The Flower of Evil (2003)

After four years in USA, François Vasseur (Benoît Magimel) returns to France and his father Gérard Vasseur (Bernard Le Coq) welcomes him at the airport and brings François home. François meet with stepmother Anne Charpin-Vasseur (Nathalie Baye), his stepsister Michèle Charpin-Vasseur (Mélanie Doutey) and his Aunt Line (Suzanne Flon) that has prepared a lamprey for lunch.The family has secrets: François and Michèle are in love with each other; Aunt Line is haunted by her past; and the womanizer Gérard, who has a laboratory and a pharmacy, hates that Anne is running for the election for Mayor.When a leaflet exposes the despicable scandal of their family, Anne is afraid of how this will affect her electorate while Michèle and François believe that Gérard has written and distributed the pamphlet. After the election there is an unexpected death that will certainly affect the Charpin-Vasseur family."La Fleur du Mal", a.k.a. "The Flower of Evil", is a dark family drama about a family with many secrets, including an incestuous relationship and collaboration with the Nazis and a murder in World War II. The story is slowly developed with open conclusion, with another great direction of Claude Chabrol and magnificent performances, highlighting Suzanne Flon in the role of a very clever old woman. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): Not Available

Although not immediately likable, the film left an imprint. The director has combined french cinematography-descriptive shots and gradual development-with Hollywood tradition-blatant dialogue and excited drama. The use of dialogue was often unnecessary and the same goals could have been reached through more refined acting, ie. the discussion of schedules or chauffeurs. Although this detracted, the aunt's narration was at times profound -"life is perpetual"-and provided continuity in the story. This idea was also supported by the repetition of the stair shot, seen in the beginning and end. Other ingenious shots included the bouncing head of the father moving up the stairs and the splicing of old and new environments during the aunt's recollections. This is a worthwhile film; it has the momentum of a classic dramatic film with the introspectiveness of a novel.

The picture talks upon a bourgeois family formed by parents previously divorced (Bernard Le Coq and Natalie Baye) , sons (Benoit Maginel and Melanie Doutey) and grandmother (Suzanne Flon). Terrible secrets emerge and are creating a spiral of consequences until lead to a tragic final .The movie is well directed by Claude Chabrol who's deemed to be a master in the suspense genre , besides is considered as an initiator of the new wave or nouvelle vague , this movement had got splendor during the 60s . It's habitual in Chabrol films to deal with particular issues, thus : Obsession , adulteries , assassinations , jealousy , treason and he makes a penetrating description of the middle bourgeois class . All those characters are well narrated in the film . The cast is excellent , Benoit Maginel is good , Melanie Doutey is beautiful and attractive . Natalie Baye and the veteran Suzanne Flonn are impressive. Cinematography by Eduardo Serra (Young of the earring pearl ) is nicely made although mostly developed at interior scenarios. The film will appeal to suspense fans and Claude Chabrol moviegoers. Rating : Above average. Well catching.

This film, which follows on in the same vein as "Merci Pour Le Chocolat", has recently been issued on DVD in France in the "Claude Chabrol Collection". The DVD ( region 2 ) as well as a fair number of boni has English subtitles as an option ( something unfortunately lacking on most of the DVD's of French Films edited in France ). This means that anglo-saxons who perchance like Chabrol can buy the DVD from French Websites and appreciate the film even if they don't master the French language.Apart from this practical piece of information with regards to the film itself, the cast comprises a set of well-known French actors, with the exception of the young 'uns ( Benoît Magimel and the Delicious looking Mélanie DOutey who is doubtless the daughter of Alain Doutey, and older French actor whom I know and like). Bernard Le Coq is a common figure in French TV films and is recognisable due to his heavy breathing thru the nose ( as opposed to the throat !!! ). Suzanne Flon is a very elegant lady, and I do have a soft spot for Nathalie Baye (ex wifey of Johnny Halliday) tho' in this film she doesn't look her best. Nice actors, good picture quality and set in the Bordeaux area of South-Western France with forays out to a house near the Sand Dunes of Pyla on the coast. The film is basically about the skeletons in the cupboard of this upper-class recomposed family with sempiternal references to the "Régime de Vichy". All that's getting to be old hat now, it's over 60 years since the events in question but there seems to be a current fad for digging up all this past, probably induced by the trial a few years back of one Maurice Papon, prefect in the same area who had sth to do with the deportation of Jews.Nathalie Baye is running in the local council elections but someone isn't too happy about that and an anonymous tract turns up early on in the film condemning the family and their past. This doesn't stop Baye from pursuing her campaigning. We learn later on who the author of the tract was ( could have guessed it fairly early on with a little mental exercise ), there's also a murder, limited sex between the young 'uns and we also learn about the skeleton in the cupboard of Tante Line played by Suzanne FLon. The film is watchable, but don't expect the good old Hitchcock-style suspense, it just isn't there and the ending is as bland as can be. I wasn't bored because I liked the actors and the sets, but the scenario wasn't much cop to be honest. I do like our friend Claude Chabrol's "bouille" and he has done some good films in the past ( cf Le Boucher ) but perhaps here age is taking its toll !! I found this film to be better than Merci Pour Le Chocolat which really was painful to watch but some of the dialogues are rather stilted and theatrical. Probably Nathalie Baye and Suzanne Flon come off best.The other annoying thing about the film is the primal, stupid and typically to be expected French anti-americanism which appears at time throughout the film. Magimel has just spent 4 yrs in Chicago and there is some scorn poured on American values and also American cuisine. This is pointless and stupid but was presumably included to satisfy French audiences who see it today as the "in" thing to be anti-American. However, these attitudes do not dominate the film which is more a satire of French "bourgeois" ( I think the word's a bit outdated today ) society !So really a film to be watched "à ses propres risques et périls" ( at your own risk !!) and certainly nothing to write home about !