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Web of Passion

Released Jul 18, 1961 1h 41m Crime Drama List
80% Tomatometer 5 Reviews 66% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Murder follows a married Frenchman's bold affair with his next-door neighbor.

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Web of Passion

Critics Reviews

View All (5) Critics Reviews
Richard Brody New Yorker ...a burst of rage against family propriety, a riotous basket of references to other movies, and a virtuosic display of giddily extravagant style. Apr 14, 2020 Full Review Penelope Gilliatt Observer (UK) Chabrol subscribe to a widespread movement in the French avant-garde to eliminate the artist's voice so that he can disclaim responsibility for what is being said. It seems a shifty endeavour, and vastly separate from the creative process. Mar 6, 2024 Full Review Dan Callahan Reverse Shot Chabrol was a hedonist who made no bones about how much he relished food and sex, usually in that order. Aug 1, 2011 Full Review Fernando F. Croce CinePassion Claude Chabrol's dissection of the living-dead bourgeoisie Oct 10, 2009 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews An early sample of a French New Wave "whodunit" from Claude Chabrol. Rated: B Feb 2, 2006 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (12) audience reviews
Audience Member This was one of Chabrol's first films. Like with so many early steps into the realm of film directing (cf. Mean Streets by Scorsese and, in a sense, Le deuxième souffle by Melville), one might say that Chabrol managed to scratch together his favourite ingredients, but has not quite managed to bake the perfect cake from them yet. A double tour depicts the ugly truth beneath the glamourous service of the French gentry of the time, but the film's structure is unbalanced. Chabrol spends far too much time on scene setting (Belmondo acting like the clown - always a pleasure), and far too little on the murder (we don't even get to see the corps, except in a flashback once the truth is revealed) and the disentanglement of the mystery. Still, it is amusing enough to watch with good old (or should I say: young) Bebel, some lovely pictures of Aix-en-provence and its surroundings, and all that in colour as early as 1959. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member Sassy little French soap opera. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member I like Jean-Paul Belmondo and Bernadette Lafont and in this movie they did a wonderful job of acting the parts of the eccentric side characters. The main story, about a well to do French family dealing with the philanderings of the husband father, draws you in to the suspense laid out in the opening death scene. Also, the scene where the husband verbally destroys his wife is shocking and at the same time moving in its intensity. In French, and directed by Claude Chabrol, the whole movie definitely carries a feeling of Alfred Hitchcock throughout and the very creepy son is like a foreshadow of Norman Bates in the 1960 Hitchcock movie psycho. A good murder movie with an interesting creepy side to it, I would definitely recommend this movie. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Audience Member Belmondo annoys Hateful characters get killed Unrefined Chabrol Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Not the most accomplished Claude Chabrol film, but as an early effort it's pretty good. Chabrol's first film in colour, plus his first look at the bourgeoisie and first venture into the psychological thriller genre which he would later become known for. Adding to this list of firsts is Jean-Paul Belmondo's major screen debut. Probably more of interest to Chabrol fans rather than your average viewer. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Audience Member Un vieux et très bon Chabrol, vu grâce aux soirées "60's" sur Arte ! Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Web of Passion

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Murder follows a married Frenchman's bold affair with his next-door neighbor.
Director
Claude Chabrol
Producer
Raymond Hakim, Robert Hakim
Screenwriter
Paul Gégauff
Distributor
Times Film Corporation
Genre
Crime, Drama
Original Language
Canadian French
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 18, 1961, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 25, 2017
Runtime
1h 41m
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