Review of Wedding in Blood

It's easy to see that "Wedding In Blood" is the work of a cinematic master right from the opening sequence: the camera follows Michel Piccoli as he, after a brief talk with his wife, gets out of his apartment and drives to an idyllic country spot, where he meets Stéphane Audran for some passionate sex. Then, Piccoli becomes just a shadow while the camera follows Audran this time, as she drives back to her own house where her husband and daughter await her. It's a simple technique which, however, perfectly sets up the rest of the story. The problem with the story is that it doesn't really have much psychological depth: the two lovers behave increasingly recklessly, are driven to murder rather inexplicably (since their spouses, for all their faults, hardly pose much of an obstacle to their affair), and get caught (as some DVD covers stupidly spoil!) without offering much resistance. Even the husband's sudden discovery of the truth doesn't ring, well, true - at least the daughter is shown forming her suspicions from early on. Speaking of the daughter, it's a shame that Eliana De Santis, who plays her, seems to have retired from films since the mid-1970s - she is quite an engaging actress, and you can tell that about 5 years later, she would become a total knockout as well. Anyway, "Wedding In Blood" probably doesn't rank among Claude Chabrol's most important films, but it's still gorgeous to look at and interesting to watch, with fine performances all around: Audran and Piccoli's body language totally makes you believe that their characters are crazy for each other. **1/2 out of 4.