FIRST film of 2025. An oldie, from 1959, the year of my birth. By Claude Chabrol, it’s À double tour (A doppia mandata, Una doble vida, Web of Passion),
A double Tour, poster
a noir set in Provence, with lots of sun and green. Also a lot of bourgeoisie, which Chabrol detests. In fact, the best character is this lad with the hungarian name Laslo Kovacs, interpreted by Jean-Paul Belmondo. Vulgar, likes pastis and talks like he sees it, the exact opposite of the family living in this beautiful Provencal villa.
A character so different from the house lady, interpreted by the magnifique et très antipathique
Beginning sequence: the maid’s window show-off
Conflict arises when the man of the house expresses publicly his love for a young lady living nearby. The wife hates this, but she is not the killer. Enter the couple’s son (Jacques Dacqmine, has an appearance as an old man in The Ninth Gate), a mom’s puppet, effeminate and passive, until his very first and last decision. The last sequence is memorable: the hard dialog between the killer and the lover (Antonella Lualdi): his relationship with his mother, the self-hate he has, comparing himself with an insect that promptly lurks on the mirror, that is shattered by his rage.
Here’s the near-to-last sequence. It’s self-explanatory.
Confrontation
Mirror
The lover
Shattered
Close
The killing
A lot of Hitchcock in the filming and tension building and also in the music.
Then one of the most memorable corridors in cinema’s history. Here:
Corridor: death
Corridor zoom out
That’s it. Loved the movie.
