La Cérémonie: one of the greatest French thrillers, by Claude Chabrol (review)

Brilliantly led by Isabelle Huppert and Sandrine Bonnaire, it returns this evening on France 5.

At 9:08 p.m., the fifth channel will offer a classic of French cinema: Ceremony. Released in 1995 with Isabelle Huppert And Sandrine Bonnairethis drama of Claude Chabrol was acclaimed at the time, and has continued to fascinate thriller fans with each television rebroadcast ever since.

It must be said that his story, taken from a sordid news item, is enough to leave an impression. Add to that an inspired direction and talented actresses, and Ceremony turns into an essential film of French cinema.

Chabrol-Huppert, happy connections

The pitch of Ceremony ? The Lelièvres, a well-educated bourgeois couple, hire a young maid, Sophie, to help them run their large isolated house in the Breton countryside. Sophie’s behavior, harsh, closed and almost always silent, disconcerts them, although her service is impeccable. At no time do they guess that the servant is trying to hide her illiteracy, which she considers humiliating.

In the village, Sophie becomes friends with the postmistress, Jeanne, who is as exuberant as she is secretive. Soon, the two women shared the same hatred for the Lelièvres. Better still, they discover a common past: both, in fact, were tried for murder. One would have murdered her disabled little daughter, the other her crippled father…

True to his love of literature, Claude Chabrol freely adapts the novel here The illiterate of Ruth Rendellalso incorporating elements from the piece The good ones of Jean Genet. On this occasion, it pits two prestigious actresses from French cinema against each other, Isabelle Huppert And Sandrine Bonnaire in this story which explores a little more the morals of the provincial bourgeoisie, Chabrol’s favorite subject. Exceeding one million admissions in French cinemas, this classic of Chabrol’s filmography garnered six César nominations. Including the first of Huppert’s career.

“With this social thriller adapted from a novel by Ruth Rendell, itself inspired by the affair of the Papin sisters, Claude Chabrol rediscovers the full power of his cinema, that of his films noirs of the seventies, we wrote in our file dedicated to the happy collaborations between the filmmaker and the actress. An illiterate servant crosses paths with a vengeful postwoman who will lead her into a criminal spiral. Huppert comes across as perfectly evil and creepy.

A film full of tension, with grating humor, La Cérémonie above all demonstrates the genius of Claude Chabrol’s direction. A falsely invisible staging, sometimes taking on the appearance of casualness to better mask its performance. And yet, each shot, each movement – by their very economy – exposes the violence of the world. One of the greatest French thrillers.”

Claude Chabrol: his last interview for Première, opposite James Gray