A film by the first Chabrol, very different from his deliberate and soberly planned detective stories of the seventies and in line with the first nouvelle vague: brash, fresh, arrogantly groundbreaking, but often gratuitous and capricious pyrotechnics, making indiscriminate use of all the film resources available.
To do this, it benefits from the magnificent cinematography of Henri Decae, who played a decisive role in many of the films of the first stage of the nouvelle vague (Ascenseur pour l'échafaud, Les 400 coups, or Le beau Serge by Chabrol himself).
Naturally many magnificent scenes in the streets of Paris, especially at night; some nouvelle vague eroticism, rather brainless young ladies who spend their time flirting, pouting, waddling and pronouncing the consonants in capricious tones, buffoonish and irritating male characters, and an innovative and at times enormously interesting sense of rhythm.
The most interesting thing is the modern feminist tone that shows a group of young women without possibilities or a future, at the mercy of abusive men (even criminals) who use them without regard.
There are scenes of a strong symbolic character, others that are a display of staging, many are dead times of variable interest. The scenes of the girls getting bored in the store (in clear correspondence with the caged animals in the zoo) are the most brilliant of the film.
The problem is that the film lacks rhythm, many of the plot lines are not interesting, the comedy character is at times crude, and many scenes are just bad jokes. Naturally there is much in it of the supposed virtues of the nouvelle vague, of that "anything goes, if it turns out spontaneously", which makes the results of its great authors so irregular.
Another problem is that it can frustrate the viewer's expectations, who expect a policeman and find an unclassifiable comedy. As always in Chabrol, during the first hour hardly anything happens, but in this case it's not like much happens in the rest of the film either.
In the cast, two of the actresses stand out: Stephane Audran is the one who takes the role with the greatest brilliance, and she is absolutely magnificent. Bernadette Laffont is beautiful, but her role once again doesn't allow her to shine beyond the sexy and provocative young lady.
A film of enormous interest, which serves to remind us of Chabrol's participation in the nouvelle vague (whose most famous and recognizable films are later and of a markedly different and more cerebral style).
To do this, it benefits from the magnificent cinematography of Henri Decae, who played a decisive role in many of the films of the first stage of the nouvelle vague (Ascenseur pour l'échafaud, Les 400 coups, or Le beau Serge by Chabrol himself).
Naturally many magnificent scenes in the streets of Paris, especially at night; some nouvelle vague eroticism, rather brainless young ladies who spend their time flirting, pouting, waddling and pronouncing the consonants in capricious tones, buffoonish and irritating male characters, and an innovative and at times enormously interesting sense of rhythm.
The most interesting thing is the modern feminist tone that shows a group of young women without possibilities or a future, at the mercy of abusive men (even criminals) who use them without regard.
There are scenes of a strong symbolic character, others that are a display of staging, many are dead times of variable interest. The scenes of the girls getting bored in the store (in clear correspondence with the caged animals in the zoo) are the most brilliant of the film.
The problem is that the film lacks rhythm, many of the plot lines are not interesting, the comedy character is at times crude, and many scenes are just bad jokes. Naturally there is much in it of the supposed virtues of the nouvelle vague, of that "anything goes, if it turns out spontaneously", which makes the results of its great authors so irregular.
Another problem is that it can frustrate the viewer's expectations, who expect a policeman and find an unclassifiable comedy. As always in Chabrol, during the first hour hardly anything happens, but in this case it's not like much happens in the rest of the film either.
In the cast, two of the actresses stand out: Stephane Audran is the one who takes the role with the greatest brilliance, and she is absolutely magnificent. Bernadette Laffont is beautiful, but her role once again doesn't allow her to shine beyond the sexy and provocative young lady.
A film of enormous interest, which serves to remind us of Chabrol's participation in the nouvelle vague (whose most famous and recognizable films are later and of a markedly different and more cerebral style).