The Butcher

Wasn't as blown away by this film, though the storyline and the murder mysteries at some point made me thought I would be so. But there is a wonderful professionalism about a film like this; every single second of film stock seems thought of, which in the end just makes it a pleasure to watch. Stylistically very pure.

Doesn't seem fully realized, but maybe it's not supposed to be. Many moments to admire (specifically in its finale).

Very good characters and performances add greatly to this exploration of the orders but mainly the disorders of desire, individual as well as collective, prehistoric as well as modern.

It doesn't "go full thriller" before the tense end scenes but the rest of the film is carefully crafted. It holds your attention but maybe a bit more mystery about the identity of the perpetrator and a couple of suspenseful scenes earlier on would've supplied the experience which the intro titles seemed to promise. Definitely recommended, though.

Someone called this Hitchcockian. Chabrol's visual aesthetic is almost as refined as Hitch's, but most Hitch films were stagy and suffered from contrived, often schmaltzy writing. Apart from great atmosphere and music, The Butcher's strength as a thriller lies in its strength as a drama, its astute realism, its psychological subtlety (compare with Psycho's hit-you-over-the-head diagnoses). The film has few formal "thrills" but is suspenseful primarily because it's convincing.

The audience may be hesitant to identify the butcher, a former soldier deeply disturbed by his wartime experiences, as the murderer, but Chabrol makes no attempt to proffer cheap thrills or twists. He treads a far bolder path of unresolved ambiguity, choosing not to share his protagonists' innermost motives or emotions but instead present their courtship naturalistically and leave the psychological evaluation up to the discerning viewer. Both leads are superb in their challenging roles.

Dealing with ambivalent, distressed and repressed human emotions, Chabrol insistently let the film's focus lie on the (unsteady) psychological states of his protagonists; stylish, illusive and at the same time interested in the (psychologically) real. Tantalizingly allusive rather than explicative, this is a self-controlled film fascinatingly painting characters with desires for what they can't get and a destructive lack of self-control.

I thought it was watchable at first, but rather standard with nothing spectacular standing out. Later on in the film, it starts to reveal itself as an exciting thriller after all that, although seemingly purposefully predictable, shows a sympathetic portrayal of the antagonist, yet at the same time these final scenes are quite chilling and creepily written.

As a suspense film it's decent but not especially remarkable, and while there are some tense moments and good reveals there are also some really clumsy ones. What makes this a good film is the way it ties in its commentary on the dehumanization of war. It's not very subtle but its not in your face about it and all the references are pretty organic. Overall it's a flawed but interesting film.

# 813

The two or three scenes where the screewed up love drama goes all Lynchian mystery/Picnic at Hanging Rock on itself makes it all worth it.

Though Chabrol has been called the French Hitchcock, and the film is structured as a whodunnit suspense film, who did it doesn't really matter all that much. Indeed we pretty much know early on who did it, what's more fascinating is the central relationship and how it shifts and changes. Does our leading lady know? Is she attracted to the danger? Yes the final 15 minutes or so feature some very tense stuff but it is the psychology of the characters that makes this one fascinating.

This rich, ambiguous film uses the structure of a thriller to explore the sources of violence and desire, the consequences of knowledge and surrender. Meaning reveals itself in the subtle, enigmatic performances of Audran and Yanne and the relationship their two characters establish with each other; the thriller-structure--although technically well-executed--is merely the framework for psychological exploration. Great camera work, great music, superb village atmosphere.

For some reason the film felt rather unremarkable to me all the way through (mind you, I was mildly drunk at the time), but at the end it feels totally sublime.

853

Nicely harrowing final sequence (especially the view out the windshield).

87.500

Düğün, öğretmen, kasap, sinif, randevu, mantar toplamak, okul gezisi, seri katil, cinayet, çakmak, cenaze, badana yapmak (ögretmene asik olan kasap seri katildir. ögretmen hediye ettigi çakmagi cinayet yerinde bulur fakat kasabi ihbar etmez. kasap kadinin çakmagini çekmecede bulur. kadinin bildigini fark eder ve onu öldürmek için eve girer fakat kendini öldürür.) Ultra keyifsiz, agir...

I love the sense of uneasiness that permeates throughout this entire film. Even from the opening scene, a wedding - a joyous occasion with people singing and drinking and dancing - you just know some bad shit is about to happen. The "thriller" aspect of this film is irrelevant. Chabrol makes it obvious from the off who the murderer is. What's clever is the way we're asked to think about what made him into a murderer, and what the hell is going on in the head of Audran's character.

Decent but not great French New Wave thriller. Hitchcockian, yes, but with about half the suspense.

6 Kasim 2012, Zevahir. Kaan'in evinde & Film, modernliği temsil eden bir öğretmen ile savaştan gelmiş, baba mesleğini devam ettiren ve babasına içten içe nefret duyan 'ontolojik olarak kasap' bir katilin aşk hikayesini anlatıyor. Desmeli, hakkinda uzun uzun dusunulmeli. Bence cok yetkin bir is. Hakkinda uzun bir yazi yazmayi dusunuyorum.

The use of sounds and camerawork creates tension but unfortunately the unveiling of the story is weak and makes this average as a thriller.

86.875

Bressonun filmlerindeki fransız taşrasi sakinliği ve kayitsizligini Hitchcock un gerilim ve mizahını harmanlayıp yeni dalganın duygusal yapısıyla filmi devam ettirip noktalıyor. Hikaye biraz yavan e kısıtlı, yönetmen bunu karakterlerin pek te normal olmayan kişilikleri, (iki ana karakterin gecmiste yasadigi tramvaylardan kaynaklı halleri ) karakterlerin birbirleriyle kucuk hinzirca oyunlariyla geri planda tutmaya çalışmış pek olmamış.

893

A more grounded, subtle version of the Suspicion/Shadow of a Doubt type genre, where someone starts to think someone they are close to is a murderer. It's very well done. Loved the offbeat score.

#934