Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno

 

Directed by Serge Bromberg and Ruxandra Medrea Annonier, L’Enfer d’Henri-Georges Clouzot (Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno) is a documentary film about Henri-Georges Clouzot’s attempt in making a film entitled Inferno in the 1960s as it would remain unfinished and abandoned. Through available footage, re-created images, and interviews with people who worked on the film, the documentary explores one of cinema’s great figures and its attempt to create a film project that would unfortunately remain unfinished. The result is a tremendous and compelling film by Serge Bromberg and Ruxandra Medrea Annonier.

Four years after his last feature film in La Verite starring Brigitte Bardot, Henri-Georges Clouzot has finished a script he wrote with Jean Ferry and Jose-Andre Lacour as it would revolve around a hotelier’s suspicion about his wife having an affair with another man as he becomes paranoid and jealous. Set in the Cantal region in France, the film is to be this surrealistic-drama that was the antithesis of what was happening in French cinema in the 1960s that was dominated by the French New Wave. The film would also have references to Dante’s Inferno and Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time with the latter being the name of its protagonists in Odette and Marcel. The film was to star Romy Schneider as Odette and Serge Reggiani as Marcel with an ensemble that was to include Dany Carell, Jean-Claude Bercq, Maurice Garrel, and Mario David. With Columbia Pictures offering to fund the film giving him an unlimited budget, which was unusual for a non-American director making a film in his native language, Clouzot would take advantage of this offer to experiment with visuals.

The documentary on the making and unmaking of Clouzot’s film features interviews with several people who participated in the production including actress/comedienne Catherine Allegret who had a small role in the film as her mother Simone Signoret who had worked with Clouzot in Les Diaboliques. Another notable figure involved in the production is filmmaker Costa-Gavras who was then an assistant director helping Clouzot with the production. The footage from the unreleased film is provided by Clouzot’s widow Ines who met co-director Serge Bromberg in an elevator when it was stuck as she had 150 cans of film reels featuring outtakes and scenes that were shot in the production. Most notably colorful outtakes are included that play into Clouzot’s experiment with colorful photography, lenses, and practical lighting effects. It would play into Marcel’s own paranoia in what he sees as it adds a surrealistic tone to the film.

Since much of the film’s original audio was lost, Bromberg and Ruxandra Medrea Annonier would have Berenice Bejo and Jacques Gamblin perform scenes in a soundstage to dialogue that were either lost or not recorded. Shot by Irina Lubtchansky and Jerome Krumacker, the scenes showcase the drama that Clouzot was aiming for while the interviews are presented in a unique fashion with production designer Nicolas Faure putting up screens in a room while the interviewees are sitting that include Irina’s father William who was an assistant cinematographer on the film. Several people who worked on the film reveal what went wrong during the production as it was shot near Garabit viaduct including an artificial lake that was to be drained as it was one of many problems. Editor Janice Jones gathers much of the outtakes and available footage from the film that includes an actor standing in for Reggiani in running sequences. Bromberg and Annonier also reveal that since the film was shot in the Cantal region, it was also during one of its hottest years that added to the troubled production including tension between Clouzot and Reggiani as the latter was becoming frustrated with Clouzot’s demands.

The sound work of Jean Gargonne and Jean-Guy Veran is superb in not just creating sound textures in what Clouzot might have wanted but also in the sparse nature of the performances from Bejo and Gamblin. One key scene involving the rare audio that was found from the film is presented as it is in decent condition though it is a shame that a lot of the film’s original audio is lost. The film’s music by Bruno Alexiu is a mixture of somber piano pieces that play into the footage of the film as it adds a lot of dramatic weight as well as some eerie electronic pieces for the lighting experiments in the film. Even as the piano pieces also play into how the production was abandoned due to Clouzot having a heart attack as the film was shelved as Clouzot would eventually make one more feature film in 1968’s La Prisonniere before his death in 1977.

Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno is a phenomenal film by Serge Bromberg and Ruxandra Medrea Annonier. It is a riveting documentary film that explores one of the best films that never got made as well as exploring what happened to a film that had so much intrigue only to fall apart three weeks into production. It is also a look into the creative process with those involved in the film explaining what happened and why it was never finished. In the end, Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno is a sensational film by Serge Bromberg and Ruxandra Medrea Annonier.

Henri-Georges Clouzot Films: (Caprice de Princesse) – (Tout pour l’amour) – (The Murderer Lives at Number 21) – (Le Corbeau) – (Quai des Orfevres) – (Manon) – (Miquette et sa mere) – The Wages of Fear - Les Diaboliques - (The Mystery of Picasso) - (Les Espions) – (La Verite) – (Grand chef d’orchestre) – (La Prisonniere)

© thevoid99 2025

The Confession (1970 film)

Based on the book by Artur London and Lise London, L’aveu (The Confession) is the real-life story of Artur London who had been abducted, interrogated, and imprisoned during a series of trials by the Soviet Union. Directed by Costa-Gavras and screenplay by Jean Semprun, the film is a political thriller that explore the Soviet Eastern bloc show trials and the troubled journey that London took as he is played by Yves Montand. Also starring Simone Signoret, Gabriele Ferzetti, Michel Vitold, and Jean Bouise. L’aveu is an eerie yet gripping film from Costa-Gavras.

Set from 1951 Czechoslovakia to the day the Soviet Union invaded Prague on August 21, 1968, the film is about Artur London’s arrest for claims that he had betrayed the communist party in his country where he would be abused and interrogated forcing him to confess his actions. Told largely as a flashback where London is telling his story to a couple of journalists in France in 1965, the film’s screenplay by Jean Semprun doesn’t reveal this twist until the beginning of the second act as it’s more about the events that lead to London’s arrest and his time in prison where he is given unconventional methods of torture to confess as he would reveal things where some of it featured some truth as well as time with a man who is revealed to be an American spy. It’s a script that is presented in a very unconventional manner as there’s flashbacks and voice-over dialogue present throughout London’s interrogations and torture as he would tell them to journalists.

The film’s second half would also introduce to the man who would be London’s interrogator in Kohoutek (Gabriele Ferzetti) as he would get answers as it is all part of big public trial for London and several others accused of betrayal. Even as London’s wife Lise (Simone Signoret) is trying to get him out of prison but is conflicted due to wanting to not get in trouble with the communist party as she ends up making a decision that would impact her greatly. The film’s third act is about the trial and its aftermath as well as the 11 who would be executed including the man that gave London and 12 other colleagues in trouble with the Soviet Union.

Costa-Gavras’ direction is definitely engaging for the way he opens the film with London noticing he’s being followed and watch as he does his usual day-to-day activities as it builds up the suspense very slowly. Shot mainly in France as Czechoslovakia for some of the exteriors, the film spends much of its time inside the prisons where London has no clue where he’s at or what time it is as he’s often blindfolded or wearing glasses that block his vision. While there’s a few wide shots in the film, much of Costa-Gavras’ direction involve more intimate shots with the usage of medium shots to capture the space of the jail cells, the interrogation rooms, and other rooms in the prison where it can be claustrophobic at times. Still, Costa-Gavras maintains an air of intrigue throughout the course of the film during these interrogations where the methods are torturous as it’s not just physical but also mental. By the time Kohoutek enters the film, it definitely become a game of wits with Kohoutek trying to gather everything he can from London as there is a sense of repetition in what London has to say for the public trials.

There are some wide shots in the trial sequence as it include a moment of humor to play into the grandness of what is happening. The scenes set in 1965 at the South of France are much simpler as well as the scenes in the aftermath as it’s more about what London had been through and what he would see happen to his home country. Especially when he’s forced to see the fallacy of what the communist movement was all about and the accusations he had been given over his loyalty to the party. Overall, Costa-Gavras creates a very captivating and unsettling film about a man being forced to confess for crimes and such he probably didn’t commit.

Cinematographer Raoul Coutard does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography as its usage of low-key lights for the scenes in the prisons as well as the lack of sunlight for some of the exteriors, with the exception of the scenes at the south of France, to play into the grimy world of Czechoslovakia. Editor Francoise Bonnot does excellent work with the editing as it’s very stylized with its jump-cuts, slow-motion cuts, and some montages to play into the drama and suspense. Production designer Bernard Evein does amazing work with the look of the prison cells, the courtroom, and other places that play into this cold world of Communist Czechoslovakia. The sound work of William Robert Sivel is superb for capturing the atmosphere of the prisons as well as the way some of the sounds of the torture devices are presented. The film’s music by Giovanni Fusco is fantastic for its sparse yet eerie score filled with dissonant strings and keyboards to play into the melancholic elements of the film.

The film’s terrific cast features a large ensemble that include Jean Bouise as a factory boss and Michel Vitold as a communist party official. Gabriele Ferzetti is incredible as Kohoutek as an interrogator for the Soviets who would use unconventional methods to get London to sign documents and reveal things as it is a very restrained performance from Ferzetti who doesn’t get mad but knows what to do when he’s pushed. Simone Signoret is amazing as Lise London as London’s French wife who is concerned about her husband but is also aware of what she has to do to avoid prison time as she is forced to make some serious sacrifices. Finally, there’s Yves Montand in a tremendous performance as Artur London as a vice-minister of foreign affairs for Czechoslovakia who is accused of treason as he wonders what he’s done as it’s a very demanding performance that require a lot of physicality as it’s one of Montand’s finest performances.

L’aveu is a phenomenal film from Costa-Gavras that features top-notch performances from Yves Montand, Simone Signoret, and Gabriele Ferzetti. Along with its eerie visuals and intense look into the Soviet show trials, it’s a political thriller that showcases what a man would endure to answer questions he has no answers for as well as a look into a dark period of time in Eastern Europe where the Soviets would question its most die-hard loyalists. In the end, L’aveu is a sensational film from Costa-Gavras.

Costa-Gavras Films: (The Sleeping Car Murders) – (Shock Troops) – Z - (State of Siege) – (Special Section) – (Womanlight) – Missing (1982 film) - (Hanna K.) – (Family Business) – (Betrayed (1988 film)) – (Music Box) – (The Little Apocalypse) – (Mad City) – (Amen.) – (Le Couperet) – (Eden is West)

© thevoid99 2017

2013 Cannes Marathon: Z

(Winner of the Jury Prize & Best Actor Prize to Jean-Louis Trintignant at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival)

Based on the novel by Vassilis Vassilikos, Z is a loosely-based story on the assassination of Greek left-wing activist Gregoris Lambrakis as a murder is covered up by the government prompting a magistrate to finally uncover the truth. Directed by Costa-Gavras and screenplay by Costa-Gavras and Jorge Semprun, the film is a political thriller set during a tense period of civil unrest as well as exploring a world that is in absolute chaos. Starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, Yves Montand, Irene Papas, and Jacques Perrin. Z is a provocative yet intriguing film from Costa-Garvas.

The film is a look into the assassination of a left-wing activist (Yves Montand) who is assassinated during a troubling period in Greece as many around him question about the murder. A government magistrate (Jean-Louis Trintignant) leads the investigation where he uncovers a lot of unsettling things including secret government extremist groups and other things as witnesses to the incident are being targeted as well. It’s all part of a world in which a government is trying to protect themselves from scandal that would ruin the reputation of this country yet a magistrate begins to learn that not only is he working for the bad guys but that the people he’s working for are committing atrocities that forces him to try and do the right thing.

The screenplay has a very unique structure that is traditional but is more about the element of suspense that occurs. The first is about this left-wing activist who arrives to find a place to hold a meeting and on that night of the meeting, he is attacked by mysterious men and eventually given a fatal hit in the head with a club as his personnel try to help him. The second act is about the government covering up while a photojournalist (Jacques Perrin) is trying to conduct his own investigation as he meets up with the activist’s wife (Irene Papas) who ravaged with grief and confusion over what happened. The third act relates to the magistrate’s investigation as well as his own discoveries with the help of the photojournalist about this secret group of right-wing extremists and the people they’re targeting.

It’s not just the structure and the dialogue that makes the screenplay interesting but also the characters as the activist is a man who wants to ensure a world that can be peaceful as he is a major threat to this right-wing, military-driven government. The activist is also a flawed man who is going through his own personal issues relating to his wife as once she arrives following the assassination, she is upset by what happened but also display mixed feelings over what happened. The magistrate is a man who lurks in the shadow for most of the film’s first two acts as he finally comes to his own in the third act as he talks to a few witnesses and doctors where he eventually comes to the conclusion that what happened was a murder as he starts to look towards the people he’s working for.

Costa-Gavras’ direction is very engaging for the way he captures a world of civil unrest in one of the most crucial periods in Greek history. Though it was shot in France and parts of Algeria while the language is spoken in French. The direction still has this element that an incident like this could happen anywhere in Europe where a lot of social changes are happening. There is an element of cinema verite in the way the direction is played out for the protest scenes as well as the assassination scene.

There is also some very entrancing compositions and stylistic shots for some of the film’s drama and suspenseful moments where Costa-Gavras aims for something that adds an air of mystery. The film also features some very intriguing ideas about the world at large as well as an epilogue that is really more in tune with how hard it is to change the world. Overall, Costa-Garvas creates a very intense yet chilling film about government conspiracy and one man’s attempt to do things right in a troubling world.

Cinematographer Raoul Coutard does amazing work with the film‘s photography from the sunny exteriors of the locations to more stylish lights for the scenes in night in its interior and exterior settings to create some dark moods for the film. Editor Francoise Bonnot does brilliant work with the editing as it‘s very stylized with jump-cuts and some flashback montages as it is truly a highlight of the film. Production designer Jacques D’Ovidio does excellent work with the set pieces such as the film‘s hospital operating room as well as the scenes in the hotel and halls where some of the protestors meet.

Costume designer Piet Bolscher does nice work with the costumes as it is a mixture of casual clothing along with military uniforms to present the military men. Sound editor Michele Boehm does terrific work with the sound to capture the atmosphere of the protests and meetings as well as some eerie moments in some of the film‘s intimate moments. The film’s music by Mikis Theodorakis is fantastic for its mixture of intense Greek folk music with its string instruments to some bits of rock music as it helps create a chilling mood for the film as it’s another highlight of the film.

The film’s cast is superb as it features some notable small performances from Georges Geret as a witness got attacked, Magali Noel as that witness’ right-wing sister, Marcel Bozzuffi and Renato Salvatori as two assassins, Francois Perier as the public prosecutor, Clotilde Janno as a personnel of the activist, Charles Denner as the activist’s lawyer Manuel, and Pierre Dux as the general whom the magistrate suspects. Jacques Perrin is excellent as a determined photojournalist seeking to show the truth in any way or form as he hopes to do things right. Irene Papas is wonderful as the activist’s wife Helene who is trying to come to terms with her loss as well as all of her feelings towards her husband. Yves Montand is great in a small yet memorable performance as the activist trying to create peace in a period of civil unrest while eager to do things right for everyone including his family. Finally, there’s Jean-Louis Trintignant in an incredible performance as the magistrate as a man who starts off as an observer and then becoming someone trying to do what is right as he is aware of the consequences that he might face.

Z is a phenomenal film from Costa-Gavras that features brilliant performances from Jean-Louis Tringtignant and Yves Montand. The film is a masterfully-crafted thriller that explores the world of government cover-ups and conspiracies as well as a look into one of the most chaotic periods in the history of the world. In the end, Z is a remarkable film from Costa-Gavras.

Costa-Gavras Films: (The Sleeping Car Murders) - (Shock Troops) - The Confession (1970 film) - (State of Siege) - (Special Section) - (Womanlight) - Missing (1982 film) - (Hanna K.) - (Family Business (1986 film)) - (Betrayed) - (Music Box) - (The Little Apocalypse) - (Mad City) - (Amen.) - (Le Couperet) - (Eden is West) - (Le Capital)

© thevoid99 2013

2012 Cannes Marathon: Missing (1982 film)

(Winner of the Palme D’or & Best Actor Prize to Jack Lemmon at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival)

Based on Thomas Hauer’s book, Missing is the story of a man and his daughter-in-law trying to American journalist Charles Horman during 1973 coup in Chile. Directed by Costas-Gavras and screenplay by Costas-Gavras and Donald E. Stewart, the film explores the search of a man from his own wife and father as they also encounter a world ravaged by chaos following the fall of Salvador Allende. Starring Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek, Melanie Mayron, Charles Cioffi, Janice Rule, and John Shea as Charles Horman. Missing is an intense suspense-drama from Costas-Gavras.

Days after Pinochet’s coup against Salvador Allende in 1973 Chile, left-wing journalist Charles Horman and his friend Terry Simon (Melanie Mayron) has just returned from Vina del Mar as they have a scoop about what’s been happening. With Horman’s wife Beth (Sissy Spacek) living in Santiago as she is helping out other people in the city, Charles believes something is happening as he suddenly disappears. With Beth trying to find her husband, her father-in-law Ed (Jack Lemmon) arrives to help out though he believes that it’s Charles’ fault due to his own political idealism. While Ed asks some American officials in the U.S. Ambassador (Richard Venture), its consul Phil Putnam (David Clennon), and a naval captain in Ray Tower (Charles Cioffi) to help out, Beth remains unsure.

While Terry reveals what Charles was looking for and why they were at the Vina del Mar, Beth and Ed look for clues as Ed wondering what is taking so long. With Beth frustrated with the government as she and Ed talk to locals about what might’ve happened, Ed starts to believe that the Americans might be covering something up as he confronts them over what is taking so long. He and Beth decide to take matters into their own hands as they read Charles’ notes over what he found in Vina del Mar as it reveals that the man he and Terry met in a naval engineer named Andrew Babcock (Richard Bradford) might’ve played a role in the coup. After talking to one of Charles’ colleagues in David Holloway (Keith Szarabajka) who had been taken away and interrogated with another journalist in Frank Teruggi (Joe Regalbuto).

Ed and Beth continue their investigation with the help of freelance journalist Kate Newman (Janice Rule) as they reveal that Charles also met a colonel in Sean Patrick (Jerry Hardin) at Vina del Mar where they also meet Tower at a party. Ed and Beth make a discovery about what probably did happen to Charles as Ed would search for answers on his own. What happens would force Ed to confront the people he trusted with finding his son.

The film is about a man and his daughter-in-law trying to find his son during the 1973 coup of Chile where two different political views of young and old are shaken by a troubled world as they’re just wanting find out what happened to this man that has disappeared. While it’s a film that is essentially a mystery of sorts with a lot of political drama set in the mix against this backdrop, it’s a film that also raises questions about the role of the American government in this military coup that is led by Pinochet. Yet, it’s the human drama that Costas-Gavras and co-writer Donald E. Stewart, with additional contributions from John Nichols, are interested in as a father is just trying to figure out what his son and daughter-in-law were doing in Chile and why did his son suddenly disappear like that. While the government would make claims that the disappearance is staged where Charles’ wife would rebuke that it’s bullshit.

Driving the story is this tumultuous relationship between a man and his daughter-in-law where neither seems to agree with each other politically or socially yet their relationship grows once they take matters into their own hands in the investigation. Part of the film is told in flashbacks as Ed and Beth Horman is talking to people about what happened while reading some of Charles’ notes. For Ed, it gives him the chance to understand the son he often has differences with as he also learns that Charles might have done nothing wrong. This would have him and Beth questioning their own government as they also have to seek forces outside. The screenplay that Costas-Garvas and Donald. E. Stewart does play up the suspense with these flashbacks and chilling scenes where Ed and Beth have to encounter places that is brutal and have an air of death.

Costas-Gavras’ direction is truly entrancing for the way he captures a world that is en-ravaged in chaos as it is told from the perspective of its main characters. Shot on location in Mexico to avoid controversy in Chile, the film does have this very realistic portrayal of a country where people are taken away by soldiers as the camera doesn’t shy away from what Charles Horman, his father, and his wife are seeing. With a lot of startling shots as the camera moves around to capture the locations or to follow the characters as they walking towards the hallway. The direction is always making sure that is something is happening as it includes some intimate moments in the room where meetings happen.

One notable scene is a meeting where Ed questions the government as Costas-Gavras keeps the camera still to let the drama unfold in a very understated yet engaging manner. The way he lets the actors play things out while framing them in a scene is also among one of the film’s highlights. Notably in the third act where things do cool down for the film’s big revelation as Costas-Gavras doesn’t have to do a lot for the audience to side with the Hormans. He just lets the actors play out their emotions as the film’s ending reveals troubling aftermaths about what the American government didn’t want people to know. Overall, Costas-Gavras creates a truly incredible yet haunting film about a man trying to find his son with the help of his daughter-in-law.

Cinematographer Ricardo Aronovich does superb work with the film‘s cinematography from the sunny locations of the city and beaches to some of the more entrancing interior and exterior nighttime scenes to play up stark mood of the film. Editor Francoise Bonnot does excellent work with the editing to maintain a mostly straightforward approach to the editing while it includes a wonderful use of dissolves to play out Charles‘ abduction scene. Production designer Peter Jamison, with set decorator Linda Spheeris and art directors Lucero Isaac and Agustin Ituarte, does nice work with the recreation of the chaos of Santiago including the stadium and the scenes at the morgue.

Costume designer Joe I. Tompkins does very good work with the costumes from the more casual, lively clothes that Beth wears to the more business-like suits that Ed wears to differentiate their characters. Sound effects editor Michele Boehm does fantastic work with the sound from the way helicopters are heard to the array of gunfire and explosions that play out in the tense atmosphere that Beth and Ed are in. The film’s score by Vangelis is wonderful for its brooding yet intense synthesizer-driven score for some of the film’s suspense scenes as well as more low-key pieces in the film’s less-dramatic scenes.

The casting by Wally Nicita is brilliant for the ensemble that is created as it includes appearances from Richard Bradford as the naval engineer Andrew Babcock, Joe Regalbuto and Keith Szarabajka as a couple of Charles’ journalist friends, Jerry Hardin as a colonel that Charles and Terry befriends in their investigation, and Richard Venture as a U.S. ambassador who is hiding secrets that makes Ed unsure of what is happening. Janice Rule is excellent as a freelance reporter who aids Ed and Beth in uncovering Charles’ notes while Melanie Mayron is very good as Charles’ friend Terry who also gives Ed and Beth insight into what they’re trying to find. David Clennon is quite fine as a young U.S. consul who tries to hide the truth from Beth and Ed while Charles Cioffi is superb as a slimy naval captain who makes Beth uncomfortable during a stay at his home in a flashback.

John Shea is terrific as the idealistic Charles Horman who is trying to discover what is happening around him as he would end up disappearing over what he might’ve uncovered. Sissy Spacek is great as Charles’ wife Beth who is intent on trying to find her husband while aiding her father-in-law as Spacek definitely holds her own as she has some amazing chemistry with a legend like Jack Lemmon.

Lemmon’s performance in the film is truly the highlight as Lemmon displays a true sense of mastery in the art of acting. From the way he tries to impose his ideas towards his daughter-in-law to the way he reacts to the things around him as he becomes more disillusioned with his own government. The scenes where Lemmon has these intense monologues about what the U.S. government should be doing is very engaging over what Lemmon could do. The scene where he’s in a stadium as he tries to talk to his son among this group of people is heartbreaking to watch. Notably in the physicality in how he reacts to startling news as his performance is a true master class in what acting should be.

Missing is a phenomenal film from Costas-Gavras that features magnificent performances from Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek. The film is definitely one of the great suspense-dramas that allows the audience to follow a couple of people in search of a man against a period that is crucial. It’s also a film that reveals the way the American government can play a role in creating tense situations like this forcing those to question their government. In the end, Missing is a marvelous yet provocative film from Costas-Gavras.

Costas-Gavras Films: (The Sleeping Car Murders) - (Shock Troops) - Z - The Confession (1970 film) - (State of Siege) - (Special Section) - (Womanlight) - (Hanna K.) - (Family Business) - (Betrayed (1988 film)) - (Music Box) - (The Little Apocalypse) - (Mad City) - (Amen.) - (Le Couperet) - (Eden is West)

© thevoid99 2012