Feburary 26th: THE BUTCHER (Claude Chabrol, 1970)

A schoolteacher begins a friendship with a local butcher as a series of murders shocks their small town.



Claude Chabrol was one of the founding members of the French New Wave in the late 1950's, when a group of critics began making their own films, influencing countless others across Europe and the Unites States. Unlike the more experimental works of peers Jean Luc-Godard and Jacques Rivette, or the more humanistic works of Eric Rohmer and François Truffaut, Chabrol spend most of his career making suspense films, earning him the moniker as the "French Hitchcock".



After a handful of smaller, personal films and a brief stint as a director for hire, Chabrol entered a heavily-stylized period in the late 1960's which elevated him to the master status he carried through the rest of his career. Working frequently with then-wife Stéphane Audran, he released six films in three years, all of which are considered classics of the thriller genre.



What separated Chabrol from his contemporaries in the genre was his recurring examination of bourgeois hypocrisy with regard to morals and ethics, peeking behind the curtain of mundane and gentile settings. In this peak period, his visual usage of space drew comparisons by some critics to the works of Fritz Lang and, naturally, Hitchcock.



The film was shot primarily in the town of Trémolat, along with a memorable scene taking place in the Cougnac Caves, a tourist site featuring prehistoric paintings. Chabrol veteran Jean Rabiard did the cinematography, one of over fifteen films the pair collaborated on (Rabiard also worked on Jacques Demy's classic musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg).



While box office totals aren't available, supposedly over one million people in France paid to see the film, making it a large success. Audran was nominated for a British Film Academy award for her performance. The Butcher is now regarded by some critics to be Chabrol's best work. Roger Ebert has added it to his Great Movies collection of long reviews.



Running time is approximately 90 minutes.