Les Diaboliques/Diabolique 68/100

Highly regarded French thriller that I think owes its reputation to being in the right time and place. It was, I understand, the first foreign language mainstream hit in America in 1955. Frankly, it seems overwordy and unnecessarily long getting to the third act, though the actors are engaging and fun to watch. I have a very similar problem with Clouzot’s other (superior) movie Wages of Fear, that I can only watch (and really, REALLY enjoy) if I just skip the whole first hour. This movie, though, if you skip, you do miss the slow build of tension that is nice (even if far too slow) and does actually pay off in the last 20 minutes or so. And that last act is rather fine, but I couldn’t help but wonder how the bad guy came up with a plan that meant major discomfort for him for hours on end (and indeed, how he seemed to hold his breath for hours on end, when he was left in the bath).

What happens to the character of one of the actresses at the end spookily happened to her in real life several years later. Ahh, the circle of life/art.