Wedding in Blood (1974)

Synopsis: In BLOOD WEDDING, Claude Chabrol (LE BOUCHER, LES BONNES FEMMES, MADAME BOVARY) extends his usual stinging examination of the French bourgeoisie family into the exaggerated realm of the tragi-comic, all the while maintaining his signature elements of psychological terror and thrilling... In BLOOD WEDDING, Claude Chabrol (LE BOUCHER, LES BONNES FEMMES, MADAME BOVARY) extends his usual stinging examination of the French bourgeoisie family into the exaggerated realm of the tragi-comic, all the while maintaining his signature elements of psychological terror and thrilling yet detached suspense. Based on an actual French murder case, BLOOD WEDDING is the story of two lovers, each stuck in loveless marriages. Lucienne (Stephane Audran) is married to the frigid and obtuse Paul, who is the semi-corrupt mayor of their small town. Pierre (Michel Piccoli) is Paul's deputy mayor, and is married to a chronically ill and lifeless wife. An illicit affair of exaggerated passion explodes between Pierre and Lucienne and for a while, their passion is enough for them. However, when Pierre's wife mysteriously dies, and Lucienne's husband discovers her infidelity, the plot switches from its seemingly sleepy bourgeois tale of marital troubles and delves into the film noir stylings that could be compared to THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE. The political duplicitousness enacted by Paul and Pierre behind closed doors in the small town's government offices is mirrored and magnified in the fractured narrative of the deranged and depraved transaction between the three players in this tale of love and lust gone sour. [More]