The Movie
Thrillers rely upon cleverness more than movies of some other genres, as the characters are not only trying to outsmart their victim or the police but the filmmakers are also trying to outsmart the audience. How impressive then that Diabolique (the original title was Les diaboliques, "The Devils") is still a riveting tale of mayhem, even after more than five-and-a-half decades of imitation and refinement?
At a French boarding school, the owner/instructor's husband is carrying on an affair with her fellow teacher. Instead of becoming bitter rivals however, the two women enter a deadly partnership, with what could just be a perfect murder plan. Wife and mistress conspire to drown the cad offsite then dump the body into the school swimming pool over a long weekend, and no one will be the wiser.
But then, when the messiest parts of the crime seem to be over, curious little surprises begin to occur, leading to a fiendish twist upon a twist, with maybe another half-twist thrown in. Not every scene holds up to modern scrutiny, but under the stylish direction of H.G. Clouzot--considered by many to be "the French Hitchcock"--Diabolique is still diabolically fun.
The Picture
Criterion has brought us a new HD master from the original black-and-white 35mm camera negative, at the correct 4:3 aspect ratio (black bars on the sides). The AVC bitrate is quite high, consistently hovering around the 36-megabits-per-second mark. The image is still soft though (it must have been shot that way, although the cinematography is outstanding), with some noise and grain marring the image, as when the delicate texture of faces take on a distracting buzz. Some visible damage remains, but some details manage to shine through, such as the sheen of a satin dressing gown. Blacks can vary, sometimes inky and nuanced, other times dreary and flat.
The Sound
The Linear PCM mono audio is largely undistinguished, remarkably clear in the French dialogue (the only language option!) which makes up approx 99.99% of the soundtrack, with deliberately sparse music too. Any significant deviation from the actors' normal speaking voices, such as an odd shout or loud noise, brings audible distortion.
The Extras
A new 15-minute introduction by film preservationist and historian Serge Bromberg--a serious expert--does a great job not just analyzing this movie but putting it into the proper perspective. French-film scholar/author Kelley Conway provides audio commentary for three selected, themed segments, 44-and-a-half minutes total, ruminating on the visuals in particular. And novelist/film critic Kim Newman gives a new on-camera interview primarily about how Diabolique has influenced so many horror films since (about 16 minutes). All of these extras are in HD.
Final Thoughts
We lucky viewers slip quickly into the groove of the genre, seduced by the delicious "Will-they-get-away-with-it?" tradition. But we must stop and acknowledge that Diabolique helped to establish those traditions, a landmark film darker and edgier than what we were seeing here in the U.S. at the time, and a glimpse of what was to come. I do wish that the remastered audio and video on this Blu-ray were somewhat more remarkable, likely the best Criterion could do (which is saying quite a lot), although the modest complement of extras provides a pleasing garnish.
Product Details
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