A fine collection of the late films by French Crime - Thriller - Dramas maestro Claude Chabrol (R.I.P. October 2010) with, as usual,
some very strong leading ladies. Chabrol directed some great female actresses through the years as i.a. Stéphane Audran (and also
his ex-wife, Jean Seberg, Romy Schneider and in this collection the great Isabelle Huppert, Sandrine Bonnaire and Nathalie Baye

Disc 1 - The Swindle (Rien ne va plus) (1997) Direction and story: Claude Chabrol

Enjoyable crime heist comedy with the great coupling of Isabelle Huppert and Michel Serrault. Betty/Elisabeth (Huppert) and
Victor (Serrault) are small-time grifters who expertise in ripping off drunk business men with Betty as the bait. They travel in a
Camping van from convention to convention and in an winter sports resort they meet a man, Maurice, who's about to swindle
5 million dollars from hos bosses and transfer the loot to the Caribbean, The Antilles.

The film is presented 1.66:1 ratio with LPCM stereo 2.0 french audio with english subtitles. Region A and B Blu-ray
Extras: Audio commentary with Barry Forshaw and Sean Hogan, Claude Chabrol "Soap Bubble" (14 minutes, in english),
Interview with Claude Chabrol's stepdaughter and assistant Cecile Maistre Chabrol - "Film as a Family Affair" (38 minutes, in
french with english subtitles), Introduction by Film Scholar Joel Magny, Scene commentaries by Claude Chabrol (24 minutes,
french with english subtitles), Behind the Scenes (8 minutes), A Conversation with Isabelle Huppert (25 minutes, french with
english subtitles), Theatrical trailer and Stills gallery

Disc 2 - The Color of Lies (Au Coeur du mensonge) (1999) Direction and script: Claude Chabrol

Brilliant murder mystery and drama thriller with great a performance from Jaques Gamblin as the beaten down and once famous
painter. I really liked the unconventional female chief inspector Lesage, played by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, just a bit quirky and
that's great. In a seaside village painter and art teacher Réne (Gamblin) lives with his wife Viviane (Sandrine Bonnaire). When a
young girl is found murdered, raped and strangled, and the last known person she met was Réne, the people in the village start
to suspect that he's the killer. Who dun it ?

The film is presented 1.66:1 ratio with LPCM stereo 2.0 french audio with english subtitles. Region A and B Blu-ray
Extras: Audio commentary with Barry Forshaw and Sean Hogan, Nothing is sacred - Visual essay (14 minutes), Introduction by
Film Scholar Joel Magny, Scene commentaries by Claude Chabrol (20 minutes, 2010), Behind the Scenes (26 minutes), Theatrical
trailer and a Stills Gallery

 

Disc 3 - Nightcap (Merci pour le Chocolat) (2000) Direction: Claude Chabrol

Unusual and very interesting thriller with a unique performance from The One and Only Isabelle Huppert. What a great actress
she is. Jaques Dutronc also gives an awesome performance in this French and Swiss co-produced arthouse thriller.
Marie-Claire Muller or Mika (Huppert) is a Swiss Chocolate Queen tycoon who has inherited the business from her father, and
she's also obsessed privately with Chocolate and always makes Chocolate drinks for herself, the family and her friends. She's
married to the famous concert pianist André Polonski (Jaques Dutronc) and she's the stepmother to his son Guillaume Polonski
(Rodolphe Pauly). There's a girl too, Jeanne (Anna Mouglalis) also a pianist and she sets wheels in motion. Great ending.

The film is presented 1.66:1 ratio with LPCM stereo 2.0 french audio with english subtitles. Region A and B Blu-ray
Extras: Audio Commentary by Justine Smith, When I Pervert Good - Visual essay by film criticScout Tafoya (11 minutes, Arrow
Video 2022), Introduction from film scholar Joel Magny, Scene commentaries by Claude Chabrol (44 minutes, french with english
subtitles), Isabelle Huppert - Heroine Chabrolienne (Archival interview, 7 minutes, french with english subtitles), Interview with
Jaques Dutronc (32 minutes), Behind the Scenes (26 minutes), Screen test for Anna Mouglalis (10 minutes), Theatrical trailer and
an Image gallery

 

Disc 4 - The Flower of Evil (La Fleur du mal) (2003) Direction: Claude Chabrol

Drama thriller that didn't excite me much where the lovely Nathalie Baye plays a politician striving for being elected as the
new Mayor. Anne Charpin Vasseur (Baye) is very ambitious and will take part in the election as an independent and with the
help of her assistant (played by Thomas Chabrol) everything looks good. But, her family has a lot of dirty secrets involving
incest and murder and her political opponents will throw dirt at her.
I found this film to be the least interesting in the package.

The film is presented 1.66:1 ratio with LPCM stereo 2.0 french audio with english subtitles. Region A and B Blu-ray
Extras: Audio commentary by Farran Smith Nehme, Behind the Masks - Video by Agnés Poirier (14 minutes, 2022 Arrow),
Introduction by film scholar Joel Magny, Scene commentaries by Claude Chabrol (49 minutes), Interview with Catherine
Eliacheff co-writer (25 minutes, Behind the Scenes (25 minutes), Theatrical Trailer and an image gallery