March Blind Spot: Diabolique

When I selected my movies for this year’s Blind Spot back in December, one movie I got most enthusiastic response about was Diabolique(1955). Even though I was anticipating this one as well; enough to put it on this year's list, I have a small history with this film. I knew next to nothing about it up until last year and for some reason, I always thought of this as some sort of horror film; probably because that title gave me such vibes. I don't remember exactly where but I had it in one of my queues somewhere. Though I have always tried to get more acquainted with it, I am not the biggest fan of horror movies. So I took it off that list without having seen it. I have been regretting that decision for last year, even more so today after having seen it now.
This film comes with a disclaimer at the end - "Don't be Devils. Don't ruin the interest you friend could take in this film. Don't tell them what you saw. Thank You for them!" Now that could be a terrible translation but you get the idea, right? And considering how little I knew about this film a year ago, there could easily be many more like me. So, I intend to take this seriously even though it is now almost 60 year old film. I will try to give away as little as possible but if you haven't seen this film and intend to keep yourself in blind, turn away now and find yourself a copy of this film. Let me assure you, you are missing something worthy!
Michel Delassalle runs a boarding school where he works as a headmaster along with 4 other teachers including his wife and former mistress that everyone knows about; even his wife. But more surprising thing is, they are actually very good friends. Probably because they both have been manhandled by brutish Monsieur Delassalle, in case of his wife - she still is. Delassalle is not just a strict headmaster, he is an outright cruel person. And not just to the students in his school, to his fellow teachers which as I just mentioned include his former estranged lover and especially to his wife, who in reality is providing all the dough to run that place. He himself wouldn't get paid if it wasn't for his wife's money. That doesn't deter him much though as he knows his wife too well. She is submissive, demure and religious; death sentence of a combination for her, blank check for him.
A day before one of the weekends when school is going to be closed for few days due to holidays, Nicole, Delassalle's mistress, plants an idea into Christina's, Delassalle's wife, mind. She intends to get rid of him for their own good. This is only a final resort but by then we have seen enough evidence that this person deserves it more than anyone else. And it will only be poetic justice if it comes at hand of two women he has treated worst. Christina, being what she is, wrestles with that idea. As terrible a person her husband is, because of the kind of upbringing she has had, initially she can not even think of something like this, let alone actually cary it out. But every time she decides to turn away from this, as if on queue, her husband does something to push her towards it; like humiliating her on dinner table in front of everyone. That turns out to be a final straw as Christine leaves with Nicole next morning to her house where they plan their perfect murder and even execute it to almost perfection. But, as you would expect, something goes wrong at the last step and they spend rest of the film cleaning their trail.
As I promised above, I won't give away any more details than this. I have given you about 45 minutes worth content and as intriguing as they may sound, all they actually do is set us up for thrilling 80 minutes that follow. It takes its time to set everything up but that doesn't mean it gets boring, not even for a second. And what follows for rest of it more than makes up for it anyways. Vera Clouzot and Simone Signoret, in their contrasting characters of Christina and Nicole respectively make sure of it. Differences in their personality is what makes dynamics of this partnership even more crooked than it already is based on their relation to Delassalle. Christina seems utterly terrified of her husband and that makes her fickle at every stage of their plan. Nicole, though regularly overpowered by Delassalle; when we see her first, she is wearing sunglasses to hide her black eye given by Michel the night earlier, is much more composed, stern. She has thought out every little detail of their plan earlier and once it's is set in motion, she doesn't even flinch an eye. But when walls start to close up on them, Christina is the one that can handle that pressure more capably than Nicole.
In many ways, it reminded me of another film that has lot of similarities(slow start, elaborate setup of story, building tension, role reversals and those last couple of minutes) and even has similar look and feel to it, The Wages of Fear(1953). Though there are few traditional twists, unlike most other thrillers, there aren't couple of key scenes that drive whole film. On the other hand, its biggest asset is the way it keeps on building tension in every scene. It utilizes every scene it has at its disposal to add on to tension until everything changes in last couple of minutes. This connection I made was completely unprovoked. Imagine my surprise when I realized Clouzot actually directed both.
This is my second year of doing Blind Spots and 15th entry into the series. During its run last year, I have seen likes of Tokyo Story(1953) and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre(1948) which I am quite sure will make their way into my top 100 when I decide to update that list. I would probably be able to say this with much more conviction after little more time has passed but even after watching such revered movies, Diabolique can go down as not only 'one of the best' but probably even 'the' best. I only wish it was as much respected or well-known as the other two. I don't even know how many years will it take - maybe 15 to 20 years, depending on the judge!