{"id":2915,"date":"2016-02-16T22:00:36","date_gmt":"2016-02-17T03:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=2915"},"modified":"2026-04-10T10:38:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T14:38:40","slug":"violette-noziere-1978","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=2915","title":{"rendered":"Violette Noziere-1978"},"content":{"rendered":"

Violette Noziere-1978<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director Claude Chabrol<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starring Isabelle Huppert, St\u00e9phane Audran, <\/span>Jean Carmet<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Scott’s Review #378<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reviewed February 16, 2016<\/p>\n

Grade: B+<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another in the legion of thrilling and mysterious films by French director Claude Chabrol, Violette Nozi\u00e8re (1978) tells the true story of an eighteen-year-old Parisian girl who plots her parents’ murder in 1930s France.<\/p>\n

The fact that the tale is true to life makes it even more horrific and mesmerizing.<\/p>\n

It is beautifully shot, though the action largely takes place in interior settings.<\/p>\n

This film is a cerebral experience.<\/p>\n

The film is classy in every way- like French films typically are, and Isabelle Huppert (Violette) takes center stage. She is gorgeous and interesting-looking (reminiscent of a young Jennifer Jason Leigh) in the lead role.<\/p>\n

Violette appears to be a typical French teen, but harbors a dark secret, and something always seems glum about the character. She works nights as a prostitute accosting wealthy men.<\/p>\n

When she meets handsome but spendthrift Jean Francois, a young man she fancies, she becomes his main source of income and slowly begins to plot the murder of her low-income yet stable parents in an attempt to inherit their apparent savings.<\/p>\n

The story is somewhat murky as Violette’s version of events (mainly in the past and concerning her father) is accusatory. She insists that her father sexually abused her as a child, but is this in her fantasy world, or did this happen?<\/p>\n

One never knows.<\/p>\n

Making the film compelling is that Violette’s parents are quite likable. Struggling to make ends meet and provide a quality of life, they prepare home-cooked meals, enjoy life, and appear to be decent people.<\/p>\n

What is the reality?<\/p>\n

Later, we witness a rivalry between Violette and her mother. In one scene, we see Violette’s father bouncing his daughter on his knee while the mother looks on, filled with hatred.<\/p>\n

When she attempts to seduce her husband, she looks on amused. Is this solely in Violette’s mind?<\/p>\n

Chabrol, an admirer of Alfred Hitchcock, keeps the suspense going throughout the film, but the heart of the film belongs to Huppert.<\/p>\n

From the start of the film, amid meaningless banter with her more refined girlfriend, the audience can tell there is something amiss about Violette. She seems lonely, like a lost little girl yearning for excitement, her eyes staring into the distance.<\/p>\n

Her true colors are slowly exposed, yet Chabrol never makes her all-out crazy. Violette always has a cool, calm demeanor, and that is why the film succeeds.<\/p>\n

For fans of Chabrol, or film fans eager for a foreign-language treat, Violette Nozi\u00e8re (1978) is a rare find, a welcome addition to the growing number of his films I have watched with interest and heartily enjoyed.<\/p>\n

The mystique, the beauty of the artistry, and the twists and turns are top-notch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Violette Noziere-1978 Director Claude Chabrol Starring Isabelle Huppert, St\u00e9phane Audran, Jean Carmet Scott’s Review #378 Reviewed February 16, 2016 Grade: B+ Another in the legion of thrilling and mysterious films by French director Claude Chabrol, Violette Nozi\u00e8re (1978) tells the true story of an eighteen-year-old Parisian girl who plots her parents’ murder in 1930s France. … Continue reading Violette Noziere-1978<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[127,5141,652,442,35,265,1118,10201,10202,5142,204],"tags":[129,5144,651,443,67,266,1119,10203,10204,5145,258],"class_list":["post-2915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1978-films","category-bernadette-lafont","category-claude-chabrol","category-french-films","category-foreignfilms","category-foreign-thrillers","category-isabelle-huppert","category-jean-carmet","category-jean-francois-garreaud","category-stephane-audran","category-thrillers","tag-1978-movie-reviews","tag-bernadette-lafont","tag-claude-chabrol","tag-french-films","tag-foreign-language-films","tag-foreign-thrillers","tag-isabelle-huppert","tag-jean-carmet","tag-jean-francois-garreaud","tag-stephane-audran","tag-thrillers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2915"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2915\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22876,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2915\/revisions\/22876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}