Le Corbeau (The Raven) - Criterion Collection

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Starring: Pierre Fresnay
Rated: Unrated
Type: DVD
Directed By: Henri-Georges Clouzot
Studio: Criterion
Release Date: 2004-02-17

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Sensible insensibilities
Nah ... !! WAY,way overrated.

Different - because it's quite ancient & thus intriguing - but simply an ordinary sort of ' who dun it '.

I won't say it's no good, but will say it's one of those films I know I won't bother to watch twice !

WONDERFUL FILM
one of his best next to diabolique, must pick up fast it just went out-of-print on the criterion website.

Early thriller by the Alfred Hitchcock of France
Lots of bitter, black bile and mechanical plot thrills from the Alfred Hitchcock of France. I guess if that's what you're looking for, this movie is for you. Some of the exterior shots are nice and sinister, and the funeral in the middle of the film is so creepy, it might qualify this film as a Halloween rental, but the rest of the movie feels like one of those Agatha Christie novels where we're continually made to think that one person or another is the killer, until in the end we're told it's someone we were deliberately made to believe it couldn't possibly be. Gee, thanks, Agatha.

The acting is nothing inspired, although Pierre Fresnay is always a welcome presence in any film, even if there's not much required of him here except to run around a lot. He only got to smoke one cigarette in the whole movie!

And the guy who thinks he's Michel Simon really got on my nerves.

I know that people think this film was making some kind of statement about the paranoia among informants and informed-upon in occupied France, but I have my doubts. In any case, for a less sensational, more mature portrayal of life in occupied France, check out Melville's "Leon Morin, Pretre" and "Army of Shadows."

Le Corbeau
Filmed during the Nazi occupation of France, Clouzot's brilliant, edgy psychological thriller captures the petty enmities and virulent paranoia that, letter by letter, rips a tight-knit community apart. Framed by the moral dilemma of Fresnay's Germain, a serious, stone-faced man haunted by "two ghosts" from the past, "Corbeau" adds one Hitchcockian twist after another, while immersing us in an ominous atmosphere of suspicion. Adding to the intrigue are radiant social worker Laura (Francey), elderly psychoanalyst Dr. Avorzet (the wonderful Pierre Larquey), and needy cripple Denise (Ginette Leclerc). Dark, cynical, and utterly captivating, "Corbeau" illuminates the inner world where good and evil mix in equal measure.

The deadliest weapon:

The story of a small French provincial town infected by the mass hysteria of suspicion, spying, and hatred caused by the damning letters revealing the guilty secrets of all citizens and always signed "Le Corbeau" (The Raven) is an absolutely brilliant film. It is incredibly clever, involving, and extremely dark and leaves very little hope regarding the human nature and its motivations. The word is the most dangerous and the deadliest of weapons, and a gun, a knife, or a poison only finish the evil deed that always starts with the words. The humans are very creative in choosing the right words that will hurt and infuriate the fellow human being and start the unstoppable nuclear reaction of hatred, intolerance, and violence. H.G. Cluozot had difficulties working in France after he had made "Le Corbeau" in 1943 which was produced by the German company and later judged by French as a piece of anti-French propaganda. It took writers such as Jean Cocteau and actors such as Louis Jouvet, an admirer of Clouzot's work, to recognize the powerful subtext to Cluozot's controversial masterpiece.