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• Plot Description
• Soundtrack
• Wallpapers
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Release Date
Aug 26, 1970 (France)
Aug 9, 1971 (Italy)
DVD Release Date
• R1: May 20, 2003
Running Time
2 hours, 4 minutes
Country France, Italy, Belgium
Studio Films la Boétie, Gaumont
More info on IMDb.com
Other Titles
• La Rupture
• The Break Up (1970)
• Der Riß (1974)
• The Breakup
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Genre: Thriller, Drama, Drugs, Murder, Mental Illness, Society, Scams And Cons, Investigation, Experimental
Plot: Bohemia and the bourgeoisie clash in Claude Chabrol's harrowing tale of a young mother fighting for her child and her sanity. Helene (Stephane Audran) awakes one morning to her husband's incoherent ravings and physical assaults, and, fearing for her life, decides to leave him. She takes her seriously wounded child to the hospital, then moves to a seedy boarding house close to her son's hospital and files for divorce. But, in response, her husband's wealthy and arrogant parents begin a campaign of slander, eventually hiring a down-and-out and slightly shady family friend, Paul Thomas (Jean-Pierre Cassel), to find or plant evidence of Helene's depravity. Helene's world spins out of control as Thomas insinuates himself into her life and manipulates all of her friends to turn against her. Chabrol paves a path towards panic with vertiginous cinematography and claustrophobic art direction as Thomas' schemes to incriminate Helene become more outlandish and increasingly dangerous. Despite her questionable past as a barmaid and stripper, Helene maintains her righteousness, sidestepping Thomas at every turn. The downtrodden boarding house owner and fellow boarders get sucked into the web of deceit and destruction, as Chabrol concocts a shocking and compelling climax to Helene's ordeal.
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| Cast |
Stéphane Audran
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Maximum Risk, Babette's Feast | Jean-Pierre Cassel
The Crimson Rivers, Prêt-à-Porter, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie | Michel Bouquet
Night and Fog, Totò the Hero, Every Morning of the World | Annie Cordy
Passager de la pluie, Le, Chat, Le, Vengeance d'une blonde, La | | | Serge Bento
Biches, Les, Femme infidèle, La, Innocents aux mains sales, Les | |
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