505. Le Boucher/The Butcher (1969)

Running Time: 93 minutes
Directed By: Claude Chabrol
Written By: Claude Chabrol
Main Cast: Stephane Audran, Jean Yanne, Antonio Passalia, Pascal Ferone, Mario Beccara

A LOVE STORY...WITH A SERIAL KILLER

Before we get the "Newmania!" festivities underway, I figured I'd pop in the film I received from Netflix today, so that I could get it back in the mailbox. "Le Boucher" is a film that I've been wanting to watch for a long time, but just never got around to it and a film that didn't disappoint, nor overly impress.

Helene (Audran) is the headmistress of a French school and Popaul (Yanne) is a man returning to the same French town, after serving fifteen years in the Army. Popaul is a butcher by trade and has a shop in town. While attending a wedding for mutual friends, Helene and Popaul meet and hit it off. He walks her home that afternoon and finds that she lives in a small apartment, above the school that she instructs at. As the film rolls on, the two ignite more and more of a bond with one another, but nothing ever goes beyond being just good friends. All the while, however, there still seems to be a sexual tension looming in the air, as both characters give off the aroma of sexual desire for one another. When Popaul finally questions Helene about why she doesn't have a lover, she recounts a "broken heart" story and the subject is closed. Meanwhile, there is a serial killer on the loose. This is a dominant theme throughout the picture, but it's something we hear about in the background as we watch the characters of Helene and Popaul dance around the subject of love. While on an outing with her students, however, the serial killer factory hits close to home when Helene discovers the body of a dead girl. More importantly, though, is that she finds Popaul's cigarette lighter at the scene of the crime.

SPOILER ALERT!

I'm really not entirely sure what to make of "La Boucher". I will say that I was definitely intrigued by it and while there wasn't a lot of action, I was still very connected to the film. The dialogue was a bit rusty, for my taste, and that may have lead to the little dislike that I had for the film. You just can't have a film that is mainly driven by the interactions of two characters, and have a lack of gripping dialogue. I wouldn't even go so far as to call it bad dialogue or anything, I just think that for this particular film, the dialogue could've been a little better. I thought that Stephane Audran and Jean Yanne were brilliant together though and had amazing chemistry. Audran especially held my interest, as she was such a beautiful woman, who spewed her words softly and had such a charming and elegant character to work with.
I can't say, though, that I completely understood the ending of the movie. After Popaul stabs himself, he is rushed to the hospital by Helene and eventually dies. Helene goes and parks her car on a riverbank and stares off into the distance, as the film comes to a close. I understand why Popaul kills himself - he is embarrassed that he has been found out by someone that he had such a rapport with and that he actually really loved. There's a beautiful line as Helene is driving Popaul to the hospital, as he tells her that he would have "liked to love her". I think another reason Popaul plunges the knife into his own belly, is because he's afraid that his desire to kill, will overpower his desire for Helene and that he may stab her. In an effort to ensure that he doesn't do that, he just kills himself, because he'd rather harm himself, than harm her. What I'm not fully understanding is Helene's motivations at the end of the film. I don't think her feelings are made very clear. I think she maybe feels like she let her guard down and was almost ready to take the plunge with Popaul and he ended up being a maniac and ultimately dying. I think she had even began to love him back, if even a little bit and when he spoke to her on the way to the hospital, maybe she knew that there was a mutual love there. Perhaps, she was ready to help Popaul hide his secret and build a life with him, if only he hadn't died in the hospital.

This is all pure speculation on my part, but a little personal speculation on a movie is never a bad thing, and it's always good to establish your personal take on any picture that is left open ended. The characters are very likable - we never get to that point where our desire to see Popaul caught overwhelms our desire to see Popaul and Helene further their relationship. I found myself really rooting for these characters to overcome their emotional hurdles and make something together. Chabrol takes about ten minutes at the beginning of the picture and all of a sudden we're in tune with the characters of Helene and Paul. The rest flows along very nicely and any hesitation on my part to give this film a shining nod of approval, is because it may just be a tad too slow and maybe even because I didn't like the direction they went with everything. Otherwise, the film is worth checking out, if even purely to feast your eyes upon the gorgeous Stephane Audran.

RATING: 7/10 I have a feeling this is going to be one of those movies that just eats away at me, until I'm forced to admit how amazing it was and ultimately buy it and watch it again.

MOVIES WATCHED: 324
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 677

August 16, 2011 7:59pm