A very rich man has turned his own home and household into an aesthetically stunning microcosm from the year 1925. At first sight this environment seems like something out of a poem by Baudelaire - "Là, tout n'est qu'ordre et beauté / Luxe, calme et volupté". Still, all is not well. The rich man's adoptive son, who suffers from disquieting bouts of amnesia, finds his grip on reality fading. In despair, he calls in an old mentor of his and invites him as a guest...
"La décade prodigieuse" is quite an unusual thriller ; at the same time it is quite an unusual Chabrol. The movie has always struck me as a mixed bag. So let's begin with the negative. While the movie features an international dream cast, the acting styles of the French and Anglo-Saxon actors do not mix and match very well. You also get Anthony Perkins doing his Tormented Neurotic thing, which may not be a plus. Sensitive viewers may find themselves shaking and trembling in sympathy.
The movie's plot, however, is quite memorable, involving a hapless young man who's being pushed, deliberately, towards a growing variety of transgressions. The ending is quite bleak too. At times the movie ressembles a Greek tragedy of the more twisted variety. (By the way, you'll notice how the young man's friend, supposed to be clever and wise, is worse than useless as an amateur detective. It takes a chance encounter with a little girl in a train to spell out the motive, and even then he miscalculates badly.)
"La décade prodigieuse" is also a warning against the kind of miniature paradise where hothouse passions and vices can grow unchecked. Look closely at one of these mini-worlds and you may well uncover something or someone very nasty, such as an egomaniac who wants to turn his fellow men into servants, clones or toys...
Outstanding costumes and props.
"La décade prodigieuse" is quite an unusual thriller ; at the same time it is quite an unusual Chabrol. The movie has always struck me as a mixed bag. So let's begin with the negative. While the movie features an international dream cast, the acting styles of the French and Anglo-Saxon actors do not mix and match very well. You also get Anthony Perkins doing his Tormented Neurotic thing, which may not be a plus. Sensitive viewers may find themselves shaking and trembling in sympathy.
The movie's plot, however, is quite memorable, involving a hapless young man who's being pushed, deliberately, towards a growing variety of transgressions. The ending is quite bleak too. At times the movie ressembles a Greek tragedy of the more twisted variety. (By the way, you'll notice how the young man's friend, supposed to be clever and wise, is worse than useless as an amateur detective. It takes a chance encounter with a little girl in a train to spell out the motive, and even then he miscalculates badly.)
"La décade prodigieuse" is also a warning against the kind of miniature paradise where hothouse passions and vices can grow unchecked. Look closely at one of these mini-worlds and you may well uncover something or someone very nasty, such as an egomaniac who wants to turn his fellow men into servants, clones or toys...
Outstanding costumes and props.