Violette Nozière [Violette] **** (1978, Isabelle Huppert, Stéphane Audran, Jean Carmet) – Classic Movie Review 8803

Director Claude Chabrol enjoys himself on his own ground with this taut 1978 psychological thriller Violette Nozière [Violette], based on the true story of the 18-year-old Parisian, Violette Nozière (Isabelle Huppert), who poisoned her parents (Stéphane Audran, Jean Carmet) in 1933.

The performances are riveting, with Huppert remarkably chilling, and Chabrol engrossingly concentrates the attention on the story, characters and detail. Yet perhaps the film is overly conventional and fails to offer an entirely persuasive analysis of Violette’s motives.

Violette Nozière was a hit with both the public and the critics, and it is certainly impressive and exquisitely acted, but arguably it is not quite up there with Chabrol’s very best work. However, Huppert is remarkable, and deservedly won the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1978, though tied with Jill Clayburgh for An Unmarried Woman (1978). An almost equally striking Stéphane Audran won the Best Supporting Actress (Meilleure actrice dans un second rôle) award at the César Awards, France (1979).

Also in the cast are Bernadette Lafont, Jean-François Garreaud, Lisa Langlois, Mario David, Dora Doll, Bernard La Jarrige, Henri-Jacques Huet, Suzanne Bertois, Micheline Bourday, Zoé Chauveau, Jean-François Dupas, François-Eric Gendron and Guy Hoffman.

The screenplay by Odile Barski, Hervé Bromberger and Frédéric Grendel is based on the book by Jean-Marie Fitère.

Violette Nozière [Violette] is directed by Claude Chabrol, runs 123 minutes, is made by Filmel, Cinévidéo and France Régions 3 (FR3), is distributed by Gaumont (1978) (France), Cinépix Film Properties (CFP) (1978) (Canada), Curzon Film Distributors (1978) (UK) and New Yorker Films (1978) (US). is written by Odile Barski, Hervé Bromberger and Frédéric Grendel, based on the book by Jean-Marie Fitère, shot in Eastmancolor by Jean Rabier, produced by Roger Morand and Claude Léger, scored by Pierre Jansen and designed by Jacques Brizzio.

Thanks to its HD restoration from the original negatives in 2018 by Eclair labs through the support of Arte France’s Cinema Unit and René Chateau Video, it can be properly and fully valued.

Claude Chabrol (1930–2010).

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8803

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