3 Classic Films by Claude Chabrol Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

3 Classic Films by Claude Chabrol Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 21, 2017

That famously French laissez faire attitude toward interrelationships, often but not always with regard to marriage, gets a rather surprising workout in the trio of offerings on tap in 3 Classic Films by Claude Chabrol. As I’ve discussed in some previous reviews of Chabrol’s work, Chabrol has often seemed a little like a square peg attempting to fit into round holes, at least as defined by others. He never totally conformed to at least some of the nascent ideas of the nouvelle vague despite often being branded as a fellow traveler with the likes of Godard and Truffaut. Similarly, while Chabrol has often been compared at least in passing to Alfred Hitchcock, and while many of Chabrol’s films at least skirt with thriller or mystery elements, and many of them display the same kind of rationalist approach to often troubling psychological elements that Hitch’s films can, there are nonetheless very few set pieces in Chabrol films that match the sheer technical audacity that is on display in some of Hitchcock’s best remembered work. Two of the three films in this set play at least tangentially off of various dysfunctions in married relationships, while the third, The Swindle (original French title Rien ne va plus), rather cheekily refuses to overtly specify what kind of relationship its focal pair has with each other, at least in terms of personal intimacy. All three films have elements of suspense, but as with many of Chabrol’s films, the emphasis isn’t necessarily on a central mystery but rather how characters respond to irrational elements, either in their own psyches or impinging on them from external sources.

For reviews of the three films included in this set, please click on the following links:

Betty Blu-ray review

L'enfer Blu-ray review

The Swindle Blu-ray review

3 Classic Films by Claude Chabrol Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Video quality of each release is assessed in the above linked reviews.

3 Classic Films by Claude Chabrol Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Audio quality of each release is assessed in the above linked reviews.

3 Classic Films by Claude Chabrol Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Supplementary material included with each release is detailed in the above linked reviews.

3 Classic Films by Claude Chabrol Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

All three of these films will be appreciated by longstanding Chabrol fans, but my hunch is newcomers to the director's work will probably be most at ease with The Swindle, and then L'Enfer. Cohen has been championing Chabrol's work for some time now, and this new trio of offerings is another welcome addition to the director's filmography on Blu-ray. Highly recommended.