3 Classic Films by Claude Chabrol: 'Betty,' 'Torment,' and 'The Swindle'

Claude Chabrol might not be the household word that Fran�ois Truffaut or Jean-Luc Godard are -- not here in the States, anyway -- but he, like them, was an important director from the French New Wave. He was also astonishingly prolific; excluding his television work, Chabrol helmed 57 features over the course of his career (compare that to Woody Allen's puny 53 directorial credits!). It's a number that interviewees in the special features of this triple feature Blu-ray set from Cohen Media like to cite, along with the claim that no fewer than 15 of those features are "masterpieces."

A masterpiece is in the eye of the cinematic beholder, but the trio of selections from his later career that comprise "3 Classic Films by Claude Chabrol" present a sound case in favor of his mastery over narrative and compositional forms. "Betty," from 1992, tracks the progress of a woman in crisis; a self-described "drunk" and "whore," Betty (Marie Trintignant, rumpled and yet unfailingly radiant) only finds happiness when she breaks away from her upper-crust, devote, and somewhat cool husband and his cloying, ever-present family.

1994's "Torment," starring the indescribably beautiful Emmanuelle B�art, is an adaptation of a script from an abandoned Henri-Georges Clout film of the same title ("L'Enfer," or "Hell," in the original French); by turns a thriller and a chilling drama of growing madness, "Torment" depicts a marriage in which a jealous husband, Paul (Fran�ois Cluzet) grows increasingly psychotic, turning his personal hell into one that he shares with his blameless, increasingly suffering wife, Nelly (B�art).

The jewel in this trifecta may well be "The Swindle," a light-hearted and yet sometimes brutal film about two grifters. One is played by Michel Serrault, and the other by Isabelle Huppert. It's a charged film, in many ways -- are they lovers? Father and daughter? Mentor and student, with an uneasy mixture of the paternal and the erotic defining their relationship? Whatever it is, their dynamic enlivens a scam that Elizabeth (Huppert) concocts to defraud her secret lover, Maurice (Cluzet, in a smaller role that he devours with great relish). Or is she playing Victor (Serrault), and about to betray him for a briefcase containing five million Swiss francs? Or are the men in collusion, scheming against Elizabeth? It's a caper made from shifting possibilities and motes of light, directed with a sureness of touch that carries the film through a minefield of ambiguities and excesses.

Beauty, wildness, an unfailing sense of pace and rhythm, a flawless visual aesthetic; these are films you could watch while ignoring the subtitles, so gorgeously are they rendered. Two feature-length audio commentaries accompany the set (one for "Torment" and one for "The Swindle"), both of them done by American film critics Wade Major and Andy Klein. There's also an interview of Cluzet, conducted in French by Kent Jones, the director of the New York Film Festival, that accompanies "The Swindle," though the wide-ranging conversation is hardly confined to that film.

Cohen Media has released other Chabrol titles in Blu-ray, including the Huppert-starring thriller "Nightcap," but this set just might be their n'est-plus ultra when it comes to his canon. Love French movies? This release is essential. Love movies, full stop? Same. This triple feature is a full-on joy.

"3 Classic Films by Chaude Chabrol: 'Betty,' 'Torment,' and 'The Swindle'"
Blu-ray
$49.99
http://cohenmedia.net