L'Enfer

Starring:Emmanuelle BÃ©art, FranÃ§ois Cluzet, Nathalie Cardone, AndrÃ© Wilms, Marc Lavoine, Christiane Minazzoli, Dora Doll, Mario David, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Thomas Chabrol, NoÃ«l Simsolo, Yves Verhoeven, Amaya Antolin, Jean-Claude Barbier, Claire De Beaumont, Pierre-FranÃ§ois Dumeniaud, RenÃ© Gouzenne, Marie-ThÃ©rÃ¨se Izar, Dominique Jambert, Louis De Leotoing d'Anjony
Director: Claude Chabrol
Studio: Fox Lorber
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Paul (François Cluzet) and Nelly (Emmanuelle Béart) have what seems to be a storybook marriage. They love each other madly and have worked together to turn their little lakeside inn into a gorgeous resort getaway while raising an adorable son. But there's a problem: Paul is convinced Nelly is having an affair and his jealousy spins to insane proportions. Hallucinations and nightmares twist his dementia until he imagines her sleeping with every man in sight, and his obsessive spying turns Nelly's life into a living hell. Claude Chabrol (director of La Cérémonie, known as the Gallic Hitchcock for his cool thrillers of obsessive love and homicidal passion, created his film from an original unfilmed screenplay by Henri-George Clouzot (Les Diaboliques). He injects Clouzot's dark, misanthropic tale with a soupçon of Hitchcock's voyeuristic obsession, but ultimately makes the film his own with unexpected sympathy for Paul, whose pathological jealousy spins out of control in a chilling conclusion that leaves the viewers uncomfortably nestled in his madness. The film faced charges of misogyny upon release largely because Chabrol remained steadfast in his portrayal of Paul not as a monster but a victim of madness (somewhat at the expense of Nelly, an angelic sexpot whose loyalty and love is almost sacrificial), but ultimately that's what gives L'Enfer its unsettling power. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

great film stained & sacked by shallow reviews.......2007-06-14

this movie is a modern day tragedy about marriage gone south, about adulteries, blind lust over moraltiy and faithfulness, about silent suffering of broken heart, about desperation, about the desire to retrieve lost love, about wonderful daughter who shuttled between two places just to keep company with her mother, about the unfaithful and heartless husband who treated his wife like nobody and lived in a lie that he could never get out, about a daughter and father committed an unforgivable incest, about a married professor who committed adultery with his student, about hypocrite big words in the classroom, talking about life, love, death, the morality, the value of life, cheating his students, his wife, his family and himself, guided only by his animal lust instead of his morality. the lowest of the low.
the silent sufferings and desperation of the wife being cheated constantly by her husband was the best you could get from a movie.
when marriage is on the rock, it's like a broken mirror that could never be amended or repaired and put together to its original perfect condition, every piece of the broken mirror could only carry and reflect a piece of shattered image of it, nothing would be the same, nothing would work, nothing would mean anything at all anymore. to maintain a marriage just because of the kids, for the kids sake, is the worst situation that the person being cheated to deal with.
i just don't want to get into the incest part, just like i don't usually like to get into the homosexuality part. so i'd like to keep out of it this time again.
french movies about love, mistress, affairs, adulteries might be the best you could get for these subjects, because there's a saying that every french man and woman, married or single, got a lover. you've got to watch these movies to confirm it.
there's also a saying that because the french people don't like to take showers so often, they invent the perfume and cologne to cover up their body odors. that's why french perfumes and cologne are the best and the most expensive. so you've got to skip showers regularly or daily to wear cologne or perfumes made in france. but that might be totally irrelevant. just joking.

"She's flown the coop.".......2004-11-12

Paul (Francois Cluzet) and Nelly (Emmanuelle Beart) Prieur own and manage a lakeside hotel--a romantic place with an idyllic location that appeals to lovers. Paul is under a great deal of strain--the hotel is a tremendous financial burden, and every time Paul turns his back for a moment, Nelly seems to be running off to town on some shopping spree or another. Paul begins to suspect that his beautiful wife may be having an affair with a local car mechanic, and Paul's jealousy pushes him over the edge into madness.

Emmanuelle Beart is one of the most beautiful actresses in French cinema. Unfortunately this often translates to roles in which Beart is a face only. In Claude Chabrol's "L'Enfer" however, Beart is allowed to act, and she does so beautifully. When the film begins, she is the somewhat indulged wife--she dresses provocatively with plunging necklines and mini-skirts. When Paul objects to her absences or suspicious stories, she reacts playfully, making faces before she flounces off. The role of Nelly allows Beart to show her acting range, and during the course of the film she deteriorates from a giddy girl to a pathetically withdrawn terrified woman. Nelly is one of Beart's best roles. Francois Cluzet is excellent as the suffocating husband who feels impotent in the face of his wife's desirability.

Many professional critics call Chabrol, the 'French Hitchcock' and it's easy to see why in "L'Enfer." The setting of the film is an excellent choice. After all, Nelly and Paul's marriage is semi-public property. Neither of them can sneeze without one of the guests observing it. Paul and Nelly are stuck in this haven of relaxation, but underneath the surface, festering tension is ready to explode. "L'Enfer" seems like a simple story of an abusive husband who becomes consumed with jealousy. Jealousy indeed is a monster, for the more Paul feeds it, the hungrier it becomes. Nelly appears innocent--but is she? Chabrol toys with various possibilities here, and the surreal ending leaves even more questions. Fans of French cinema should enjoy the film, and find much to speculate about long after the final scene--displacedhuman

A choice piece of Cinematic presentation.......2004-03-19

This is a wonderful piece of work. It makes you tingle they way in which jealosy is portrayed as a person living in fear, anger and desperation. The iterview and commentary from the the director was also profound.

One of the best films I've ever seen.

This don't Be-art.......2003-08-22

The film: "What a horrible little film Claude Chabrol has made!" [I translate loosely.] The French reviews must have gone something like this. When the critics of Cahiers du Cinema gave the nod of approval to an "auteur", it was nearly impossible for him to fall from grace. In re-watching "l'Enfer", I can at least speak for myself in saying that he wrote himself off of the list of directors in whom I place some trust... and into the shadowy realm of "has-been"s. I would be surprised if the critics felt differently.

Why do I despise this film so intensely? First and foremost, none of it is in the least bit original... or believable. Paul and Nelly meet one afternoon at his newly purchased hotel, as by chance. He looks her over, clowns around a bit, etc. Flash forward to wedding. And so on. There is no relationship developed between the two, nor any reason for their love to exist at all. I can forgive one such transgression in the first five minutes of a film, but come on! I mean... to call this plot Swiss cheese does cows everywhere a helluva disservice! Paul's reasons for doubting his wife's fidelity are based on loose, circumstantial evidence, yet, somehow, this kind father and doting husband slips into a personal hell of his own creation: INSANE jealousy! Is Chabrol kidding with this crap? I can't believe that this is the same director who gave us such an honest, compelling vision of psychosis 25 years earlier in "Les Bonnes Femmes". What could have happened over that time for to have regressed to creating this imbecilic, one-sided portrait of obsession that is nearly as silly a cautionary tale as "Reefer Madness".

It is almost pointless to evaluate the performances of the cast, given the poor quality of the script (not to mention editing that manifestly shows that Chabrol's cinematic "language" never made it out of the 1960s)... but I will. Emmanuelle Beart is superb, as she usually is, as a bouncy, innocently flirtacious young wife and later as a battered, defeated prisoner of the evil Paul. Her talents are utterly wasted here, for, as one of the garage mechanics said in Stephen King's "Christine", "You can't polish a turd." Francois Cluzet delivers an over-the-top Paul that ranks up there with Eric Roberts' performance in "Star 80" (though not nearly as convincing.) Sure, he's got ample reason to be insecure... but the dizzying heights to which he carries his all-consuming distrust simply aren't warranted by the scanty clues of his cuckolding. The rest of the cast are fine in their nearly invisible roles.

Final words on the film: If this is supposed to be "mature" work, it is little wonder that Chabrol has been excluded from winning nearly every major award. I am frankly shocked that the great Clouzot wrote the majority of this screenplay. I'd like to think that Chabrol's adaptation is at fault, but perhaps there was a reason that Clouzot never shot it. In sum, the only "hell" is sitting through this mindless exercise in misogyny.

The DVD: Possibly the worst transfer in my 1000+ DVD collection. Here are some general adjectives: dull, muted, washed out, grainy, pixellated (wish I'd been when I was watching it!), dark... and riddled with artifacts, flashes and even skips! No... not just DVD skips, of which there were plenty, but ACTUAL GAPS IN THE FILM! What kinda busted, to' up print did Fox Lorber use for this transfer? It looks worse than the VHS. I even have a suspicion that a VHS tape was the source, and an over-rented one at that. Oh... and let me hurl one last insult at this disgraceful, cocktail coaster of a DVD: When I said "dark" before, I meant that the night scenes were so black at times that my television threatened to collapse on itself and suck me through a black hole in to the land of bad cinema. But, no worries... I got there on foot by the end of the film!

My verdict: A must-not see. A waste of money. I'd be afraid to sell this kind of garbage on eBay and would pity the fool who'd buy it (as I foolishly did.) I'm tempted to write out the 101 best uses for this DVD, though I'd exceed Amazon's 1000 word limit. The bottom line is... If you like Claude Chabrol, see "Les Biches" or "Les Bonnes Femmes" or "Le Boucher"... or nearly any of his pre-1970 films. If you like Emmanuelle Beart, see "Manon des Souces" or "La Belle Noiseuse" (and by the way... If you want to see her in the nude, you're out of luck in "l'Enfer", you dirty rascal!) And if you like Francois Cluzet, I seriously question whether you recognize good acting, despite the fact that he's appeared in several solid films. [Question: Do you also think that Jean-Pierre Leaud was a fine performer after "The 400 Blows", when he "learned" to "act", simply because he starred in "Porcile" and "Last Tango in Paris"?]

I'm going to sprinkle myself with holy water after this abomination and turn in for the night. If you choose to buy this film, heedless of my words, you may want to invite your local exorcist over to watch it with you.

Can't decide one way or the other........2003-05-26

For the first half hour of L'Enfer, and with an urgent pace, Chabrol shows every reason and indication that Nelly is cheating on Paul. But after that, it becomes frusterating and hard to know for sure.

Product Description

Belgium released, PAL/Region 0 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. LANGUAGES: Dutch (Dolby Digital 2.0), Dutch (Subtitles), English (Subtitles), French (Subtitles), WIDESCREEN (1.66:1), SYNOPSIS: Three 'Bukowskian' torrid nights in the life of a man in search of love. Harry Voss, 12, is young and naive. Love, for him, is romantic love between princes and princesses demurely kissing each other on the mouth. His father is a hero who kidnapped his mother and married her on a lonely mountain peak... Later on, he'll do the same. But Harry has a lot to learn. He learns about 'being hot' and 'fucking' and about what you have to do when you're alone and 'feel the itch'. He also learns that there are handsome men and ugly ones, that love can be unfair. That one can find comfort in drinking... but above all he learns that man is capable of anything - absolutely anything! - to get his fair share of love. SPECIAL FEATURES: Documentary, Interactive Menu, Short Film, Trailer(s),

Claude Chabrol's Tales of Deceit (Betty / The Color of Lies / Cop Au Vin / L'Enfer / Inspecteur Lavardin)

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Claude Chabrol's Tales of Deceit (Betty / The Color of Lies / Cop Au Vin / L'Enfer / Inspecteur Lavardin)
Starring: Sandrine Bonnaire , Jacques Gamblin , Antoine de Caunes , Valeria Bruni Tedeschi , and Bernard Verley
Director: Claude Chabrol
Manufacturer: Kino Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000HT3Q1O
Release Date: 2006-11-21

Anatomie de l'Enfer (Anatomy of Hell) (Uncut) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.0 Import - Australia ]

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Unforgettable

Anatomie de l'Enfer (Anatomy of Hell) (Uncut) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.0 Import - Australia ]
Director: Catherine Breillat
Manufacturer: AV Channel
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Australia released, PAL/Region 0 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. Languages: o English (subtitles) o French (Dolby Digital 2.0) Synopsis: In those places where people mingle without meeting, where the techno beat controls the bodies' impulses, they dance, sway and blend in the primeval hydra of other men's bodies. In their sudden desire for each other, they are all men together, without the need of others. She is the Girl, breathtakingly beautiful, yet ignored by them. In the toilets, she cuts her wrists with a razor. Two thin, parallel lines that meet only in the blood. And this is how they meet. He doesn't like women; she will pay him to look at her, as she says : -"From the angle from which she should never be viewed" - It will cost you," he says - I'll pay you." Four nights. In a house in the middle of nowhere, perched on the cliffs and whose front steps are lined by four columns. For the desirability of women arises from the way in which men look at them. Four nights to confront the unspoken, to explore what can't be shown: that which is secret. Because the nudity of bodies pierces the nudity of souls and reveals their conscience. Intimacy is the greatest possible taboo that leaves you speechless. Cine-provocateur Catherine Breillat (Romance, Fat Girl) delivers her most confrontational and sensual film yet: a stark, graphic dissection of the male-female sexual dynamic. "After finishing ROMANCE, I immediately felt like remaking the film. Not that I wanted to disown it, but I knew that the subject had two sides to it, an obverse and a reverse, hell and horror, if you prefer. This time I have decided to see it through to the end. I have decided that I couldnt go any further, that the Xth film would be the conclusion of a Decalogue. The X: The Anatomy of Hell. " Special Features: o Interactive Menu o Making Of o Photo Gallery o Scene Access o Trailer(s) o Uncut

Customer Reviews:

Unforgettable.......2006-01-26

Once you've seen this film you won't forget it. It's like a bad dream you can't forget. The crude questions that this film raises and the visceral way Catherine Breillat depicts the "unwatchable" scenes are haunting and it makes you think -- a prospect many costumers of this product may or may not prefer to remain ignorant of.

Average customer rating:

Not too memorable Chabrol flick about jealousy.

The Kimstim Collection: L'Enfer
Starring: Emmanuelle Béart , Nathalie Cardone , Jean-Pierre Cassel , Thomas Chabrol , and François Cluzet
Director: Claude Chabrol
Manufacturer: Kino Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Release Date: 2005-08-02

Customer Reviews:

Not too memorable Chabrol flick about jealousy........2006-03-02

Hell (L'Enfer) features Francois Cluzet as the husband who literally flies into a jealous rage at the suspicion that his wife is cheating on him with the town mechanic. With Emmanuelle Beart as his wife, it's not very hard at all to imagine someone insanely jealous over their wife's looks. This movie is full of iconic images of one of the most beautiful acresses in cinema history, including one where Cluzet secretly tails her and sees her putting on lipstick in a window reflection.

There isn't the normal suspense associated with some other Chabrol film, particularly because no upfront crimes are committed and the only person in turmoil, is the husband with himself. It doesn't bring too much tension to the film, until we near the end.

Cluzet's jealousy hits rock bottom when he assembles with family and friends to watch one of their amateur films. First the actual film shows innocent interaction with Beart and the mechanic (he helps her remove her shoes), and then it turns to scenes from Cluzet's mind (the mechanic kissing Beart's feet), until he goes ballistic in front of everyone. Some people criticized this character's descent into jealousy, but I found it to be quite believable.

lt's worth one viewing, but it's nowhere near Chabrol's best. It's just not a juicy enough thriller, or a steady enough drama to keep us pinned for the duration, or wanting a second viewing. This new Kimstim Collection is the 2nd DVD release of the film, and this one features select scenes with audio commentary by Chabrol.

Average customer rating:

great film stained & sacked by shallow reviews
"She's flown the coop."
A choice piece of Cinematic presentation
This don't Be-art
Can't decide one way or the other.

L' Enfer [Region 2]
Starring: Emmanuelle Béart , François Cluzet , Nathalie Cardone , André Wilms , and Marc Lavoine
Director: Claude Chabrol
ProductGroup: DVD
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Customer Reviews:

great film stained & sacked by shallow reviews.......2007-06-14

"She's flown the coop.".......2004-11-12

A choice piece of Cinematic presentation.......2004-03-19

One of the best films I've ever seen.

This don't Be-art.......2003-08-22

Can't decide one way or the other........2003-05-26

Product Description

- Panoramique (:1) - Adapte aux ecrans 16X9 - 2.0 Dolby Surround Le Supplement: Reflections d'Enfer (NOn Classe) In Paris, dans les annees 80, un homme libere de prison est rejete pas sa femme. A bout de nerfs, il la frappe sauvagement, puis se jette par la fenetre sous les yeux de ses trois filles. Aujourd'hui les trois soeurs maintenant adultes, vivent chacune leurs vies. Le lien familial est rompu. Sophie, l'ainee est mariee a Pieree, un photographe avec qui elle a eu deux enfants. Leur couple vacille. Celine, celibataire, est la seule a s'occuper de la mere impotente placee dans une maison de retraite. Anne, etudiante en architecture, a une relation passionnelle avec Frederic, l'un de ses professeurs. Un jeune homme va entrer en contact avec Celine. Sebastien, plein de charme, semble vouloir la seduire. Le revelation qu'il va lui faire va rapprocher les trois soeur, leur permettre d'accepter leur passe et peut-etre d'oser vivre pleinment. In Paris in the 1980's a man fresh from his release from prison, is rejected by his wife. After a violent confrontation he throws himself from his appartment window. This is witnessed by his young daughters. In present day in Paris, the sisters, now grown up, live in their own lives. The family bonds are broken. Sophie, the eldest, is married with young children, but suspect her photographer husbund of having an affair. The youngest sister, Anne, is a student involved in a messy relationship with one of her tutors. Middle sister Celine lives a solitary and joyless life, caring for their diffcult mother. When a young man starts to take an interest in her, she little suspects the ture motive behind his approaches.

L'Enfer [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - United Kingdom ]

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L'Enfer [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - United Kingdom ]
Director: Claude Chabrol
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000F5JQ96

Product Description

United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. LANGUAGES: French (Dolby Digital 2.0), English (Subtitles), ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN (1.85:1), SYNOPSIS: Paul, an irritable and stressed-out hotel manager, begins to gradually develop paranoid delusions about his wife's infidelity. As he succumbs to green-eyed jealousy, his life starts to crumble. Each step on his downward spiral to madness seems to accelerate, driving him further along the path to a personal hell. Finally, the former shell of his personality cracks completely, with tragic consequences. SPECIAL FEATURES: Cast/Crew Interview(s), Commentary, Interactive Menu, Scene Access,

Karmina 2 - K2 (Original French Version - With English Subtitles)

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Karmina 2 - K2 (Original French Version - With English Subtitles)

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Following the first Karmina, all the vampires need to take the special potion to be humans. The potion is made by Ghyslain Chatbot (Gildor Roy) and send to Transylvania for the others vampires. Chatbot's wife (Diane Lavallée) isn't a vampire yet and she wish to be one. Ghyslain doesn't want to because of all the rules & responsabilities of being a vampire. She throw Ghylsain out of the house without the potion. Ghyslain try to get back in there to get the potion for the others with the help of Vlad (Yves Pelletier). Meanwhile, Philippe (Robert Brouillette) comes to Montréal because they're running out of potion in Transylvania.

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Tournée d'Enfer
Starring: Renaud
Manufacturer: EMI Int'l
ProductGroup: DVD
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