Les Diaboliques

Hugely enjoyable and exciting, long awaited book by top world authority on French cinema. This is the first book to focus on this very contemporary film. "e;Les Diaboliques"e; is often shown and is easily available on DVD and video "e;Les Diaboliques"e; was a top grossing film in 1955. Clouzot shrouded his film in mystery and also radically changed the original story of the novel, heterosexualising the original lesbian plot. "e;Les Diaboliques"e; still intrigues perhaps due to its excessive ambiguities and numerous plot twists that make it a 'film noir' to end all 'films noir', and not least the great performance of Simone Signoret. In this enjoyable and challenging "e;Cine-File"e;, Hayward sets "e;Les Diaboliques"e; against the political culture of its time and demonstrates the importance of Clouzot as a master of the thriller genre. She gives an illuminating in-depth textual analysis of the film and presents a comparison with its US remake.