Watch Le Corbeau For Free

Wonderful Movie

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

So much average

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Powerful and involving with a solid cast, Clouzot has a very firm hand on this one as we race from incident to incident and character to character. Splendid Blu-ray print belies the film's considerable age and allows us to enjoy this seemingly simple tale that becomes more and more complex. Nasty, accusatory anonymous letters fall like confetti in this small French village , that the opening advises us, could be anywhere. No doubt that it is France though and with the Germans in occupation at the time Clout is careful not to be too explicit but his upset and anger is certainly evident. Always interesting the final half hour becomes a whirlwind of emotions and activity as we change our minds several times as to who we consider the perpetrator.

A sleepy French town is driven into paranoia and distrust by a nexus of anonymous poison pen letters signed by a nom-de-plume "Le corbeau" which means "the raven" in English, disclosing underhanded goings-on among the townsfolk, and it all starts with the first one accusing Doctor Rémy Germain (Fresnay) of adultery with Laura Vorzet (Francey), the much younger wife of his colleague Doctor Michel Vorzet (Larquey), as well as carrying out illegal abortions. Soon audience will find out the adultery is as true as Rémy's pro-choice predilection, and an obvious suspect, could be Marie Corbin (Manson), Laura's spinster sister, a priggish and callous nurse working in the hospital. Capitalizing on an incident of a patient's suicide (after Le corbeau informs him that he has the terminal cancer), the masses turn their backs on Marie, since no one wants their dirty little secrets becoming the laughing stock of the town, Marie becomes the whipping woman even without any substantial proof, there is definitely safety in numbers, a common mistake we onlookers should all rationally abstain from.It goes without saying that the letters do not stop there, and at then the suspects are narrowed down to eighteen individuals sitting in the gallery of the church, among them there is Denise (Leclerc), Germain's gimp neighbor who is so pining for him that le corbeau could be her own creation should be driven by jealousy and malice. A protracted dictation test to compare the hand-writings of the said suspects with the original closes up short when Denise timely faints out of fatigue, and a subsequent discovery from Rémy almost catches her red-handed, it is only "almost", because he might forget a simple fact: to imitate someone's handwriting isn't such a high-wire endeavor and no expert can ascertain that all those 1oo-plus letters cranked out in a short stretch are all from the same hand, in other words, everyone literate could be "le corbeau" if he or she is properly motivated, by circumspectly imitating these extant letters, a copycat can easily put words into the mouth of le corbeau. That is the most astounding truth mined by Clouzot and his co-writer Louis Chavance based on a real event occurred in Tulle, Limousin 1917. For better or worse, Clouzot entertains his audience with the culprit flip-flop until the very last moment, during which the fast-paced twists pan out rather hastily to keep deliberation at bay, Equally, Laura's ink-stained fingers and Denise's slapdash's pregnant threat are perfunctorily overlooked in lieu of the reveal and its resultant comeuppance, as is Rémy's own impetus behind his actions. Composed of a handsome cast: Pierre Fresnay's Rémy is a suave, self-principled ramrod weighed down by his own cynical perspective; Ginette Leclerc's recalcitrant hussy gallantly bestrides the line between eyebrow-raising and beguiling, and a voluble Pierre Larquey can be laughing all the way to the bank with his undimmed panache, save for the upshot, LE CORBEAU shapes itself as an allegorical study of sociology and human nature, a minor Clouzot in comparison nevertheless, is an engaging noir whodunit crafted with assurance and considerable oomph.

A French village doctor becomes target of poison-pen letters sent to village leaders, accusing him of affairs and practicing abortion.The film caused serious problems for its director after World War II as it had been produced by Continental Films, a German production company established near the beginning of the Occupation of France, and because the film had been perceived by the underground and the Communist press as vilifying the French people. Because of this, Clouzot was initially blocked for life from directing in France and the film too was suppressed, although both bans only lasted until 1947.I wonder how that works... you're a director in World War II. Your country is taken over by the Germans. Do you work with them to keep working, or do you stop working... or just go underground? Frankly, I'm surprised that Germany allowed the French to make films at all. You might think there would be more important things to do while occupying a country. But then again, Hollywood never let a war slow them down... (not really a fair analogy given that not once has Hollywood been under assault).

There is a pest in a small French town who is writing letters to people and insulting them as well as spreading some unwanted scandal on their behalf. It's quite a good way of getting to people. New doctor in town Pierre Fresnay (le docteur Remy) seems to be the main target and the audience begin to question his past as he doesn't seem to have a good record when it comes to performing abortions. We are taken through a cast of characters who are related to each other or having affairs and can you guess the culprit? I found some of the relationships confusing so pay attention or you may get relatives and girlfriends mixed up as I did. The cast are good and we get a varied selection of characters. You'll definitely change your mind as to who is the guilty party even if you do eventually guess correctly. There is also a twist at the end, which you may also guess as the clues are there for you. It doesn't matter though as I found things resolved in a refreshingly satisfying way. Hollywood at the time wouldn't have let this ending pass so the film scores points for that.The film delivers some tense scenes, eg, the funeral and fate of nurse Helena Manson (Marie) – it's quite an overbearing sequence – and some humorous moments, eg, the dictation that takes forever. It's the exam from hell that never finishes. You just keep going. Ha ha. The dialogue is good and my favourite of the cast is the village tart Ginette Leclerc (Denise). It's an absorbing film and I know people blab on about some sort of significance in relation to freedom and the Nazi party, but it is basically an entertaining story and can be watched as precisely that without reading in anything else to the proceedings.