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      The Cousins

      Released Nov 23, 1959 1h 52m Drama List
      94% Tomatometer 16 Reviews 81% Audience Score 100+ Ratings Reserved, bourgeois college student Charles (Gérard Blain) comes to stay with his devil-may-care cousin, Paul (Jean-Claude Brialy), who lives the fast life in Paris. Sensitive Charles, thrown into the whirlwind of his cousin's social circle, meets pretty Florence (Juliette Mayniel) at a party and believes he has found true love. When Florence breaks his heart, Charles concentrates on his studies with renewed fervor, but soon tensions between the two cousins take a dark turn. Read More Read Less

      Critics Reviews

      View All (16) Critics Reviews
      Richard Brody New Yorker The director tackles his great theme-the puncturing of bourgeois moralism, albeit at a price-with a joyful, quasi-Nietzschean derision. May 13, 2013 Full Review Variety Staff Variety Concise progression, fine technical aspects, and the look at innocence destroyed by the profane keeps it absorbing, despite the slightly pretentious treatment at times. Mar 26, 2009 Full Review Tom Milne Time Out A fine, richly detailed tableau of student life in Paris, and Chabrol's first statement (in his second film) of his sardonic view of life as a matter of the survival of the fittest. Jun 24, 2006 Full Review Jean-Luc Godard Cahiers du Cinéma The story which Claude Chabrol tells in his second film, Les Cousins, is of beautiful simplicity, or if you prefer, simple beauty. Sep 2, 2021 Full Review Fernando F. Croce CinePassion Reversing the setting and characters of Le Beau Serge, Claude Chabrol discovers the acerbic stylization that he would for the rest of his career polish and sharpen Oct 24, 2014 Full Review Eric Melin Scene-Stealers.com Les Cousins seems to hold contempt for almost every person it characterizes. Although the characterizations are right on, some of the movie relies too much on melodrama and easy plot devices. Rated: 3/4 Nov 16, 2011 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

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      Audience Member Chabrol creates a darkly ironic film that impresses with its stunning cinematography and mise-en-scène, excellent performances (especially Jean-Claude Brialy) and a depressing story about how it doesn't matter to be a good guy in a decadent society when good guys always lose. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Audience Member A zany, crazy group of Parisians seen through the lens of a young man new to the city. That's about the whole movie. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member This movie by French New Wave filmmaker Claude Chabrol has a pretty simple plot, but was enjoyable nonetheless. In a nutshell, Charles, an innocent and earnest young law student, moves to Paris from the provinces to live with Paul, his sophisticated, profligate cousin. He's immediately exposed to the party life, which is both wild (there is a lot of flirting and bottle smashing) and somewhat amusing (the young men are all in suits and ties, play Bridge in bars, and listen to Mozart and Wagner at parties). He falls for Florence, a woman who's been around, and while she wants to have a meaningful relationship, she's convinced by Paul and another friend that she'll find him boring. She ends up with Paul instead, and moves in with the two of them. Charles actually takes it quite well, sharing meals with them and doing his best to ignore them, for example, as they shower together. He gets a free book and great advice from a bookseller (study hard, and "Read Dostoyevsky - he addresses all your concerns!"), who was naturally my favorite character :). Exams loom, and while Charles tries to apply himself, Paul parties on. I won't spoil it any more than I already have. This was one of those old movies that was anything but boring. The New Wave movement had as its aim to make movies that were different in content and style, and this succeeds; it's quite edgy for its time, and Chabrol has some great shot sequences here. Seeing it really transported me to the Latin Quarter in 1959 Paris. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Audience Member Claude Chabrol's deceptively simple story of two very different cousins is not so powerful because of the plot -- which packs a feeling of Hitchcock in the most passive of ways. The power of this film is the artistic manner in which we see (and feel) the film unfold. There is always a bit of debate regarding if this or Truffaut actually made the first of La Nouvelle Vague films. In the end, that doesn't matter. At it's time, no one had seen a move this realistic and oddly provocative. It still carries an odd sense of "new-ness" about it. The clash of a country mouse and his hipster cousin is as much a societal critique as it is an aggressive bit of dark humor manipulation of cinema. There will only ever be one Claude Chabrol. This may not be his finest film, but it manages to capture almost all of the elements that make him a truly film genius. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member MUBI says that Les Cousins was the first New Wave movie however it did not succeed in launching the French New Wave as did soon to follow Truffaut's "Les Quatre Cents Coups". Les Cousins is a good movie about polar opposite cousins who share an apartment in Paris. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/12/23 Full Review Audience Member A neo-realist, if not existentialist fable. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      The Cousins

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis Reserved, bourgeois college student Charles (Gérard Blain) comes to stay with his devil-may-care cousin, Paul (Jean-Claude Brialy), who lives the fast life in Paris. Sensitive Charles, thrown into the whirlwind of his cousin's social circle, meets pretty Florence (Juliette Mayniel) at a party and believes he has found true love. When Florence breaks his heart, Charles concentrates on his studies with renewed fervor, but soon tensions between the two cousins take a dark turn.
      Director
      Claude Chabrol
      Producer
      Claude Chabrol
      Screenwriter
      Claude Chabrol, Paul Gégauff
      Production Co
      Ajym Films, Societe Francaise du Cinema pour la Jeunesse
      Genre
      Drama
      Original Language
      French (Canada)
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Nov 23, 1959, Original
      Release Date (Streaming)
      May 22, 2017
      Runtime
      1h 52m