriate and deserved.
Oh, yeah, Chabrol was most certainly a self-ironic man and, considering certain things he's done, he had to be! Wonder what he might think of 'Les Noces Rouges'. I'm not very fond of it, but it's not from the ultrabad lot either.
Chabrol gave some contradictory statements about Audran over the years, saying he wasn't much impressed by her early acting, but stating that he thought she had grown up starting from "La Rupture" (??). I think I never heard any actor making any positive comment about Audran's acting ability btw. Even the ones who are much connected with her and Chabrol (such as Bouquet) usually spend a lot of time expressing their admiration for Claude, but don't even mention her (probably as a favor to him!)
Trintignant is famous for not wanting to talk about her. share
I feel sorry for Stéphane! Trintignant is unlikely to be drawn on the matter of his ex-wife and to be fair to her, he agreed to work with her in Les Biches as her lover in the film.
I give my respect to those who have earned it; to everyone else, I'm civil.share
That's true. Also, their marriage ended when he got in a relationship with Bardot on the set of "Et Dieu Créa.. la femme", so maybe he believes that it's better not to resume the subject of Stéphane. However, he could have made a compliment on her acting ability once or twice (even if just as a payback) if he thought she was any good.
It's interesting that Trintignant and Audran seemed to have zero chemistry in "Les Biches". It could be that doing some erotic scenes in front of Chabrol just felt too embarrassing for both. It must also be noted that Stéphane had actually zero chemistry with all her leading men, so maybe not even her ex-husband could have ever made her feel a bit more at ease.
I felt she had chemistry with Jean Yanne in Le Boucher, which I love still, including her in that film. I liked her with Michel Bouquet in La Femme Infidele too. I'm willing to accept that these male actors adapted to her iciness and enabled the sense of connection and chemistry.
Les Biches didn't feel right to me because I couldn't understand what Trintignant's architect fellow saw in Audran's character that Jacqueline Sassard's character had apart from being of the same class as Audran's character. I'm sure Chabrol had some fun making the relationship between Audran and Trintignant pale and hollow!
Imagine being a French male actor of the period who wanted to work with Chabrol and knowing that your leading lady would have to be Audran!
I give my respect to those who have earned it; to everyone else, I'm civil.share
She was basically a supporting player to Michel in "La femme infidèle" and "Just avant la nuit" (particularly in the latter), so she didn't ruin the dynamics between the two characters, I guess.
I must confess I don't remember "Les Biches" very much (not a fan), but I seem to remember Trintignant- despite being obviously the best actor in the film- being stuck with a rather thankless role. This was Jacqueline Sassard's final movie and she wasn't any worse than Stéphane, I wonder if the latter might have also disappeared at around the same time hadn't she married Chabrol. Maybe Claude really did owe to Henri Attal and Dominique Zardi to give them a bit more space, since in their nearly 30 collaborations with him (each), they rarely had anything to do, but gosh, the two homosexual characters were annoying.