The Unfaithful Wife is in many ways, a prototypical Chabrol film. It's a suspense thriller, starring Chabrol's then wife, Stephane Audran, set amongst the French bourgeoisie. Like all of Chabrol's films of the period, it is very stylish, with gorgeous photography by Jean Rabier, and a wonderfully atmospheric score by Pierre Jansen, both frequent Chabrol collaborators.
The plot (with spoilers)
Charles and Helene have it all. They live in a beautiful home in the Paris suburbs. They have a 10 year old son, who is engaging and precocious, and who would rather study French history than watch television. Charles (presumably) runs his own business. We never find out exactly what he does; he seems to spend most of his work time drinking whiskey with his associates, while ogling the legs of his young secretary - "They keep getting shorter and shorter", he says one time, referring to her skirts. His career success allows Helene to bide her time reading, napping, going to the salon, and to the cinema, and, as Charles finds out, to take a lover, a man named Victor Pegala.
When Charles finds out about the existence of Victor, he does what any well-bred Frenchman would do - he visits his wife's lover, to tell him that he knows (and approves) of the affair. Yet, once he sees the "bed of infidelity" in person, he reacts in a more violent, yet more "normal" way - he kills his competitor, then cleans up the mess and disposes of the body by dumping it in an algae-filled pond.
Soon, the police come calling, investigating the disappearance af Mr. Pegala. Yes, Helene knows him, but only casually. No, she has no idea why her name and address appeared in the missing man's address book. Perhaps he fancied her without revealing his feelings? No, Charles has never met him, and doesn't recognize his photo. The police sense something is up, but have no proof. Besides, how could such a perfect couple be involved in such a sordid business? Shortly afterward, Helene discovers my accident that her husband was aware of her affair, and knew the address of her lover, along with being in the possession of a photo of the dead man. She instantly figures out the rest of the story, and, being a Chabrol film, destoys all the evidence incrimnating her husband. Now, the family can be "perfect" yet again...
My thoughts
I'm not going to call La Femme infidèle a masterpiece. There is nothing particularly extraordinary about it, except perhaps the face and body of Miss Audran. Instead, the film is "merely" a great thriller, just like every other film Chabrol and Audran were to collaborate on in that period. Surely no director, not even Chabrol's hero, Alfred Hitchcock, was able to sustain such a high level of quality in the thriller genre, across so many films. Perhaps it's because Chabrol was so consistent in turning out these great films, year after year (and sometimes more than one a year), that it's easy to discount them a little. At any rate, La Femme infidèle is a wonderful film, which I heartily recommend.
