L'enfer (1994)

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:

Infidelity | Jealousy | Hotel | Madness | Gambling

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

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

De la normalité bourgoise jusqu'a l'enfer

Quite interesting film on obsession (an obsession of jealousy, in the specific case) and on the observation that hell is man-made. I liked the very solar performance of Emmanuelle Béart, while I expected something more from François Cluzet.

In order to frame the film properly, however, one must consider that the original script is from 1964 and that Chabrol went to a certain length not to let us lose sight of this fact: the film is shot in a very 60's technicolor; one of the hotel guests uses a camera rather than a video-camera, and the scene he shoots have an unmistakably 60's flavor; the water-ski scene (the key moment of the whole film) has a 60's pace and framing,... We are obviously supposed to read the film in a 1960's perspective. And, considering the political climate in France in the 60's, and the nature of Paul Prieur occupation (he is a hotel owner, therefore a businessman), I find it impossible not to read this film as a statement of the impossibility of the bourgeois ideal of happiness.

The bourgeois values make people equipped to strive for more, but don't give them the emotional tools to deal with their life once they are "arrived." The feeling that there must be something more, and that this can't be the perfection of life is too easily translated in the feeling that there *is* something wrong (a cheating wife: the greatest shame for the latin male), and in the creation of a personal hell.

It is very significant, I think, that the film was released at the dawn of the "new economy" which, even more that the traditional bourgeois values, leads people to a life of continuous movement, and makes them emotionally unprepared to deal with being finally arrived.