La Rupture

It is intriguing how the same faces appear and reappear in Claude Chabrol's films, often in carbon-copy parts. La Rupture is yet another shake of the master's kaleidoscope: the same themes, shapes, colours, but cleverly rearranged to create the impression of a different movie. As always, the acting and direction are superb.Audran and Cassel, and indeed almost everyone else, fit their parts like so many gloves. The composition of the images and the fast-slow-quick-quick-slow pace created by his editing allows the film to glide with the exciting grace of a foxtrot. Yet,as too often with this director, the pieces making up the imagery are of variable taste and credibility. The horrific opening has a ring of truth, as we are all conditioned to the horrors of domestic violence that dominates the headlines of the world's less intellectual newspapers. The Tarot-playing tittle-tattling old maids, full of venomous gossip,are recognizable --- if not from life itself --- then from literature and other movies. The divorce proceedings and the parental reactions are all standard, as we all know only two well as members of a society that has achieved the highest divorce rate in history. But that the latter should go to the lengths they did and accept complicity in the bird-brained schemes of Cassel and his ridiculous moll shatters the integrity of what could have been a genuine work of cinematic art, and reduces it to no more than a piece of chic entertainment that we want to dismiss from our memory the moment the credits start to appear on the screen.

not sure its a *****, but I also don't think a *** average rating does it justice, it is OTT and bizarre and deliberately provocative/sensational, different from the more 'classic', restrained work, and more in Chabrol's 'decadent' zone, but still a powerful and intriguing piece.

Claude Chabrol is often credited as being the French version of Alfred Hitchcock, to some extent that is true, but Chbarol has his own style. Chabrol's films are very bubtle. No gratuitous nude scenes, no extreme violence, no explosions, and yet his films linger in your mind. They leave their mark. That's one of the problems I have with this Claude Chabrol film. He is too forceful. He doesn't let the material speak for itself. Chabrol is trying too hard to convince us what we are watching is exciting. I enjoy the work of Claude Chabrol. He is one of my favorite directors. Of his "classic" films I enjoy "Les Biches" and "Le Boucher" the most, followed by "The Unfaithful Wife". They each move at the subtle pace I'm talking about. Watch those movies or even Chabrol's most recent "Merci pour le Chocolat" and tell me those movies weren't more subtle. This film along with "Innocent With Dirty Hands" (which I prefer) are almost like "America" thrillers. They are much more over-the-top than I find Chabrol's other works. "La Rupture" starts off with a violent domestic dispute between Helene (Stephane Audran) and Charles (Jean-Claude Drouot). She leaves with her son and decides it's time to get a divorce. Charles' parents are upset and decide they will fight back and try to take away all visitation rights from Helene. Now Helene has a questionable past and Charles' parents (including Michel Bouquet) send someone to spy on her to get some incriminating evidence. This is all starting to sound like a political witchhunt (Pick your president). As I watched "La Rupture" my mind kept going back to the first scene. I woundered why did the fight happen. One of the mistakes Chabrol makes is by not giving us enough information about the husband. I thought the husband was just as important as the wife because I thought a dramatic connection would be made between the two and a great secret would be revealed. But Chabrol had other plans and we are left with subtle and mild hints about Charles' past. Although I find faults in this film, don't think I'm bashing it. I enjoy the film to some degree. The movie does have some good moments, plus Stephane Audran, as usual, is quite watchable. She does her best to hold the film together. "La Rupture" perhaps if made by someone else my have impressed me more, but, I know Chabrol's work. I know what he is capable of, and "La Rupture", while at times enjoyable, is not his most effective film. Bottom-line: Not up to par with Chabrol's other film. Too forceful and "in your face". Doesn't have the mysterious touch other films like "Les Biches" and "The Unfaithful Wife" had.

One of Chabrol's most jarring suspense films opens with a shocking scene of domestic violence before settling into a quiet, disturbing tale of moral corruption and wicked duplicity. Audran tweaks our sympathies as the vulnerable young mother who rents a boarding room across from the hospital where her son recuperates, only to find herself isolated and scorned by the elderly female tenants, then manipulated by Cassel's twisted schemes (which involve LSD, porn, and a dim-witted innocent). If this film didn't end on a psychedelic grace note, you could almost call it an experiment in psychological sadism. "Rupture" is a Hitchcockian marvel.

Excellent Chabrol film --- probably the best introduction to the director. I'm suprised and very happy that this is out on video at a sell-through price. For some inexplicable reason, no one seems to talk much about this film. It's extremely absorbing and quite beautiful to look at though. Stephane Audran is particularly charming in this movie, although some have thought her to be a bit sophisticated for the part. A silly criticism, I think. The colors in this movie are absolutely amazing --- everything somehow dayglo and hyperrealistic at the same time. I think Philip K. Dick fans would in particular get a kick out of this film. It's organized similarly to his novels... Everything just gets more and more disjointed until reality has almost completely broken down. The denouement is pretty darned funny, too. A film that more folks should see, it'll add to your appreciation of Chabrol's other films too.

La Rupture (The Breach)Helene Regnier (Stephane Audran) leaves her drug -dependent husband Charles (Jean- Claude Druot) after he violently smashes their little boy against the edge of the breakfast table. While waiting for her son to recover from his injuries at hospital, she rents a room at a dilapidated bed- and- breakfast accommodation and hires a sympathetic lawyer to sue for divorce and take custody of her son. Using his money and influence, her rich and powerful father- in-law, Ludovic (Michel Bouquet) instructs an acquaintance of seemingly dubious and slippery character, Paul Thomas (Jean -Pierre Cassel / father of actor, Vincent) to use every means possible to discredit Helene and thus preventing her from succeeding in gaining custody of his grandson. Failing to find incriminating evidence against her, Paul Thomas puts in motion what he perceives to be a sure -fire scheme to destroy Helene reputation.The film, which is based on Charlotte Armstrong's novel: The Balloon Man (1968),and boasts a powerful performance by the Director's wife, Stephane Audran, may appeal to Chabrol's ardent fans, but for this reviewer the movie seems to lose both direction and coherence especially towards the end. One reviewer of the film even thought that "... hallucinogenic drugs probably had a part to play with the conception and realisation of La Rupture, one of Claude Chabrol's weirder films"The movie cannot compete with, for example, the thrillingly original: Le Boucher (1970), or the brilliant: La Ceremonie (1995).

An hour into this Artedis DVD the English subtitles stop. After fifteen minutes with no subtitles they restart and are on for the rest of the movie.

This movie is good but DON'T buy this DVD with the label "Pathfinder Home Entertainment" on the cover. It's one of the worst job I ever saw on a DVD, the image is AWFUL, the aspect ratio is not respected (1:33:1 instead of 1:66:1), the colours are horrible. Amazon should not even sell such a product. You can't enjoy this film with that copy, so If you want to see it I highly recommend another editor. Same thing with "Just before night fall".

Fan de Chabrol, notre Hitchcock français , ce film est un peu déroutant . J'ai eu l'impression d'être au début dans un giallo italien, avec un générique à la Dario Argento et une scène evac un enfant très violente, puis l'intrique n'est pas aussi serrée que dans les excellents (pour moi) la Femme infidèle, ou Noces rouges. J'ai eu l'impression d'un film sous LSD (on est en 1970). Ce n'est pas tourné en France non plus, mais en Belgique, ce qui ajoute de l'étrangeté (on ne retrouve pas les codes habituels de la province française), avec des scènes très belles comme ce tramway qui traverse une foret...Une film étrange mais à voir malgré tout !

ok