Le Corbeau

3/2/2014

The ink which makes blood flow. Le Corbeau is directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot and co-written by Clouzot and Henri Chavance. It stars Pierre Fresnay, Ginette Leclerc, Pierre Larquey and Micheline Francey. Music is by Tony Aubin and cinematography by Nicolas Hayer. We are in a small French town, the actual name of which is not known and is inconsequential. A series of poison pen letters are being sent out to the town dignitaries, accusing them of all sorts of inappropriate operations. The letters are signed by someone calling themselves Le Corbeau (The Raven), and pretty soon the town starts to implode as suspicion and mistrust runs wild. Famously it was the film that saw Clouzot banned from making films, the then young director receiving flak from all quarters of the Vichy Govern

3/31/2024

Made in France slap bang in the middle of WWII, this is a gripping tale of small town mentality and duplicity. Some character called "The Raven" is sending some pretty nasty poisoned-pen letters to the folks in the village of 'St. Robin". It's the local doctor "Germain" (Pierre Fresnay) who is bearing the brunt of these accusatory missives - mainly suggesting that he is having an illicit affair with "Laura" (Micheline Francey) who is married to the local shrink "Vorzet" (Pierre Larquey). As these letters become more and more widespread, and toxic, a tragedy ensues that focusses everyone's attention on tracking down the culprit - and that process exposes all sorts of crimes and misdemeanours. Principal amongst the suspects is the ailing (or hypochondriac) "Denise" (Ginatte leclerc) who does