What happens when a good for nothing ,two-timing husband pisses off both his wife and his mistress? Well in France, Les Diaboliques happens. Much has been written about this classic of French cinema as an exemplar of the whole horror/thriller genre. Alfred Hitchcock scared everyone away from showers in Psycho; director Henri-Georges Clouzot scared everyone away from bathtubs five years earlier with his film Les Diaboliqeus (translation: The Evil).
What I’d like to write about is how this film is an excellent example of how a story teller uses EXPOSITION.
EXPOSITION is the important information the reader/viewer needs to know right away about plot, setting, and character. It’s what we need to know that happened before the story we currently see. There are clunky was to give this information: voice over narration, flashbacks, excessive dialogue, etc.
In this film, Clouzot doesn’t waste a frame of film. Every single thing we see at the beginning is giving us information we need to know. But it’s done subtly, without fanfare. It even begins with the opening credits.
In this film, Clouzot doesn’t waste a frame of film. Every single thing we see at the beginning is giving us information we need to know. But it’s done subtly, without fanfare. It even begins with the opening credits.
Without giving too many spoilers, let’s dissect the opening shots for expositional information in an attempt to see how it can be masterfully done.
*The movie soundtrack in the opening credits: okay, I admit, this part is NOT so subtle. It’s ominous, plodding, and sinister. That tells us everything we need to know about the film we are about to see. It defines for us genre and expectations. What it does well is make use of the children’s voices underneath the odd music. The setting is, after all, a male boarding school. When the lovey boys’ singing voices are drowned out by a massively intrusive organ, we know something is about to happen.
*The movie soundtrack in the opening credits: okay, I admit, this part is NOT so subtle. It’s ominous, plodding, and sinister. That tells us everything we need to know about the film we are about to see. It defines for us genre and expectations. What it does well is make use of the children’s voices underneath the odd music. The setting is, after all, a male boarding school. When the lovey boys’ singing voices are drowned out by a massively intrusive organ, we know something is about to happen.
Institution Delasalle *The opening shot is of a small truck driving up to a large gate. This is the truck that will be used later to transport the headmaster’s dead body.
*Shot of the gate – establishes the setting “Institution Delasalle”.
*Shot of toy paper boat floating in a puddle of water. Car tire runs over the boat through the puddle. This establishes the symbol of water used throughout the movie. The headmaster is drowned in a bathtub and his body is dumped in the school pool which bring us to..
*Shot of car driving by the school pool.
*Shot of the gate – establishes the setting “Institution Delasalle”.
*Shot of toy paper boat floating in a puddle of water. Car tire runs over the boat through the puddle. This establishes the symbol of water used throughout the movie. The headmaster is drowned in a bathtub and his body is dumped in the school pool which bring us to..
*Shot of car driving by the school pool.
School pool after it is drained...NO BODY TO BE FOUND! *Headmaster gets out to unload groceries. He is joined by the cook who criticizes the rotten vegetables he has bought. He replies rudely, “It’s not your money.”
*Next we meet the teachers. First one – “Line up. No talking!” Second calls them Delightful brats. The third is the headmaster’s mistress, Nicole. She smokes in the hall (shocking for 1955). Then we see Christina, the headmistress and owner of the school. We are meant to like her, so Clouzot shows a student giving her a gift. She is respectful and kind.
*We see that the mistress and the wife have a relationship. They talk openly about Michel’s abuses (the headmaster from before). In fact, Nicole is wearing dark glasses to hide his abuse from the night before.
*Next we meet the teachers. First one – “Line up. No talking!” Second calls them Delightful brats. The third is the headmaster’s mistress, Nicole. She smokes in the hall (shocking for 1955). Then we see Christina, the headmistress and owner of the school. We are meant to like her, so Clouzot shows a student giving her a gift. She is respectful and kind.
*We see that the mistress and the wife have a relationship. They talk openly about Michel’s abuses (the headmaster from before). In fact, Nicole is wearing dark glasses to hide his abuse from the night before.
Adding the drug to the wine. * When Christina says something about her supervising the break, Nicole says, “With your heart, you should let other people do the work.” This is very telling information for anyone who has read “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin!
*Nicole takes Christina to her science class and has her smell some foul liquid from a glass jar. Michel discover them and comes in. This is the drug they will use to drug Michel later in the film. It goes swiftly in Nicole’s pocket.
*Nicole takes Christina to her science class and has her smell some foul liquid from a glass jar. Michel discover them and comes in. This is the drug they will use to drug Michel later in the film. It goes swiftly in Nicole’s pocket.
Oh, the dramatic irony.
*Michel asks his mistress for a kiss right in front of his wife. When Nicole ignores him he forces one from Christina.
*Nicole comes to Christina’s aid reminding us and Michel that Christina is “delicate.”
*Nicole comes to Christina’s aid reminding us and Michel that Christina is “delicate.”
And there you have it. In less than seven minutes of screen time, all the exposition we need for the rest of the film. Clouzot wastes nothing. Every shot, every line of dialogue gives us information about the characters, the situation between husband and wife, the situation between husband and mistress, the situation about the school…everything. Even the motivation for his murder…because we are meant to like Christina (she got a fan as a gift, after all) and Michel is an abusive, womanizing, cheapskate, after all.
To analyze any more would mean giving away the ending and that’s not fair. I recommend this one highly. Get over the Black and White (it was the 1950s). It’s in French…get over that too. Subtitles never killed anyone (to my knowledge). There’s even a bit of supernatural toward the end…it’s kind of a MacGuffin though, which is why this film is on Supernatural Sundays.
Any questions about how exposition works? Leave a comment below. J
Any questions about how exposition works? Leave a comment below. J
True Story: After seeing Psycho, a father wrote to Hitchcock saying, "After seeing Les Diaboliques in '55 my daughter wouldn't take baths. Now after seeing Psycho she won't take showers. What am I supposed to do?" To which Hitchcock replied, "Take her to the dry cleaners."
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