À Double Tour (FR, 1959)

Anyone who reads this blog (no-one, apart from referral spambots in RU, judging by the logs) will be aware that peak-era Claude Chabrol is my all-time favourite director. This is one of his earlier works, and interestingly, it's in colour, while the excellent Les Bonnes Femmes which followed a year or so later is in B&W.

This however is not one of the French master's better works; the characters are unsympathetic and it's just not very convincing. While it's not in the disaster zone of La Route de Corinthe, La Décade Prodigieuse and Dr M, it is in the 6/10 territory, like Le Beau Serge - the overrated 'first movie of the new wave', and Les Noces Rouges. The rich technicolor vibes of the photography make it watchable, but overall, it's a disappointment.