This was the first film of Chabrol's that I have seen. Along with Eric Rohmer he is a Nouvelle Vague director that I don't know much about. So much is said of Godard and Truffaut that other New Wave directors don't get much press. There aren't any books out in English about Chabrol. There are some film collections which I may buy. I watched Le Beau Serge on Hulu.com. The quality wasn't too bad for a film made over fifty years ago.
I thought the film was very well done. Chabrol was the first of the Cahiers du Cinema critics to make a feature film. The film was not set in Paris which struck me as different since most of the films I have seen from New Wave directors are set in Paris. Instead it was set in a small French town that looked impoverished. It was a new experience for me. I'm so used to the glitz and glamour of Paris in French movies. This was a welcome departure.
The story was also different. It involved childhood friends who had grown apart. One of them comes back to help his friend who has fallen on hard times and taken to drink. The climax is the ending, but the whole film hinges on a dance scene where the alcoholic friend beats up the friend trying to help. The trying to help friend doesn't leave. Many of the townspeople, including, surprisingly enough, the town priest tell him to leave. He stays which makes the end of the film very good.
In the end the alcoholic friend's wife has a healthy baby and it is implied that this is going to change him.
It's a simple, but powerful film. In the small town everyone is so resigned. They all think nothing ever changes. There is no point to trying. The main character with his city ways is looked at as an outsider. Why does he stay? Everyone else has given up. Why does he care? In the end his perseverance helps out his friend. The baby lives. The alcoholic is left happy. Things can be different.
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