Title: Le Corbeau
Year: 1943
Director: Henri Georges Clouzot
Country: France
Language: French
The French "Master of Suspense", Henri Georges Clouzot, caused controversy in Vichy France when his film Le Corbeau hit theatres. It proved to be a popular commercial success, but the occupied government was infuriated with the onscreen parable about a society torn apart by mistrust and informants. The authorities decided to blacklist Clouzot.
A French village doctor (Pierre Fresnay) becomes the target of poison-pen letters sent to village leaders, accusing him of affairs and practicing abortion.
Le Corbeau is a relevant film, even decades later. It warns us about the dangers of bureaucracy and authoritarianism. It tells us about how mistrust can harm a society. We can see this in present day with our political divisions, and how create an "other" sides that don't align with our views.
Clouzot's picture hits us hard with the cynical truth, much like how the best of George Orwell's works do. Nowadays the "town with many secrets" idea is a trope, and much of this film has dated narrative ideas that feel cliche in contemporary times, but its themes are popular in fiction and that make it more accessible than other art from that era.
I enjoyed Clouzot's other works, Wages of Fear & Diaboliques, much more than Le Corbeau, but I must acknowledge that his film does have important themes and is an intriguing window into life during the Vichy government.
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