Clouzot is at his finest winding up the tension as he uses classic noir to emphasize the oppressive nature of a school and the brutality of it's philandering Headmaster. However, his sombre vision allows him to take a brilliant step and twist the noir staple of two men competing for one woman around completely. Here two women who should be rivals become conspirators in a relationship with strong lesbian undertones. The film gave a wonderful opportunity for Signoret to escape her usual blonde-goddess casting to take on a masculine edge. While, Vera Clouzot brings us a slender, sickly and fragile woman quite capable of murder. However, the sexual and moral ambiguities are just one thread of the tale as following the murder the certainties of the women's lives begin to break down. We identify with the murderess as her world becomes less and less comprehensible and we question what is real and what supernatural as the film builds to a final twist. As Virginie Sélavy of Electric Sheep puts it

'In Clouzot’s vision, truth is mutable, love is a lie, human relationships are constantly shifting and the human heart is complex, contradictory and compromised.'

Join us for a taste of a master director's classic dark cinematic brew.

Writers: Henri-Georges CLouzot, Jérôme Géronimi, René Masson, Frédéric Grendel Based on the novel Celle qui n’était plus by: Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac Cast: Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, Paul Meurisse, Charles Vanel France 1955

Full £5 concession £3.50 2013 Membership £1

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