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Violette

R 1978 2h 4m Crime Drama List
80% Tomatometer 10 Reviews 67% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Teenage Violette Nozière (Isabelle Huppert) poisons her parents (Stéphane Audran, Jean Carmet) to support her lover in 1930s Paris.

Critics Reviews

View All (10) Critics Reviews
Elliott Stein Film Comment Magazine Violette sits there on the screen, a stylish lump. Rated: 1/4 Dec 12, 2017 Full Review Eric Henderson Slant Magazine Violette doesn't so much rejuvenate the "sex = death" equation that had been in place since Louise Brooks opened Pandora's Box as it does struggle to remember why women want sex in the first place. Rated: 2/4 May 13, 2007 Full Review Justine Smith Vague Visages One of Chabrol’s most adventurous and engaging films. Nov 21, 2023 Full Review Stephen Farber New West/California The film is not as involving as one might wish, but it's worth seeing for its intelligent, icy dissection of a chilling, true crime story. Nov 3, 2021 Full Review Jesús Fernández Santos El Pais (Spain) A solid and thrilling film -- if a bit slow and ambiguous at times. [Full Review in Spanish] Aug 8, 2019 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Chabrol's attempt to arouse sympathy for his heartless protagonist seemed a reach. Rated: B Jul 8, 2010 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (16) audience reviews
william k Excellent true-case period murder drama is a bit unusual work by this director, but it manages to recreate the enigma of the crime, and Isabelle Huppert is extraordinary in the title role. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Frenchie's mediocrity. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member It is an atrociously unlawful act depicted in Chabrol's sensational melodrama, the based-on-a-true-story type (a murder case in 1933) which would usually generate a slew of horrific feedback in the social news commentary, about an adolescent girl poisons her parents in order to back up her gold-digger boyfriend to elope together. What makes the film so gravely provocative is the entire scheme of Violette (Huppert) seems so juvenile and wanton, the viciousness is inexorable and beyond any logical solace. Violette is a lackadaisical, apolitical and promiscuous teenager, although at the age of 24, Huppert is unbecoming to pass for the role, but Chabrol adroitly restyles Violette with a more precocious patina, the dexterous transition between the good girl veneer when she is with her parents and the motel-hogging and man-hunting hussy potently incites Huppert's chameleonic escapade, each and every single frame zooms in on her unprovoked aloofness and obtrusive sex appeal. She is perpetually indulging in her own pathetic realm, sneers at her parents' clumsy intercourse and disgruntled at their ordinary petit bourgeois trivia, she is in an impetuous situation to find an egress, but the man in her dreams is a major disappointment as viewers all being well-informed in advance, it is money he is on the lookout for. The affair is doomed to futility, in some sense Violette knows it fairly well, but it is the defects (the egocentric selfishness, deep-rooted misanthrope and diabolic cruelty) in her character blind her sight, poison her mind and abet her into carrying on the abhorrent action. After the murder plan goes as expected and the lousy gas-accident cover-up, Germaine, the mother (Audran) survives the poison, it is not a detective story after all, instead, it is an awkward moment of facing the truth, but Violette's vituperative accusation to her late father (Carmet) in order to justify her motive shatters all the expectation if there is any mercifulness left in her, she is an archetype of the malevolent side of human nature, an anomaly which defies all the logical interpretation, she and Dr. Hannibal Lecter can be an adorable couple! Stéphane Audran, whom I just appraised for her delicate performance in BABETTE'S FEAST (1987, 8/10), is astounding here as the overbearing but doting mother of Violette, she is the one we can mostly project our compassion on, yet, we might also prompt to question her tutelage, perhaps she is at least partially responsible for the decadence of her sole daughter, how Violette's double act (constantly stays in motels and hangs out someone the parents have never met) can blatantly evade a mother's instinctive nature is a shade bemusing, not to mention the intaking of unknown medicine for the sake of hereditary syphilis, at least verify with the doctor first (and in this case, both parents are too unmindful)! New to the canon of Claude Chabrol, the pick of VIOLETTE may not be the optimum starter, the disrupted narrative never fully register any excitement barring a bitter aftertaste and shocking values of the subject matter, its foremost merit is to grant Huppert a stage to unleash her glacial pulchritude, which one can appreciate from every unyielding close-up on her, and comfortingly augurs an eminent career for her as crème de la crème of the French cinema, her screen magnetism is inherent. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member Disjointed from about 40 minutes in, and it never generates much emotion for anyone involved. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member Puzzling at times, but never enigmatic thanks to a strong performance by Huppert. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Classic Isabelle, the murderess, is she a selfish whore, or an abused child? True story. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Violette

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Movie Info

Synopsis Teenage Violette Nozière (Isabelle Huppert) poisons her parents (Stéphane Audran, Jean Carmet) to support her lover in 1930s Paris.
Director
Claude Chabrol
Screenwriter
Odile Barski, Herve Bromberger, Frédéric Grendel, Jean-Marie Fitère
Rating
R
Genre
Crime, Drama
Original Language
Canadian French
Release Date (DVD)
May 8, 2007
Runtime
2h 4m