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The Swindle (1997)
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Synopsis: In Claude Chabrol's fiftieth film, two lifelong partners in crime, Betty (Isabelle Hupert) and Victor (Michel Serrault), operating out of a small RV, criss-cross the country, hopping from convention to convention and scamming bourgeois businessmen out of petty sums of money. They make... In Claude Chabrol's fiftieth film, two lifelong partners in crime, Betty (Isabelle Hupert) and Victor (Michel Serrault), operating out of a small RV, criss-cross the country, hopping from convention to convention and scamming bourgeois businessmen out of petty sums of money. They make enough, however, to maintain a comfortable if elusive lifestyle. When Victor discovers that Betty has been carrying on her own scam for over a year, the blurry lines between secrets and lies break down. As the scheming duo go ahead with Betty's complicated scheme to steal a breifcase from a man (Francois Cluzet) who holds the treasure of a multinational corporation, the film kicks in to high gear. Filled with switched identities, changing allegiances, suppressed romances, and switcheroos, the elaborate story, which takes viewers from the Swiss Alps to the tropics, leads to an operatic and surprising climax. True to Chabrol's style, the ambiguous and compelling psychology, always in flux, propels the drama of the film forward even more than the actual danger of the plot. [More]
Genre: Foreign Films
Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Michel Serrault, François Cluzet, Jean-François Balmer, Jackie Berroyer
DVD Info
Release:
May 8, 2008
DVD Features:
- Letterboxed - 16/9
Audio:
- (unspecified) - French
- Subtitles - English - Optional
Additional Release Material:
- Short Film - LA FARFALE
- Trailers - Theatrical Trailer
Reviews
As a cinematic confection from one of the masters, it's cotton candy, evaporating before it ever gets good.
The Swindle might not be a deep film, but it makes no missteps in showing us the steps these two small time crooks take as they attempt to pull off a big time con.
Você pode até não rir durante a projeção, mas sairá do cinema com um sorriso de lado, admirado com a esperteza - e falta de escrúpulos - daquele casal tão simpático.
It's another wickedly humorous psychological thriller that provides a showy part for [Chabrol's] favorite star, Isabelle Huppert.
A work of superb yet unpretentious film craftsmanship by a past master and an impeccable cast and crew.
While the film's leisurely pace makes some of the more dramatic scenes seem a little flat, the talented cast ultimately overcomes the film's shortcomings.
Trust no one. Suspect everyone. It will still have one more angle to unfold that you will not anticipate.
The ambiguous pairing of Victor (Serrault) and Betty (Huppert) is both comfortable and playful.
Pleases the eye without ever awakening the mind, offering a delicately told tale of intrigue and corruption without ever awakening the basic human passions which are supposedly its subject.
Chabrol's plot is silly, wholly unbelievable even for light fare, and downright confounding.
It's a fluffy, good-natured exercise in style that succeeds just fine, but doesn't leave you wanting any more.
Illustrates the way that comedy is serious business, divulging remarkable intelligence to viewers about the human condition.


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