The Flower of Evil Movie Review:


There's a kind of wicked glee to be had watching this black comedy about politics and social class, told impeccably and stylishly by arch French filmmaker Chabrol in the manner of a Hitchcock mystery. It's too chaotic and talky to work very well, but there's enough here to make it worthwhile.

Francois (Magimel) has just returned home to France after four years in America, and his family is just as screwy as he remembered. While his stepmother (Baye) is running for mayor, someone is digging for dirt and discovering skeletons in the family closets. And there are plenty of them to find, from his aunt's (Flon) dark wartime secrets to his father's (Le Coq) womanising ... to Francois' own budding romance with his cousin/stepsister Michele (Doutey)! But to the Charpin-Vasseur family this is nothing remotely unusual.

Chabrol is clearly having a great time skewering the narrow-minded, insular lives of the French upper classes. He's fairly ruthless in his approach, presenting everything matter-of-factly, from their petty prejudice to their deep-seated ignorance (the conversations about America are mind-boggling). This plays out in a jumbled series of scenes that never really form an overall narrative. It's more a string of revelations and memories that slowly bring to light the family's murky past while they reach for even more power and influence.

The cast play it in the same straightforward style--believable and often surprisingly likeable, even though every character is blissfully up to no good. These are people who simply don't have an internal moral compass--well, if they do, it's certainly not pointing to magnetic north! We can laugh at them, we can be shocked at what they're capable of, and we can recognise moments of truth in them as well. But we never care about anyone, so the film remains icy and aloof. There's a solid message here about wealth and hypocrisy, but it's watered down by the opaque storytelling. What really makes it worth watching are Baye's expressively energetic face and Chabrol's complex camera acrobatics.

Rich Cline

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