L'Enfer (Clouzot)
Encyclopedia
Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno (French title: L'Enfer) is a film directed, written and produced by Henri-Georges Clouzot
, cinematography by Andréas Winding and Armand Thirard, which remained unfinished in 1964. It was presented in 2009 as a full-length semi-documentary by Serge Bromberg.
, then 42 years old), towards his wife, Odette (Romy Schneider
, then 26 years old). It was shot partly in in black-and-white, partly in colour. Clouzot selected the title as an allusion to Dante
's Inferno
, and the names Odette and Marcel refer to characters in Marcel Proust
's novel À la recherche du temps perdu
.
Despite an unlimited budget from Columbia Pictures
—Clouzot worked with three crews
and 150 technicians—the shooting was beset by severe problems: everyone suffered from the record heat during July in the Cantal
region; the main actor Serge Reggiani
claimed to be ill (Jean-Louis Trintignant
was asked to replace him); the artificial lake below the Garabit viaduct
, an important part of the location, was about to be emptied by the local authorities; then Clouzot suffered a heart attack and was hospitalised in Saint-Flour
. After three weeks, the film was abandoned.
used the screenplay by Clouzot to make his film L'Enfer
.
In 2009, Serge Bromberg and Ruxandra Medrea released a 94 minute documentary with material selected from 15 hours (185 reels) of found scenes under the name L'Enfer d'Henri-Georges Clouzot. Bromberg was caught for two hours in a stalled elevator with a woman who turned out to be Clouzot's second wife, Inès de Gonzalez. Upon learning the identity of the woman and of the existence of the footage, Bromberg convinced her to release it to make his film. The documentary includes interviews with nine cast and crew members, notably Catherine Allégret
, the production assistant from 1964, Costa Gavras, and the assistant cinematographer William Lubtchansky
. Bromberg used the actors Bérénice Bejo
and Jacques Gamblin
to shoot some scenes where dialogue had to be delivered; the found material, which included some 30 hours of soundtrack
, didn't contain suitable material.
The film was shown out-of-competition at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival
,, at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival
, and film festivals in New York, Vancouver, London and Rotterdam; it was nationally released in France on 11 November 2009. In 2010 it received the César Award
for Best Documentary.
Henri-Georges Clouzot
Henri-Georges Clouzot was a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best remembered for his work in the thriller film genre, having directed The Wages of Fear and Les Diaboliques, which are critically recognized to be among the greatest films from the 1950s...
, cinematography by Andréas Winding and Armand Thirard, which remained unfinished in 1964. It was presented in 2009 as a full-length semi-documentary by Serge Bromberg.
History
The film depicts the exteme jealousy of a hotelier, Marcel (Serge ReggianiSerge Reggiani
Serge Reggiani was an Italian-born French singer and actor. He was born in Reggio Emilia, Italy and moved to France with his parents at the age of eight...
, then 42 years old), towards his wife, Odette (Romy Schneider
Romy Schneider
Romy Schneider was an Austrian-born German film actress who also held French citizenship.-Early life:Schneider was born Rosemarie Magdalena Albach in Nazi-era Vienna, six months after the Anschluss, into a family of actors that included her paternal grandmother Rosa Albach-Retty, her Austrian...
, then 26 years old). It was shot partly in in black-and-white, partly in colour. Clouzot selected the title as an allusion to Dante
Dante Alighieri
Durante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante , was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later named La divina commedia ...
's Inferno
Inferno (Dante)
Inferno is the first part of Dante Alighieri's 14th-century epic poem Divine Comedy. It is followed by Purgatorio and Paradiso. It is an allegory telling of the journey of Dante through what is largely the medieval concept of Hell, guided by the Roman poet Virgil. In the poem, Hell is depicted as...
, and the names Odette and Marcel refer to characters in Marcel Proust
Marcel Proust
Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust was a French novelist, critic, and essayist best known for his monumental À la recherche du temps perdu...
's novel À la recherche du temps perdu
In Search of Lost Time
In Search of Lost Time or Remembrance of Things Past is a novel in seven volumes by Marcel Proust. His most prominent work, it is popularly known for its considerable length and the notion of involuntary memory, the most famous example being the "episode of the madeleine." The novel is widely...
.
Despite an unlimited budget from Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
—Clouzot worked with three crews
Film crew
Television crew positions are derived from those of film crew positions.A film crew is a group of people hired by a production company for the purpose of producing a film or motion picture. Crew are distinguished from cast, the Actors who appear in front of the camera or provide voices for...
and 150 technicians—the shooting was beset by severe problems: everyone suffered from the record heat during July in the Cantal
Cantal
Cantal is a department in south-central France. It is named after the Cantal mountain range, a group of extinct, eroded volcanic peaks, which covers much of the department. Residents are known as Cantaliens or Cantalous....
region; the main actor Serge Reggiani
Serge Reggiani
Serge Reggiani was an Italian-born French singer and actor. He was born in Reggio Emilia, Italy and moved to France with his parents at the age of eight...
claimed to be ill (Jean-Louis Trintignant
Jean-Louis Trintignant
Jean-Louis Trintignant is a French actor who has enjoyed an international acclaim. He won the Best Actor Award at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival.-Career:...
was asked to replace him); the artificial lake below the Garabit viaduct
Garabit viaduct
The Garabit Viaduct is a railway arch bridge spanning the Truyère river near Ruynes-en-Margeride , Cantal, France, in the mountainous Massif Central region. The bridge was constructed between 1880 and 1884 by Gustave Eiffel, with structural engineering by Maurice Koechlin, and was opened in 1885...
, an important part of the location, was about to be emptied by the local authorities; then Clouzot suffered a heart attack and was hospitalised in Saint-Flour
Saint-Flour, Cantal
Saint-Flour is a commune in the Cantal department in the Auvergne region in south-central France. Its inhabitants are called Sanflorains.-Geography:...
. After three weeks, the film was abandoned.
Cast
- Romy SchneiderRomy SchneiderRomy Schneider was an Austrian-born German film actress who also held French citizenship.-Early life:Schneider was born Rosemarie Magdalena Albach in Nazi-era Vienna, six months after the Anschluss, into a family of actors that included her paternal grandmother Rosa Albach-Retty, her Austrian...
, Odette - Serge ReggianiSerge ReggianiSerge Reggiani was an Italian-born French singer and actor. He was born in Reggio Emilia, Italy and moved to France with his parents at the age of eight...
, Marcel - Dany CarrelDany Carrel-Selected filmography:* Dortoir des grandes * Porte des Lilas * Girls for the Summer * Mill of the Stone Women * Une souris chez les hommes * The Hands of Orlac * A Trip for Cindarella...
, Marylou - Jean-Claude Bercq, Martineau
- Catherine AllégretCatherine AllégretCatherine Allégret is a French actress. She is the daughter of Simone Signoret and Yves Allégret.In 2004, she published a book titled World Upside Down in which she contended that she had been sexually abused by her stepfather Yves Montand since the age of 5.In 2007, she portrayed Édith Piaf's...
, Yvette - Blanchette BrunoyBlanchette BrunoyBlanchette Brunoy was a French actress, who had appeared in over 90 film and television productions between 1936 and 1998....
, Clotilde - Mario David, Julien
Other versions
In 1994, Claude ChabrolClaude Chabrol
Claude Chabrol was a French film director, a member of the French New Wave group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s...
used the screenplay by Clouzot to make his film L'Enfer
L'Enfer (1994 film)
L'Enfer is a 1994 French film directed by Claude Chabrol. It was adapted by Chabrol from the screenplay by Henri-Georges Clouzot for the unfinished film L'Enfer, which Clouzot began shooting in 1964 but was unable to complete...
.
In 2009, Serge Bromberg and Ruxandra Medrea released a 94 minute documentary with material selected from 15 hours (185 reels) of found scenes under the name L'Enfer d'Henri-Georges Clouzot. Bromberg was caught for two hours in a stalled elevator with a woman who turned out to be Clouzot's second wife, Inès de Gonzalez. Upon learning the identity of the woman and of the existence of the footage, Bromberg convinced her to release it to make his film. The documentary includes interviews with nine cast and crew members, notably Catherine Allégret
Catherine Allégret
Catherine Allégret is a French actress. She is the daughter of Simone Signoret and Yves Allégret.In 2004, she published a book titled World Upside Down in which she contended that she had been sexually abused by her stepfather Yves Montand since the age of 5.In 2007, she portrayed Édith Piaf's...
, the production assistant from 1964, Costa Gavras, and the assistant cinematographer William Lubtchansky
William Lubtchansky
William Lubtchansky born in Paris, France, was an acclaimed French cinematographer. His first film was Agnes Varda's 1965 short, Elsa la Rose. Lubtchansky has shot over 100 films, including several for Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rivette, Jean Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet and Nadine Trintignant...
. Bromberg used the actors Bérénice Bejo
Bérénice Bejo
Bérénice Bejo is a French actress, known for her role of Christiana in the 2001 film, A Knight's Tale.Bejo was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina to Argentine filmmaker Miguel Bejo. At age 3, she moved to France where she started her acting career...
and Jacques Gamblin
Jacques Gamblin
Jacques Gamblin is a French actor.He was born in Granville, Manche. He studied at the Centre dramatique de Caen before he tried to film in Paris.-Filmography:*Périgord Noir...
to shoot some scenes where dialogue had to be delivered; the found material, which included some 30 hours of soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
, didn't contain suitable material.
The film was shown out-of-competition at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival
2009 Cannes Film Festival
The 62nd annual Cannes Film Festival was held from May 13 to May 24, 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert was the President of the Jury. It was announced on March 19, 2009, that Pixar's film Up would open the festival...
,, at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival
2009 Toronto International Film Festival
The 34th annual Toronto International Film Festival, was held held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 10 and September 19, 2009. The opening night gala presented the Charles Darwin biography Creation...
, and film festivals in New York, Vancouver, London and Rotterdam; it was nationally released in France on 11 November 2009. In 2010 it received the César Award
César Award
The César Award is the national film award of France, first given out in 1975. The nominations are selected by the members of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma....
for Best Documentary.
External links
- L'Enfer d'Henri-Georges Clouzot, 2009 Toronto International Film Festival2009 Toronto International Film FestivalThe 34th annual Toronto International Film Festival, was held held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 10 and September 19, 2009. The opening night gala presented the Charles Darwin biography Creation...
- 13 stills, 20 minutes20 minutes (France)20 minutes is a free, daily newspaper aimed at commuters in France. It is published by Schibsted and Ouest France Group. 20 minutos, the Spanish version, is distributed by Schibsted and Zeta in Spain...
- "L’enfer, selon Clouzot" by Elisabeth Bouvet, Radio France InternationaleRadio France InternationaleRadio France Internationale was created in 1975 as part of Radio France by the Government of France, and replaced the Poste Colonial , Paris Mondial , Radio Paris , RTF Radio Paris and ORTF Radio Paris...
(19 May 2009) - "A superb documentary about a notorious film that floundered in the mid-1960s." by Lisa Nesselson, SBS TV (19 May 2009) (1:40) (2:28)