The Flower of Evil (2003)
64 %
Reviews Counted: 58 Fresh: 37 Rotten:21 Average Rating: 6.2/10
Runtime: 1 hr 44 mins
Theatrical Release: Oct 10, 2003 Limited
Synopsis: Claude Chabrol's 50th feature, THE FLOWER OF EVIL, feels like familiar territory for this New Wave master. A cryptic opening scene, in which the camera floats through abandoned rooms of the family's picture-perfect Bordeaux chateau, sets the mood for a black comedy with murderous... [More]
Genre: Foreign Films
Starring: Nathalie Baye, Benoit Magimel, Bernard Lecoq, Suzanne Flon, Thomas Chabrol
Director: Claude Chabrol
Screenwriter: Caroline Eliacheff, Louise L. Lambrichs, Claude Chabrol
Producer: Marin Karmitz
Composer: Matthieu Chabrol
Screenwriter: Caroline Eliacheff, Louise L. Lambrichs, Claude Chabrol
Producer: Marin Karmitz
Composer: Matthieu Chabrol
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Reviews
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01/26/06
There's a solid message here about wealth and hypocrisy, but it's watered down by the opaque storytelling.
07/11/04
Chabrol has his moments of visual wit ... but mostly The Flower of Evil is a poky and uninvolving thriller of knotted family ties and convoluted histories.
04/23/04
Neither as shocking nor as enlightening as it obviously intends to be -- or as it believes itself to be.
04/23/04
The strength of this movie is how it starts as a standard whodunit only to become something else: a cunning Chabrol study of incest and old money peppered with a wicked sense of humor.
04/09/04
Top Critic
Chabrol's major theme seems to be that life is cyclical and history repeats.
03/30/04
Leave reason behind, back in steerage class, and simply breathe in the foibles of the (upper) crust on this crème brûlée.
01/09/04
Top Critic
Told without drama, as if this were just an ordinary family, it is the subtleties of the details that win you over.
11/28/03
Each of the characters in the film is so real, so fully drawn, that you feel you know him or her as a person, not as fiction.
11/28/03
Top Critic
The lighting is spectacular, the cinematography by Eduardo Serra, the spare music by Matthieu Chabrol, the production design by Françoise Benoît-Fresco -- all make this a joy to watch.
11/22/03
Although there are wonderful moments to enjoy and a certain dry wit that's specifically French, and specifically Chabrol, the meandering story tests one's patience.
11/21/03
Flower toys with us, holding back information and hinting that there's more to the story than meets the eye.
11/21/03
Top Critic
The picture wanders a bit, but every so often the master unleashes something very cool -- such as an ominous birdcage looming in the foreground -- that snaps us back in.
11/17/03
Chabrol's examination of intergenerational guilt takes awhile to arrive at the station, but the characters and dialogue -- screenplay by Caroline Eliacheff -- are sophisticated and properly witty.
11/14/03
Top CriticRelated Forums
THE FLOWER OF EVIL will only bloom for die-hard Claude Chabrol fans?
by: REEL_REVIEWER 7/23/05
by: REEL_REVIEWER 7/23/05
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