gridoon2024 Review of Web of Passion

Web of Passion (1959)

From joyful comedy to ugly thriller in 90 minutes!

[6/10 · 2 October 2012]

Alfred Hitchcock's influence on Claude Chabrol sometimes gets overemphasized by film theorists and historians - I've seen several Chabrol films that have little to do, in style or content, with the Master's work. "A Double Tour", however, IS one of Chabrol's more Hitchcockian efforts, from the opening credits - homage to the previous year's "Vertigo", to the music score - homage to Bernard Hermann. At the same time, this film is also uniquely Chabrol's - his direction, especially considering that it was only his third effort, is masterful, with a couple of amazing camera shots (like when the camera backs away through a keyhole!). The first half plays out more like a broad, joyful comedy, particularly when a young, full of energy Jean Paul Belmondo or a wildly sexy Bernadette Lafont take center stage. Then a murder happens, and you think - "great, a Claude Chabrol whodunit". Unfortunately, the thriller part of this movie is more ugly than suspenseful, and at the end it lacks, IMO, real psychological insight - the murder is simply the action of a sick, borderline mentally retarded individual. I still think the film is worth seeing, but be prepared - it's not as happy-go-lucky as it looks at first. **1/2 out of 4.