Generally considered to be the first film of the New Wave although Agnes Varda's 'Le Pointe Courte' had appeared three years earlier, this is a far cry from the baroque, stylistic excesses of Claude Chabrol's 'Cahiers' contemporaries. It is indeed more akin to Italian neo-realism and Henri Decae's low contrast, natural lighting emphasises the unutterable dreariness of Sardent, a backwater where the director had spent the war years.
The linchpin of the piece is the dichotomy between the Serge of the title who is anything but 'beau' and the cultivated Francois. In keeping with Chabrol's Catholicism he has Francois determined to help his hapless friend but his bourgeois self-delusion merely serves to widen the gulf.
The performances of Jean-Claude Brialy and Gérard Blain are exceptional as they were to be in this director's companion piece 'Les Cousins' which represents the other side of the coin whilst the nineteen year old Bernadette Lafont who had earlier appeared with Blain in Truffaut's 'Les Mistons', utilises her primal sexuality to the utmost as Marie. Excellent support from Claude Cerval as an ineffectual priest, Michele Méritz as Serge's long-suffering wife and Edmond Beauchamp as a drunken lecher who may or may not be Marie's father. New Wave films were known for their little 'in-jokes' and Chabrol makes a brief appearance as does his assistant director Philippe de Broca who answers to the name Jacques Rivette!
This is an exceptional directorial debut by any standards and although a little rough around the edges, has at its centre real 'heart', an element one does not readily associate with his subsequent works, despite their technical polish.
The linchpin of the piece is the dichotomy between the Serge of the title who is anything but 'beau' and the cultivated Francois. In keeping with Chabrol's Catholicism he has Francois determined to help his hapless friend but his bourgeois self-delusion merely serves to widen the gulf.
The performances of Jean-Claude Brialy and Gérard Blain are exceptional as they were to be in this director's companion piece 'Les Cousins' which represents the other side of the coin whilst the nineteen year old Bernadette Lafont who had earlier appeared with Blain in Truffaut's 'Les Mistons', utilises her primal sexuality to the utmost as Marie. Excellent support from Claude Cerval as an ineffectual priest, Michele Méritz as Serge's long-suffering wife and Edmond Beauchamp as a drunken lecher who may or may not be Marie's father. New Wave films were known for their little 'in-jokes' and Chabrol makes a brief appearance as does his assistant director Philippe de Broca who answers to the name Jacques Rivette!
This is an exceptional directorial debut by any standards and although a little rough around the edges, has at its centre real 'heart', an element one does not readily associate with his subsequent works, despite their technical polish.