10 / 10
score
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The Disc

Extra Features
Les Diaboliques has never been released with many extra features but, thankfully, this dual format release remedies that with an authoritative, well researched and fascinating commentary by Susan Hayward who, as an academic, not only talks about the acting and genesis of the film, but also points out the more important framing and composition choices. It's the sort of commentary where, if you didn't know what mise en scène was before, you will do now. It is delivered as an audio essay, so there are gaps but I didn't mind these as I knew some more good material was on the way.

As she has done for several French films in the StudioCanal Collection, Ginette Vincendeau provides an equally authoritative and knowledgeable interview piece, speaking well about the film's themes, visual brilliance and its lasting appeal.

The menu is really interesting, splitting the four usual categories into Auditorium (play movie), Reel Change (scene selection), Kiosk (extra features) and Projection Booth (audio setup).

Additionally, there is a booklet containing writing by Brad Stevens and a interview with Henri-Georges Clouzot by Paul Schrader. Not only does this set to contain a DVD so, if you only have one room with a Blu-ray player and HD setup, you can watch it elsewhere in the house or, if you don't yet have a Blu-ray player and HD setup, the BD will wait until you do! There is a newly painted piece of artwork for the main cover which, due to the slipcase and reversible sleeve, can be swapped around from a choice of three vintage posters.

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The Picture


This Blu-ray Disc boasts a 1080p picture remastered from the original 35mm negative and presented in 1.33:1 aspect ratio. The IMDb states that the aspect ratio should be 1.37:1 but I couldn't see any evidence of the frame being stretched horizontally.

For a monochrome film many decades old, the most important elements of the restoration process (at the least, as far I'm concerned) are removal of the most obvious detritus, heavy grain and to ensure the contrast levels are as high as possible. Fortunately, that's exactly what has happened here as the picture is quite breathtaking with superb contrast levels which really showcase the stark monochrome photography which seems to owe something to the film noir movies (Clouzot had had made some crime films in his past).

Les Diaboliques is a film with extremely intelligent framing and mise en scène with Clouzot using various objects to emphasise tensions between various characters and, at the beginning, show the power dynamics in the group.

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The Sound


The only audio option is LPCM 1.0 mono French which is perfect for this sort of film as any attempt to make a surround soundtrack would be utterly redundant. As it should be, this track is perfectly clear providing crisp dialogue and the excellent use of sound design seems even more effective and startling than ever.

Unusually for any film, let alone a horror thriller, this has absolutely no music aside from that which place during the opening credits. Usually this would mean there would be some difficulty in creating and maintaining tension and it to Clouzot's credit that this film is so incredibly suspenseful with a scene that, at its time, was one of the more shocking and disturbing ever filmed. It may have lost some of its shock status over the years as horror films have become increasingly graphic and occasionally reliant on jumps. However, I still consider this one of the most effectively shocking scenes in the history of cinema and it remains a profoundly disturbing scene no matter how many times I've seen the film.

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Final Thoughts


Les Diaboliques is a masterful piece of suspense and one of the greatest thrillers or horror films ever made. The direction is quite superb and the screenplay, based on the book by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac (the team who wrote the novel on which Vertigo is based, with Narcejac also working on the screenplay for George Franju's brilliant Eyes without a Face), is beautifully written with brilliant character development and an ending that, once you seen it, is so cleverly constructed that every repeated viewing is valuable and worthwhile.

However, this is one of those films that I would like to have removed from my memory using the technique pioneered by Lacuna, Inc in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind so I could watch it without knowing how it ends!

This disc, part of Arrow Films’ Arrow Academy (with films including the upcoming Bicycle Thieves and Rififi) series, is an AV treat with some brilliant extra features that will please the most knowledgeable cinephile.

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