"Les Innocents" was released at a time when Chabrol's career was slowly but inexorably slipping..Among a handful of horrors ("nada" "Les Magiciens" and the nadir "Folies Bourgeoises" ),before Chabrol regained his mastery with his underrated "Alice Ou La Dernière Fugue" or "Violette Nozières" ,but only for a while.Except for the 1968-1971 period or his debut,Chabrol's career has been erratic ,mainly because he has made too many films .
"Les Innocents" inaugurated a new genre for Chabrol,which actually began with "Docteur Popaul": a tongue-in-cheek thriller ,it paved a reliable way for such works as "Inspecteur Lavardin" "Masques" "Poulet Au Vinaigre" or "Rien Ne Va Plus" .None of these works were major works but some of them (particularly "Masques" ) are pleasant enough.A foreign viewer may take this story seriously ,compare it with Bresson (!) but a French one cannot be fooled.Chabrol actually laughs at the audience as he laughs at Julie: although a criminal,Julie almost appears as a victim....of men of course as Lawyer Mr Legal (what a name!) says .We come to pity Julie (the scene in the bank where she learns that all the money she has left is 92 francs is priceless)and her character sometimes resembles that of Stephane Audran in "la Rupture " ,this great 1970 work.
With its spate of "unexpected " twists ,"Les Innocents " may seem today ahead of its time.But not only "Alice ou La Derniere Fugue " which had only one (unexpected twist) packed a real wallop -in the grand tradition of "carnival of souls" "Jacob's ladder" and "the sixth sense"-,those of "the innocents do not make sense cause the characters are uninteresting (Do you care for them as you did for the characters of ,say,"le Boucher" or "Que La Bête Meure" ?)and RomySchneider ,one of my favorite actresses ,does not belong in Chabrol's world.Neither does Rod Steiger.Only Mischievous Jean Rochefort and the pair of Colomboesque cops (Pierre Santini and François Maistre who play cat and mouse with Julie)really survive in this hotchpotch.
"Les Innocents" inaugurated a new genre for Chabrol,which actually began with "Docteur Popaul": a tongue-in-cheek thriller ,it paved a reliable way for such works as "Inspecteur Lavardin" "Masques" "Poulet Au Vinaigre" or "Rien Ne Va Plus" .None of these works were major works but some of them (particularly "Masques" ) are pleasant enough.A foreign viewer may take this story seriously ,compare it with Bresson (!) but a French one cannot be fooled.Chabrol actually laughs at the audience as he laughs at Julie: although a criminal,Julie almost appears as a victim....of men of course as Lawyer Mr Legal (what a name!) says .We come to pity Julie (the scene in the bank where she learns that all the money she has left is 92 francs is priceless)and her character sometimes resembles that of Stephane Audran in "la Rupture " ,this great 1970 work.
With its spate of "unexpected " twists ,"Les Innocents " may seem today ahead of its time.But not only "Alice ou La Derniere Fugue " which had only one (unexpected twist) packed a real wallop -in the grand tradition of "carnival of souls" "Jacob's ladder" and "the sixth sense"-,those of "the innocents do not make sense cause the characters are uninteresting (Do you care for them as you did for the characters of ,say,"le Boucher" or "Que La Bête Meure" ?)and RomySchneider ,one of my favorite actresses ,does not belong in Chabrol's world.Neither does Rod Steiger.Only Mischievous Jean Rochefort and the pair of Colomboesque cops (Pierre Santini and François Maistre who play cat and mouse with Julie)really survive in this hotchpotch.