L'enfer (1994)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Claude Chabrol

Writers:

Claude Chabrol (writer)
Henri-Georges Clouzot (1964 script)
(more)

Release Date:

November 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

Paul, an irritable and stressed-out hotel manager, begins to gradually develop paranoid delusions about his wife's infidelity...

Plot Keywords:

Jealousy | Hotel | Insanity | Locked Room | Cuckold

Cast

Emmanuelle Béart	...	Nelly
François Cluzet	...	Paul Prieur
Nathalie Cardone	...	Marylin
André Wilms	...	Doctor Arnoux
Marc Lavoine	...	Martineau
Christiane Minazzoli	...	Mme Vernon
Dora Doll	...	Mme Chabert
Mario David	...	Duhamel
Jean-Pierre Cassel	...	M. Vernon
Thomas Chabrol	...	Julien
Noël Simsolo	...	M. Chabert
Yves Verhoeven	...	Young Boy
Amaya Antolin	...	Mariette
Jean-Claude Barbier	...	M. Pinoiseau
Claire De Beaumont	...	Mme Rudemont
Pierre-François Dumeniaud	...	M. Lenoir
René Gouzenne	...	M. Ballandieu
Marie-Thérèse Izar	...	Mme Pinoiseau
Dominique Jambert	...	Young Woman
Louis De Leotoing d'Anjony	...	Vincent
Jérôme Le Paulmier	...	La Fleche
Vincent Mangado	...	Young Man
Françoise Meyruels	...	Plump Woman
Laurent Nassiet	...	Little Boy at the Cafe
Catherine Tacha	...	Mme Point

Directed by
Claude Chabrol

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Claude Chabrol		writer
Henri-Georges Clouzot		1964 script
José-André Lacour		additional dialogue

Produced by
Marin Karmitz	....	producer

Original Music by
Matthieu Chabrol

Cinematography by
Bernard Zitzermann

Film Editing by
Monique Fardoulis

Production Design by
Emile Ghigo

Set Decoration by
Claire Amoureux-Nicole		(decorator)
Marc Barroyer		(decorator)
Frédéric Bersani		(decorator)
Pierre Galliard		(decorator)
Denis Seiglan		(decorator)

Costume Design by
Corinne Jorry

Makeup Department
Jean-Pierre Berroyer	....	makeup artist
Marie Lastennet	....	makeup artist (as Marie Lastenet-Fournier)
Stéphanie Lemaire	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Yvon Crenn	....	production manager
Caroline Lassa	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Cécile Maistre	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Jean-Marie Beldent	....	sound assistant
Dominique Dalmasso	....	sound
André Naudin	....	foley artist
Gadou Naudin	....	foley artist
Philippe Richard	....	sound assistant
Jean-Bernard Thomasson	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Michel Bubola	....	electrician
Sophie Charrière	....	assistant camera
Fabienne Delaleau	....	assistant camera
Jean-Baptiste Dutreix	....	grip
Christian Inizan	....	electrician
Jérémie Nassif	....	still photographer
Alain Payet	....	electrician
Dominique Robert	....	grip
Michel Thiriet	....	camera operator
Christian Vicq	....	electrician

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Paule Mangenot	....	costumer
Monique Tourret	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Florence Poulain	....	assistant editor
Olivier Rossignol	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Laurent Petitgirard	....	conductor

Other crew
Aurore Chabrol	....	script supervisor
Aline Corneille	....	production administrator
Eva Simonet	....	press attache
Gisèle Vuillaume	....	production administrator

Production Companies

• MK2 Productions (co-production)
• CED Productions (co-production)
• France 3 Cinéma (co-production)
• Cinémanuel (co-production)
• Procirep (participation)
• Canal+ (participation)
• Conseil Régional Midi-Pyrénées (participation)

Distributors

• MKL Distribution (1994) (France) (theatrical)
• Fox Lorber (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Concorde Home Entertainment (2008) (Germany) (DVD)
• Hispano Foxfilms S.A.E. (????) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Kino Video (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Look Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• MK2 Diffusion (????) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)

Other Companies

• Bande rythmo  post-synchronization
• Centimage  titles
• Franay L.T.C. Saint Cloud  film lab (as L.T.C. Saint Cloud)
• Samuelson Alga Cinéma  camera equipment
• Studios de Billancourt  sound studio

Also Known As:

Hell
Jealousy
Torment
El infierno (Argentina) (Colombia) [es]
Ciúme - O Inferno do Amor Possessivo (Brazil) [pt]
Die Hölle (Germany) [de]
El infierno (L'enfer) (Spain) [es]
Isha Gehenom (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
L'inferno (Italy) [it]
O Inferno (Portugal) [pt]
Se zilevo (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:MA | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:13 | UK:15 | Germany:16 | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Castelnaudary, Aude, France

Company:

MK2 Productions

Movie Connections:

Remake of L'enfer (1964)

Soundtrack:

Concerto pour violoncelle op. 104

Compelling

Paul, an owner of a lakeside hotel and his naturally flirtatious and beautiful wife, Nelly seems to have it all, yet beneath the rosy facade there lurks a rotting jealousy, eating away inside Paul's unbalanced mind. This is the basic premise of Claude Chabrol's adaptation of Henri-Georges Clouzot 1964 script. The film hinges on two interrelated questions. Was Nell really unfaithful with many men, or was it all in Paul's unbalanced mind? Chabrol projects these anxieties from Paul's point of view,leaving the viewer to judge if there is any substance to Paul's jealousy.

The film is compelling and the acting is excellent, but we never know the real, underlying cause of Paul's frightening descent to madness because Charbol complacently skips through the early years of their marriage within the first six minutes. yet all of the sudden Paul is talking with an inner voice in his head, out of nowhere. This was one of the film's biggest weaknesses and perhaps Clouzot's original story was not "psychological" enough for Chabrol to work through in his usual, thorough fashion.Moreover, we also never know if Nelly really was unfaithful, thus compounding the ambiguity of Paul's jealousy.

Sometimes the direction is deliberately vague in projecting Paul's point of view, blurring the distinction between reality and fantasy. Moreover, the 1960s feel of the script is retained by Chabrol in his modern-day remaking of the values of that era in the early 1990s. as a result, L'enfer is strangely old-fashioned in its portrayal of women and men. The sets and costumes feel anachronistic, esp Nelly and her flirty friend. Only Paul and his doctor seem to exist in the early 1990s.

The open-ended existentialist non-ending,was the only way out for Chabrol and Cluzot, but perhaps by negating the climax, Chabrol did himself a disservice in not resolving the film's many ambiguities. But perhaps that's what Clouzot's intention was. All in all, the film is a celluloid embodiment of Satrte's famous line "Hell is other people".