Not director Claude Chabrol’s first successful adaptation of an Anglo-Saxon crime novel – there was also Le Cri de Hibou (1987). It keeps you on edge, this story of how a post office cashier (Isabelle Huppert) becomes a major influence in Sandrine Bonnaire’s life and work as a hired help in a wealthy family’s home – the build-up leading to the crimes is slow but frightening and expertly directed. Talk about class struggle gone terribly awry; there just seems to be no way to hinder the disaster that is coming, a sick “revolution” immersed in blood. The leads are both very impressive as two people whose friendship spells danger.

The YouTube clip shows a scene at a train station.

1995-France-Germany. 110 min. Color. Produced by Marin Karmitz. Directed by Claude Chabrol. Novel: Ruth Rendell (”A Judgment in Stone”). Cast: Isabelle Huppert (Jeanne Marchal), Sandrine Bonnaire (Sophie Bonhomme), Jacqueline Bisset (Catherine Leliévre), Jean-Pierre Cassel, Virginie Ledoyen, Valentin Merlet.

Trivia: The Canadian film Judgment in Stone (1986) is an earlier adaptation of the novel.

Venice: Best Actress (Huppert, Bonnaire).

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Published 2009-02-24 10:52