The Seven Deadly Sins [Les Sept Péchés Capitaux] * (1961) – Classic Movie Review 9874

In this 1961 black and white French remake of a classic 1952 portmanteau movie The Seven Deadly Sins [Les Sept Péchés Capitaux], an extraordinary gathering of prestigious French film-makers come together to contribute to this shockingly uninspiring collection of modern interpretations of the Seven Biblical sins.

Ranging from a dull story about an unfaithful wife who tries to reform (Roger Vadim’s segment Pride/ L’orgueil) to an equally dreary tale about a family argument over a fly in the Sunday soup (Sylvain Dhomme’s segment Anger/ La colère), every single episode is a disappointment, even Chabrol’s segment about a group of youngsters who hire a high-class prostitute and finds she refunds the price of a cadet’s lottery ticket (L’avarice/ Greed).

Jacques Demy’s segment La luxure/ Lust and Jean-Luc Godard’s segment La paresse/ Sloth (about a lazy movie star) are disappointing episodes too.

The directors are: Sylvain Dhomme (segment “La colère”/ Anger), Max Douy (co-director) (segment “La colère”/ Anger), Edouard Molinaro (segment “L’envie”/ Envy), Philippe de Broca (segment “La gourmandise”/ Gluttony), Jacques Demy (segment “La luxure”/ Lust), Jean-Luc Godard (segment “La paresse”/ Sloth/ Laziness), Roger Vadim (segment “L’orgueil”/ Pride), and Claude Chabrol (segment L’avarice/ Greed).

The stars are: Marie-José Nat, Claude Brasseur, Georges Wilson, Laurent Terzieff, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Micheline Presle, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Sami Frey, Claude Berri, Claude Rich, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Danièle Barraud, Jean-Claude Brialy, Dany Saval, Jean Murat and Eddie Constantine.

The Seven Deadly Sins [Les Sept Péchés Capitaux] is written by Eugene Ionesco (segment La colère”/ Anger), Jacques Demy (segment “La luxure”/ Lust), Jean-Luc Godard (segment “La paresse”/Sloth/ Laziness), Roger Vadim (segment “L’orgueil”/ Pride), Claude Mauriac  (segment L’envie”/ Envy), Roger Peyrefitte (idea, segment La luxure”/ Lust), Claude Chabrol (segment L’avarice/ Greed) and Daniel Boulanger (segment “La gourmandise”/ Gluttony), is shot by Henri Decai and Jean Rabier and scored by Michel Legrand.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9874

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