Titled Les Diaboliques in Frances, and Diabolique in America, Henri-Georges Clouzot’s classic film memorably concludes with a title card begging his viewers: “Don’t be devils (diaboliques)! Don’t tell your friends what you saw.” Even though it’s been 65 years, this post will respect Clouzot’s wishes not to spoil the ending, and with good reason – it is an all-time great movie reveal that still works.
The film is led by two women, Christina (Vera Clouzot) and Nicole (Simone Signoret), who are teachers at a boarding school. They are polar opposites in their personalities and also their relationships to Michel, the principal of the school and an absolute louse of a man. Christina, the wife, is wide-eyed, fearful, religious, and increasingly fearful and conflicted as events transpire later in the movie. Nicole, the mistress, is a worldly, capable, and calm femme fatale type. They become bound by a secret that eventually threatens to tear them apart.
Diabolique is often classified as horror, but by today’s standards, it’s more of a psychological thriller (though there is an undeniable air of the supernatural and the sense that anything can happen). There’s a common misperception that old black and white films are slow and boring, but whoever thinks that has never seen any Hitchcock, Clouzot, Lang, or Welles. The stakes of this film are set up quickly, and the pace of the movie for the most part zips along.
There is an inciting incident that happens early on that is breathtakingly tense. For the rest of the movie, we deal with the fallout of this incident, and it spirals quickly into a very rare kind of reverse whodunit. Lots of good films can keep you on the edge of your seat, but only great ones are truly unpredictable. There are multiple twists and Clouzot keeps you guessing throughout and satisfied at the end.
Clouzot optioned the screenplay rights to this, just narrowly beating out Alfred Hitchcock. There are certainly Hitchcockian elements, but there are stark differences too. Whereas the “master of suspense” was known for his haunting soundtracks, Diabolique is scoreless and silent throughout, making for an eerily effective atmosphere. It helps that the script is beautifully written and whip-smart.
Clouzot was famously one of the last major classical film directors in France right before the French New Wave, and there was a certain animosity between the two camps. Diabolique is hardly avant garde. It is a traditional thriller with the hallmarks of a stage play: limited sets, a character-driven story, and snappy back-and-forth dialogue. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a feverishly thrilling and watchable masterpiece.
