| Masks | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Claude Chabrol |
| Written by | Odile Barski Claude Chabrol |
| Produced by | Marin Karmitz |
| Starring | Philippe Noiret Robin Renucci |
| Cinematography | Jean Rabier |
| Edited by | Monique Fardoulis |
Release date |
|
Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
Masks (French : Masques) is a 1987 French mystery thriller film directed by Claude Chabrol. It was entered into the 37th Berlin International Film Festival. [1]
Talent show host Christian Legagneur hires a young reporter, Roland Wolf, to write his biography. However, Wolf has ulterior motives - he is also investigating his sister's disappearance.
The film received mixed reviews. Time Out said "Chabrol frames the verbal sparring with characteristic precision, but the subtle plot suffers from a surfeit of politesse and a dearth of red-blooded passion." [2] The New York Times called it "something practically unheard of in the vast Chabrol filmography: a thriller that satisfies the audience's expectations of a thriller, even including the childlike hope that good will be rewarded and evil punished", and added "although the suspense is skillfully engineered, you can't help feeling Mr. Chabrol's boredom with it." [3] Jonathan Rosenbaum said it was "good, serviceable, quasi-Hitchcockian fun", but not especially memorable. [4] Craig Williams on the BFI site was more positive: "The idea of the bourgeois mask concealing murderous impulses is prevalent throughout the director’s work, but there’s a streak of self-awareness in Masques... that marks this as one of his best films of the 80s." [5]
Claude Henri Jean Chabrol was a French film director and a member of the French New Wave group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. Like his colleagues and contemporaries Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Éric Rohmer and Jacques Rivette, Chabrol was a critic for the influential film magazine Cahiers du cinéma before beginning his career as a film maker.
Isabelle Anne Madeleine Huppert is a French actress. Known for her portrayals of austere and morally compromised women, she is considered one of the preeminent actresses of her generation. Huppert is the most nominated actress at the César Awards with 16 overall and 2 wins and is also the recipient of several accolades, including five Lumières Awards, a BAFTA Award, three European Film Awards, two Berlin International Film Festival, three Cannes Film Festival and Venice Film Festival honors, a Golden Globe Award, and an Academy Award nomination. In 2020, The New York Times ranked her second on its list of the greatest actors of the 21st century.
Jean Yanne was a French actor, screenwriter, producer, director and composer. In 1972, he won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in the film We Won't Grow Old Together.
The New Wave, also called the French New Wave, is a French art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentation and a spirit of iconoclasm. New Wave filmmakers explored new approaches to editing, visual style, and narrative, as well as engagement with the social and political upheavals of the era, often making use of irony or exploring existential themes. The New Wave is often considered one of the most influential movements in the history of cinema.
Jacques Rivette was a French film director and film critic most commonly associated with the French New Wave and the film magazine Cahiers du Cinéma. He made twenty-nine films, including L'Amour fou (1969), Out 1 (1971), Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974), and La Belle Noiseuse (1991). His work is noted for its improvisation, loose narratives, and lengthy running times.
The Unfaithful Wife is a 1969 French–Italian crime drama film written and directed by Claude Chabrol and starring Stéphane Audran and Michel Bouquet. The story follows a businessman who, upon his discovery of his wife's infidelity, kills her lover.
The Cry of the Owl is a 1987 French-Italian psychological thriller film, adapted from the 1962 novel The Cry of the Owl by Patricia Highsmith. The film was directed by Claude Chabrol and stars Christophe Malavoy, Mathilda May and Virginie Thévenet.
Henri Decaë gained fame as a cinematographer entering the film industry as a sound engineer and sound editor. He was a photojournalist in the French army during World War II. After the war he began making documentary shorts, directing and photographing industrial and commercial films. In 1947 he made his first feature film.
Georges de Beauregard was a French film producer who produced works by many of the French New Wave directors. In 1968, he was a member of the jury at the 18th Berlin International Film Festival. In 1983 he was awarded a Special César Award, the French national film prize.
Les Cousins is a 1959 French New Wave drama film directed by Claude Chabrol. It tells a story about two cousins, the decadent Paul, played by Jean-Claude Brialy, and the naïve Charles, played by Gérard Blain. The film won the Golden Bear at the 9th Berlin International Film Festival.
François Périer, was a French actor renowned for his expressiveness and diversity of roles.
François Cluzet is a French film and theatre actor. Cluzet has collaborated with many important European and American directors, including Claude Chabrol, Bertrand Tavernier, Claire Denis, Agnieszka Holland, Robert Altman and Olivier Assayas. In 2007, he won a French César Award after starring as a doctor suspected of double homicide in thriller Tell No One. Cluzet may be best known for his role as Philippe in the international hit film The Intouchables (2011).
Cop au Vin is a 1985 French crime film directed by Claude Chabrol. It was entered into the 1985 Cannes Film Festival. The original French title is a pun: it literally means "vinegar chicken," but "poulet" is also French slang for "cop." The English title is also a pun on coq a vin. Chabrol made a sequel in 1986 titled Inspecteur Lavardin.
Les Bonnes Femmes is a 1960 French nouvelle vague comedy drama film directed by Claude Chabrol. It follows four young Parisian women and their very different encounters with men. Though unsuccessful upon its initial release in France, it was subject to critical reevaluation, and is now regarded as one of the best of Chabrol's early films.
Web of Passion is a 1959 French/Italian psychological thriller film directed by Claude Chabrol and based on the novel The Key to Nicholas Street by American writer Stanley Ellin. It was Chabrol's first film in colour and his first thriller, which would be his genre of choice for the rest of his career. The film had a total of 1,445,587 admissions in France.
Ophélia is a 1963 French drama film directed by Claude Chabrol. The story centers on a disturbed young man who becomes obsessed with the idea that his life mirrors that of the title character of William Shakespeare's play Hamlet.
Merci pour le Chocolat, also known as Nightcap, is a 2000 French psychological thriller film directed by Claude Chabrol and starring Isabelle Huppert and Jacques Dutronc. The film is based on the novel The Chocolate Cobweb by Charlotte Armstrong.
The Color of Lies is a 1999 psychological mystery film co-written and directed by Claude Chabrol. The film was entered into the 49th Berlin International Film Festival.
The Breach, also titled The Breakup, is a 1970 French–Italian–Belgian drama film written and directed by Claude Chabrol, based on the novel The Balloon Man by Charlotte Armstrong. It follows a mother's struggle for custody of her son against her husband's parents.
Paul Andréota was a French novelist and screenwriter. He was also known under the pen name Paul Vance.