The Raven (1943) User Reviews

Secrets of a Gallic Peyton Place unearthed in Clouzot's misanthropic thriller

[bmacv · 8/10 · 20 July 2003]

Even the children in Henri-Georges Clouzot's Le Corbeau (The Raven) are sneaky and malicious. No doubt they reflect their upbringing in the stifling French village of St. Robin, where a series of poison-pen letters – signed The Raven – has galvanized the populace into a spree of spying, whispering and finger-pointing. Most of the letters accuse an aloof doctor (Pierre Fresnay) of occupying illicit beds and of performing illegal operations – relieving women of burdens they're unwilling to bear.

The accusations aren't entirely fanciful – Fresnay has cheerless affairs going with the young wife (Micheline Francey) of a sententious, much older doctor (Pierre Larquey) and with the town pump (Ginette Leclerc), a smoldering seductress who's both lame and a hypochondriac. But the evil epistles disgorge more than enough malice to go around, alluding to dirty little secrets that touch just about everybody in this Gallic Peyton Place.

When one of the letters causes the suicide of a young man dying of liver cancer, another slips out of a wreath on his casket during his funeral procession, and yet another flutters from the rafters of the church during the requiem mass. The search for the anonymous writer reaches the point of hysteria – what else does the unseen assassin know, and who will be the next victim? Alone among the townsfolk, the mother (Sylvie) of the suicide seems resigned and resolute....

Clouzot has been called the French Hitchcock, but when Le Corbeau hit the screens in 1943 – released by a German production company during the Nazi occupation of France – he wasn't welcomed as warmly as the mischievous but harmless cherub across the Atlantic. its mordantly unflattering portrait of the French bourgeoisie was shunned as little short of treasonous. To be sure, Le Corbeau, like most of Clouzot's work (Diabolique, The Wages of Fear) seems to take Shakespeare's misanthropic Timon of Athens as inspiration for its outlook on humanity; it's certainly no tourist brochure for the French provinces.

When Otto Preminger remade the movie in 1951 as The 13th Letter (setting it in the Province of Québec, and starring Michael Rennie, Linda Darnell, Charles Boyer and Constance Smith), he had to pull back from the nastier material – the routine, glum adultery, the rumors of abortions – and apply rosier tints to the characters. None of that sentimental nonsense for Clouzot, who unrepentantly hewed to his malevolent vision right to the bitter end.

Analogue Twitter & Tweets...

[Xstal · 8/10 · 12 February 2023]

There's a scribe with claws who's writing to the town, to people in high office, to bring them down, takes the name of Le Corbeau, that's a crow if you don't know, leaves them squawking, screeching, crying, full of woe. The target seems to be Rémy Germain, a doctor who may offer, abortion (he doesn't), but there's others with secrets, who may have closets of regrets, and dark wings are used, to take a flame, and fan.

A wonderful piece of filmmaking that takes you around the houses and rouses your suspicions on just about all the characters, before twisting and turning, snaking and worming to its devious finale. Great performances, great story, all from one of the greatest directors.

The Power of Rumors

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 20 May 2018]

In the village of Saint Robin, the population receives poison pen letters signed as The Raven spreading rumors and accusations. Dr. Rémy Germain (Pierre Fresnay), who is having an affair with the social assistant Laura (Micheline Francey), the wife of the psychiatrist Dr. Michel Vorzet (Pierre Larquey) that works with him at the local hospital, is the main victim of The Raven. His affair is disclosed and he is also accused of abortionist. When a patient of the hospital commits suicide after receiving a letter telling that his cancer is terminal, the loathed nurse Marie Corbin (Héléna Manson) is arrested since people believe she is The Raven. But soon there are other letters and Dr. Vorzet tries to identify who might be the notorious Raven.

"Le Corbeau" is an intriguing film directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, with the storyline about a mysterious character entitled The Raven that writes poison pen letters and the power of rumors and the effect in the population of a small town in France. The film was banned in France since it was produced by the German company Continental Films during World War II in the occupied France. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Corvo" ("The Raven")

Dark And Subversive

[Lechuguilla · 28 October 2010]

Someone unknown sends a series of slanderous letters to various people in a small French town, the motive apparently being to drive a local medical doctor out. The letters are signed: "The Raven".

On the face of it, the story is a kind of whodunit. Who is the Raven, and what motivates him or her? That's the mystery. There's no shortage of suspects, including the very doctor who supposedly is being hounded.

But the film, released during the dregs of the Nazi regime in Germany, contains relevant political subtext and themes, not the least of which is the idea that someone, anyone, can be an informer. Knowing a town's dirty little secrets, the rumors, people's weaknesses and vices can be deadly in the hands of someone with a penchant for writing, and a desire to tell all. What the raven writes is to some extent true. And the truth turns the townsfolk against each other.

The raven, as an anonymous entity, functions as a whistle blower, a snitch, a spy, a secret agent, a kind of Deep Throat. Thematically, the film is dark and subversive.

The film's B&W lighting is noirish and effective. I especially liked the sequence where a naked light bulb hanging down from the ceiling gets swung back and forth, like a pendulum, as two characters converse about moral pendulums of right and wrong, sanity and insanity, light and darkness. Where does one begin and the other end, asks a character.

Although "The Raven" gets off to a slow start, the plot and the thematic import do pick up. Two-thirds in, the film curves deep, both as a whodunit and in its cinematic statement on the issues germane to whistle blowing and informing.

Thunderbolt .

[dbdumonteil · 10/10 · 8 December 2001]

It's a legend!and a black one!The most famous scandal of French cinema during the occupation,le corbeau (the raven) has not lost its feathers even today. The facts:it was produced by the German firm "continental" where Clouzot used to work as a scripter "en chef".But people went as far as saying that the movie was shown in German movie theaters under the disagreeable title "a small town like so many other ones in France" .Balderdash!The movie was never released in Germany at the time. As Roger Boussinot wrote in "l'encyclopédie du cinéma"(1980),"the bourgeoisie ,be it French or German was all the same everywhere,and Hitler,whose fortunes were on the wane ,had to treat his own (bourgeoisie) gently.Actually,the film ran into difficulties after the Liberation.It was the ideal scapegoat,and along with so many others ,like Sacha Guitry,Arletty(the female star of "les enfants du paradis"),Ginette Leclerc (the female star of "le corbeau")and other "collaborators" (sic),Clouzot was blacklisted.

Why so much acrimony against "le corbeau"?Because it depicted life in French provinces in a way that was far from being idyllic.Anonymous letters are sent by the "raven",and drags the town through the mud.At first sight ,it seems like a simple whodunit:Clouzot 's first effort (l'assassin habite au 21) was a thriller.But there's more to the picture than meets the eye:what was latent in the first movie,we see it in its true colors:Clouzot's contempt for the whole human race,which will increase over the years.No character in "le corbeau " to identify with:the prototype of the film noir.Where is good?Where is bad?The most famous scene remains that of the light sway :the world is not black and white,what you thought black might be white and vice versa .

"Le Corbeau' was released at the wrong time.It was too different from the "Occupation" movies which dealt with "escape" "dream" as works as Carné's "les visiteurs du soir" or Jean Delannoy/Jean Cocteau's "l'éternel retour" testify.It was 1947 before HG Clouzot was allowed to direct again.Four years has passed,and he came back to Belgian writer Steeman (whose "le dernier des six" and "l'assassin habite au 21" he had already adapted),but his venom and his misanthropy hadn't dried up,and more masterpieces were to follow.

Otto Preminger directed a remake "the 13th letter" in 1951 which I haven't seen.On the other hand ,there was a French "modern "update by Yves Boisset (Radio Corbeau,1989)which is watchable but which can't be compared to Clouzot's thunderbolt back in 1943.

A little-known gem

[wjfickling · 10/10 · 10 July 2004]

Although I pride myself on my knowledge of fine films, I must admit with a trace of embarrassment that I had never heard of this film before yesterday, when a brief blurb on the Turner Classic Movies schedule prompted me to watch it. My principal motivation for watching it was that it was directed by Clouzot, whose "Diabolique" and "Wages of Fear" are favorites of mine. What a find! While not quite the equal of "Diabolique," it comes very close, and it is the equal of anything by Hitchcock. Viewed simply as a thriller, it is marvelous, but it is much more than that. It is a profound character study and a howl of rage at the small-mindedness and pettiness of small town bourgeois communities. Considering that it was made during the German occupation, it can also be viewed as about as scathing a critique of Gestapo methods as a director could be expected to make without risking his life.

After I saw "The Sorrow and The Pity" in 1971, I held the belief that any French artist who continued to work during the occupation was a legitimate target for criticism. Since then I have moderated this view somewhat. After all, who among us can honestly say what we would do in a similar situation? While there is no excuse for collaboration, can an artist be criticized for staying in his country and making a protest in the only way he can? I think that is what Clouzot did here, and the result is a masterwork. I only wish this were more widely known and publicized. 10/10.

The ink which makes blood flow.

[hitchcockthelegend · 9/10 · 2 March 2014]

Le Corbeau is directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot and co-written by Clouzot and Henri Chavance. It stars Pierre Fresnay, Ginette Leclerc, Pierre Larquey and Micheline Francey. Music is by Tony Aubin and cinematography by Nicolas Hayer.

We are in a small French town, the actual name of which is not known and is inconsequential. A series of poison pen letters are being sent out to the town dignitaries, accusing them of all sorts of inappropriate operations. The letters are signed by someone calling themselves Le Corbeau (The Raven), and pretty soon the town starts to implode as suspicion and mistrust runs wild.

Famously it was the film that saw Clouzot banned from making films, the then young director receiving flak from all quarters of the Vichy Government - Catholic Church - Left Wingers and others too! The asides to the Nazi occupation of France at the time not being acknowledged until some years later. That very theme obviously holds considerable weight, but it's not the be all and end all of Clouzot's magnificent movie.

Clouzot and Chavance tap into the troubling fallibility of the human race, portraying a town quickly submerged in moral decay. There is caustic observations on the higher echelons of society, a clinical deconstruction of a town quick to cast aspersions without thinking of consequences, while the script boasts frank intelligence and no fear of censorship. That a town so ripe in respected denizens could become so diseased, so quickly, makes for powerful viewing. All are guilty as well, nobody escapes, even the youngsters are liars or cheats, thieves or rumour spreaders, this be a Hades town where negativity runs rife and leads to broken bodies, broken souls and broken human spirits.

Very much a bastion of proto-noir cinema, it's photographed with an awareness to marry up to the acerbic thematic at work. Shadows feature prominently, even in daylight, canted angles are used to great effect, broken mirrors perfectly imbuing the fractures of the human psyche. A number of scenes are startlingly memorable, a funeral procession and a church service interrupted by one of The Raven's letters are superbly staged, the pursuit of a nurse through the cobbled streets is menacing, and the finale is hauntingly raw. Top performances across the board from the cast brings further rewards, whilst simultaneously adding more plaudits to Clouzot's direction. All in all, a remarkable, fascinating and potent piece of cinema. 9/10

Humanity, before there were tabloids

[manuel-pestalozzi · 10/10 · 21 June 2006]

According to a short interview with filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier in the French DVD-edition, the production company responsible for Le Corbeau was founded at the instigation of the Nazi propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels. It was supposed to produce unpolitical, „uplifting" entertainment. And it functioned outside of the control and censorship authority of the collaborationist French Vichy regime. Somehow, with Le Corbeau director Georges Henri Coluzot succeeded in standing the company's original precept on its head, painting a dark and pessimistic picture of French society. The courage, daring (and foolhardiness?) of the makers of Le Corbeau is, I assume, beyond comprehension for a contemporary audience. Many French, not least the Resistance and the post war authorities, were offended by this portrayal. But, doesn't the title sequence say explicitly that it could have happened anywhere?

That is true, of course. The pastime of making slanderous remarks and general gossiping is an universal one. In Le Corbeau, set in a small provincial town where everybody knows everybody, almost no one and hardly any scandalous subject is spared. Virtually the whole community gets caught in this whirl of wild accusations and suspicions (I detected a certain resemblance with High Noon). It is beautiful how the director gets the message through that nobody is entirely good or entirely bad, culminating in a great scene where a primitive lamp is sent swinging back and forth, letting the shadows wander.

In this movie an anonymous writer sends letters to different people with wild accusations. Oddly, the big letters, the layout and even the short, catchy phrasing look like the prototype of a tabloid newspaper. The letters actually are hand made scandal sheets in an era when newspapers still were meant for fully literate people. One of the highlights of the movie is a funeral procession in which one of those letters falls from the horse drawn hearse. Due to its bold lettering it is immediately recognizable to everyone, but the mourners do not dare pick it up and wait until a curious child gets hold of it. Then they quickly gather around – a wonderful scene.

Le Corbeau is a timeless movie that I can highly recommend.

The Power of Rumors

[Eumenides_0 · 7/10 · 24 July 2009]

In the small French village of St. Robin a reserved country doctor receives a poison-pen accusing him of practicing abortions to relieve mothers of unwilling burdens. Soon everyone else starts receiving similar letters, accusing each and everyone of dark secrets. Paranoia and mass hysteria set in as people begin spying each other looking for the culprit. Innocents are slandered and persecuted without evidence. Violence ensues, one man commits suicide. And yet the poison-pen letters, always signed by The Raven, continue to arrive.

This is a slow, carefully-built suspense movie in which the identity of The Raven isn't important (and for my part the revelation was ultimately disappointing); Henri-Georges Clouzot is more interested in the human drama, in the relationships between the characters, in the way intrigue, rumors, hidden hatreds infect and destroy a community. It's a misanthropic movie, showing how easily people can become irrational and violent and suggesting there's no cure for this, that it is embedded in our nature. Clouzot, working during the Nazi occupation of France, had many reasons to be depressed about Mankind.

As the study of a community it is interesting. As a thriller I found it dull. Many of the qualities that made me enjoy his other thriller Les Diaboliques is also here, but something didn't click for me. The ending, the moralist punishment of The Raven, seemed so rushed and contrary to the rest of this bleak movie, that I wonder if Clouzot was forced to put it there. I had the same feeling about Les Diaboliques.

Slow and sometimes dull, it's an interesting thriller, but not one I'd like to watch again any time soon.

Well-crafted suspense classic

[withnail-4 · 9/10 · 21 March 1999]

If you liked "Diabolique" and "Wages of Fear" check out this earlier, equally good film by the same director. I was confused a bit by the quick introduction to all the characters, but the suspense is maintained and controlled with precision. The final 15 minutes are gemlike, a shuffling of possibilities, and the final 30 seconds a quick succession of powerful images. If you like whodunits, like Rene Claire's "And Then There Were None" you will like this one.

French noir with controversial history

[Red-Barracuda · 6/10 · 26 May 2017]

A small French town is plagued by an anonymous poison-pen writer who calls themselves 'le corbeau'. Neighbours turn on each other in the paranoia and distrust, with events even escalating to suicide in one instance. The fragile fabric of the community quickly disintegrates under the stress.

This Henri-Georges Clouzot film is a mystery that also looks at human psychology. More specifically it is a study of the darkness within people and it ultimately conveys a very pessimistic view of humanity. The genesis of the film itself is very interesting. It has the unfortunate claim to fame of having been a product of the Nazi occupation of France, in a period of great censorship, with movies being very controlled. In this sense it does seem quite strange as this is not precisely the kind of film you would expect the Nazis to allow – either they were less stringent on such matters than we are led to believe or they let this one slip through the net. Whatever the case, when this one did come out it didn't find too many admirers on account of it being viewed simultaneously as a collaborationist work by Nazi opponents, while on the other hand it was viewed by some in the Nazi regime as being critical of the poison-pen activity of informers which they actively encouraged. So with this in mind, this is a film with some historical interest for sure. The movie itself works fairly well as a mystery, with many suspects offered to us as potential culprits. I think mainly though it works as a look at how little it takes for people to turn against each other in a community and how quickly a lynch mob mentality can take hold. It's a pretty solid film, if maybe not a great one exactly. Its historical context certainly makes it an interesting watch for sure though.

Depressing and disturbing but just great

[preppy-3 · 10/10 · 11 September 2005]

This takes place in a small French town in 1943. Someone called "The Raven" is sending poison pen letters to various people in the town. They're filled with half-truths or outright lies but it begins to affect people. Quickly the whole town falls apart--relationships are destroyed, mistrust and suspicion are all over and it finally leads to suicide and a murder.

Plotwise this may seem familiar to many but it's beautifully done. The film moves quickly, is well-acted and director Henri-Georges Clourot (who also directed the classic "Diabolique") does a wonderful job of visualizing the paranoia and hatred of the townspeople. The best sequence has a nurse running away when she thinks she is being chased by a crowd. Also this deals with sex outside marriage, pregnancy and abortion--taboo subject in 1943.

Believe it or not this was seen as Nazi propaganda in its day! It was shot while France was being occupied and shows a town full of violent, suspicious and angry people. French people thought it was a slap in the face to them--showing them as ignorant people who let lies destroy them. That seems pretty silly now.

It's now rightfully regarded as a classic. Well worth catching. I give it a 10.

an engaging noir whodunit crafted with assurance and considerable oomph

[lasttimeisaw · 7/10 · 13 September 2017]

A sleepy French town is driven into paranoia and distrust by a nexus of anonymous poison pen letters signed by a nom-de-plume "Le corbeau" which means "the raven" in English, disclosing underhanded goings-on among the townsfolk, and it all starts with the first one accusing Doctor Rémy Germain (Fresnay) of adultery with Laura Vorzet (Francey), the much younger wife of his colleague Doctor Michel Vorzet (Larquey), as well as carrying out illegal abortions.

Soon audience will find out the adultery is as true as Rémy's pro-choice predilection, and an obvious suspect, could be Marie Corbin (Manson), Laura's spinster sister, a priggish and callous nurse working in the hospital. Capitalizing on an incident of a patient's suicide (after Le corbeau informs him that he has the terminal cancer), the masses turn their backs on Marie, since no one wants their dirty little secrets becoming the laughing stock of the town, Marie becomes the whipping woman even without any substantial proof, there is definitely safety in numbers, a common mistake we onlookers should all rationally abstain from.

It goes without saying that the letters do not stop there, and at then the suspects are narrowed down to eighteen individuals sitting in the gallery of the church, among them there is Denise (Leclerc), Germain's gimp neighbor who is so pining for him that le corbeau could be her own creation should be driven by jealousy and malice. A protracted dictation test to compare the hand-writings of the said suspects with the original closes up short when Denise timely faints out of fatigue, and a subsequent discovery from Rémy almost catches her red-handed, it is only "almost", because he might forget a simple fact: to imitate someone's handwriting isn't such a high-wire endeavor and no expert can ascertain that all those 1oo-plus letters cranked out in a short stretch are all from the same hand, in other words, everyone literate could be "le corbeau" if he or she is properly motivated, by circumspectly imitating these extant letters, a copycat can easily put words into the mouth of le corbeau. That is the most astounding truth mined by Clouzot and his co-writer Louis Chavance based on a real event occurred in Tulle, Limousin 1917.

For better or worse, Clouzot entertains his audience with the culprit flip-flop until the very last moment, during which the fast-paced twists pan out rather hastily to keep deliberation at bay, Equally, Laura's ink-stained fingers and Denise's slapdash's pregnant threat are perfunctorily overlooked in lieu of the reveal and its resultant comeuppance, as is Rémy's own impetus behind his actions.

Composed of a handsome cast: Pierre Fresnay's Rémy is a suave, self-principled ramrod weighed down by his own cynical perspective; Ginette Leclerc's recalcitrant hussy gallantly bestrides the line between eyebrow-raising and beguiling, and a voluble Pierre Larquey can be laughing all the way to the bank with his undimmed panache, save for the upshot, LE CORBEAU shapes itself as an allegorical study of sociology and human nature, a minor Clouzot in comparison nevertheless, is an engaging noir whodunit crafted with assurance and considerable oomph.

Overrated

[cherold · 5/10 · 7 June 2010]

This is, for the most part, an interesting little movie that explores how a series of anonymous poison pen letters tear a town apart. The idea is intriguing, there are some notable scenes, as in one where the town turns on someone they think is responsible, and the movie does a good job of throwing suspicion on various people.

At the same time, the movie often has a sameness to it. Still, I would have rated it higher if the denouement had been solid. But it actually feels random. I just didn't believe the ending. As a study of growing hysteria in a small town, this is a pretty good movie. But it also sets itself up as a mystery, and as a mystery it is a dismal failure.

The plague of lies and deceit

[stephen-357 · 24 January 2005]

"Beware! I see all and tell all." So quoth the Raven, the pen name of the mysterious writer of poison pen letters that has plagued a small town in France with suspicion, fear and anxiety. Since this film was made by a Frenchman under a German controlled studio during Nazi occupied France in 1943, there is a subtext not necessarily explicit in the film itself, but nonetheless pervades its very essence. In Le Corbeau, Dr. Remy Germain becomes a victim when letters start circulating that accuse him of having an affair with a married woman and of being an abortionist. Both of these accusations are false but do contain half-truths, and it is the unfortunate tendency for groups of people, usually motivated by fear, to assume the worst. Furthermore, Germain is an outsider, in that he refuses to participate in gossip and avoids social clicks, which ironically makes him a target. Soon he will find himself under suspicion and alienated. Since virtually every member of the community has some skeleton in their closet, they would much rather turn their ire on the accused than risk having their own affairs aired by The Raven. And so the drama escalates to a crisis where Clouzot does not even spare the victim of blame. By assuming a position of detachment, Germain has turned a blind eye and thereby contributing to ignorance which only provides fuel for the Raven and the lies and deceit spread like a plague.

A masterpiece of misanthropy!

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 8/10 · 11 December 2005]

Clouzot's second film, "The Raven" was a masterpiece of misanthropy… Dissecting the moral collapse of a small French town plagued by a wave of poison pen-letters, Clouzot revealed a sour, embittered vision of human motivation…

Greed, envy, hypocrisy and hatred are his characters' primary instincts; cruelty and mutual suspicion inform every act of communication… Such was the power – and, perhaps, truth – of Clouzot's vision of provincial life that it was interpreted as an act of collaboration with the occupying Nazis; rumors suggested it was shown in Germany as anti-French propaganda… Clouzot found himself unemployable for several years…

The idiocy and falsity of the accusations were proved by his subsequent films

The Raven Never More

[RARubin · 10/10 · 21 July 2005]

There is one thing that the French do better than almost any country, they produce first class cinema. Le Corbeau (The Raven) is no exception. Director Henri-Georges Clouzot makes a fine film from a popular novel about real poison pen strife in Tulane France during Vichy France in the early 40's.

The first thing an American would notice about the film, there are references, nay, there are actual scenes of passion and sex, clothed, but obvious between Pierre Fresnay of the pencil mustache and Ginette Leclerc of the lacquered lips in a 1943 film. It's subdued, and the biting of the hand scene is a little pulpy, but these folks want to do it. Americans would have to wait for Bogart and Bacall before they got some steam.

Since the Nazi's were essentially in control of France at the time, they thought an anti-informant film a bad idea. They hated it, but the French audience's ground down by what was essentially a military defeat and then an occupation, were thrilled by the tension and mystery of Le Corbeau. There are many secrets about the townspeople that complicate life in this tense little town until the culprit has a comeuppance. There are a number of classic original scenes like the light bulb scene or the avenging angel scene. This one holds up very well.

"Interpretation and mystification go hand in hand."

[morrison-dylan-fan · 10/10 · 4 July 2016]

Gathering up films to watch last year that were affected by the Nazi Occupation of France,I found out about a title from Henri-Georges Clouzot which angered both the Nazis and the Resistance,and led to Clouzot being banned from film making for 3 years! Deciding to spend the next few months watching French cinema,I felt that it was time to finally open the raven's letter.

The plot:

Working in a small town,Dr Rémy Germain gets a "poison pen" letter from someone called "The Raven" who claims that they know about Germain having an affair with psychiatrist Dr. Vorzet's wife Laura,and also of performing illegal abortions. Trying to keep the letter under wraps,Germain finds his attempts to fail,as The Raven sends letters around town,publicly revealing peoples most personal details. Initially limiting the letters to peoples private lives, The Raven catches the town by surprised horror,when a letter causes a patient of Germain to kill himself.

View on the film:

Inspired by a real "poison letter" case that took place in Tulle, Limousin (signed "The eye of the tiger") in 1917,the screenplay by co-writer/(along with Louis Chavance) director Henri-Georges Clouzot sends the letters to the gripped with fear Occupied France.Openly having a character state "Evil is a necessary thing.",the writers tear the town up with a ruthlessly allegorical Film Noir,by making the search for The Raven,one where everybody is covered in grave doubts,and the "resistance" to the letter is torn down by mistrust and deceit. Getting on the wrong side of everyone, (with "The Raven" being revived in real life letters on the Clearstream affair,leaking details about French politicians secret bank accounts.)

The writers strike a brutal punch against the Nazis, (who ran Continental Films studio) by making the letters drying up info being given to the self-appointed,ruling elite in the town.Leaving this work as a mark for 3 years,director Clouzot & cinematographer Nicolas Hayer fly with the raven into the darkest areas of the town.Opening up the anxiety with each new letter,Clouzot sweeps across the town with ultra-stylish tracking shots which turn on every suspect in town.

Unveiling the secrets,Clouzot soaks the title in an intense Film Noir atmosphere of dread,by superbly making the decayed shadows shining down on the residences subtly reflect the "grey" world they are trapped in.Joined by a stunning Micheline Francey (who got banned from acting for a year after appearing here!) as the unsteady on her feet Laura Vorzet, Pierre Fresnay gives an extraordinary performance as Germain,thanks to Fresnay trimming Germain's "clean cut" image as secrets fly out of his hand,and turn Germain into a Film Noir loner in the wilderness of the town,as the mysterious letter writer quotes The Raven,never more.

a chilling mystery where psychology and sociological perspectives are a little more of the dramatic juice than the outcome

[Quinoa1984 · 10/10 · 10 April 2007]

Henri-Georges Clouzot's Le Corbeau is at once a story loaded with the kind of tension and thrills and dramatic questions that keep an audience guessing like any good mystery, and as well an indictment of the crueler, more paranoid and darker sides to all people. At the time it was looked upon as being quite controversial, namely because it was released at the height of the Nazi occupation in France. The film does have that immense level of accusation (one sometimes thinks of the simple French phrase 'J'accuse!' when watching it) that evil can happen not simply in the realm of fascism and dictatorial agendas of mass murder and control, but in seemingly ordinary folk in towns and villages where an unkind word can spark the worst intentions. Not only does one think of the Nazi occupation in this context, but also the Salem Witch trials, or any time when it's not even about the end result but about getting the task done at hand, to rule out *seeming* evil by the power of fear and corruption. There's even one of the great sequences showing in clear view how emotions can boil over so high where mob-rule becomes demonstrative of a form of sociological ills.

We see a funeral taking place- a character from early in the story received a letter from the notorious 'Raven', an anonymous madman who has been spreading gossip about many in town, specifically a doctor Germain, but when this man receives it it drives him to suicide. During this, a letter falls out of the buggy carrying the hearse. First we get a very important set of shots showing how everyone who walks behind the buggy never stops but always glances at the letter addressed in bold to the townspeople. Suddenly one reads it, and an uproar occurs against Mary Corbin. She runs in a frantic pace and mind-set; even as she runs away from what is stirring into a mob out for the simple satisfaction of getting someone in, be they truly guilty or not, and Clouzot never shows us the mob running after her, but keeps the sound rising even higher and higher of people gaining in their angry calls against her. Then a moment when she finds solace in an empty, shattered room, there are still words scribbled on the walls, and finally they catch up to her. It's such a rich sequence in technical-cinematic terms, yet there's also a lot to think about in terms of the nature of the people, of the society at hand- or, as the opening line suggest, any town.

Le Corbeau is incisive and questioning of what it means to have not just trust in a town, or a respect for confidence, or really what it means (probably more than anything) of the innocent revealing the guilty where they might be (i.e. the scene where Vorzet and Germain quarter the adults in town to see if their writing styles match the Raven), but also what is compassion or forgiveness or love or any of that which is not really evil. It even does, albeit through a lot of talk- through the old Vorzet played by the great Pierre Larquey- try to examine how the personal intermingles with the professional, and what might seem crazy or stupid gossip is really just as evil as murder. The premise is simple: a doctor (Pierre Fresnay, best known from Grand Illusion) starts getting letters, saying very key words like 'abortionist' and 'liar and fraud'. Of course, once the first part gets out, things start to go haywire in the town, though not until others in the town, including those as high up as the mayor, receive similar terms of "this is what you do in your secret spare-time". It sets off a chain reaction, which also includes Germain having to reveal finally his true dark past- one that reminds the audience that what is hidden should stay that way- but that the women in his life, Laura (the elderly Michel's young husband) and Denise, his on-off love-interest- and a break in Germain's character as at first a shrewd bourgeois and later a man of more emotional depth.

But there's more than just Germain's fate and reputation at stake in Le Corbeau, and what gets pointed out about how good people can go ugly, or the power of what SHOULD be chaos and hysteria that can be bought into, or that the old phrase "judge not and ye shall not be judged" could never be more pertinent. This all said, Clouzot's film is not actually as preachy as one might expect from this description. Here and there Vorzet does go on and on, with his manner of speech all too uncanny, but beneath the deep scope of more intellectual and even political agendas there's an engrossing whodunit here as well. At the same time one may be thinking about how this relates to the period and geography of what it was made, it's really just a supremely timed and fascinatingly shot picture meant to appeal to mystery and thriller fans up for something different; only the process is a little more skewed. I'm even a little reminded of the recent film version of the Zodiac story, where the medium of communication from unknown outsider to the mass public and the consequences are far more stronger and with more possibilities realized than the end-result. It's also surely one of the true classics made in France during WW2.

Le corbeau review

[JoeytheBrit · 7/10 · 2 July 2020]

A doctor finds himself the main target of a series of poison pen letters sent to prominent residents of the village in which he practices. Henri-Georges Clouzot throws plenty of clues and red herrings at his audience in this tale of growing paranoia told with typical Gallic sangfroid. The twists reach a crescendo in the final five minutes with apparent culprits found to be blameless not once, but twice. Difficult to warm to any of the characters here but they are all inarguably etched with withering insight into the less savoury aspects of human nature.

Classic Intrigue from the "French Hitchcock"

[Enrique-Sanchez-56 · 10/10 · 10 July 2004]

It still amazes me that a film of this nature was made in 1943. It oozes with a grade of sensuality and vulgarity which would only resurface several years later in popular films of lesser qualities.

We have here a film project so compelling that Hitchcock himself lost the bid for its purchase by a few hours (according to online reports).

I can only imagine what sort of movie Hitchcock would have fashioned from its elements. But history sometimes lets fate decide the best outcomes in most interesting ways. I don't think this movie could have been made in the United States nor in the USA of latter days and have had produced such a fascinating delivery from cast, crew and director.

From its first frames in a cemetery to its final quiet scene down a village street, every shot conspires to bring one into the story.

The film is in French, which will not attract a certain segment of the film watching public. That is all well and good. Those who refuse to watch movies because they are in other languages deserve to be denied the pleasure of such masterworks as this film.

Every characterization is spun out with attention to the most intimate detail. To paraphrase another reviewer: every person in this town appears culpable and sinister -- even the children are depicted with their own brand of menace brewing and boiling ready to swoop down and seize control.

The cinematography has a more modern look and polish than just about any other film made during this time in film history. I admit there are scenes which display a brand of charming crustiness and provinciality which very few directors are able to reproduce today -- except of course for Woody Allen in "Zelig". Yet, they served their purpose for the telling of this story.

But all in all, there is a feeling of immediacy that may not have been captured by many films of this era. It is brazen and bold. Other words that comes to mind are: an honestly wild touch of realism.

All these add to the story in a most telling way which leads to the surprising denouement in a most curious and circuitous manner.

Banned in both France and Germany at the time. In retrospect, we can see why. We have here a film which must have shocked a great number of people. But today? Not so much...but none of the strengths are lost. All of its potency remains intact.

Le Corbeau is classic cinema which should be known more and recognized more - for its brilliance and power.

Great set-up, but things do tend to slow down -- still, the ending's fun

[davdecrane · 7/10 · 31 March 2010]

A wonderful set-up and a delightful cast engage us fully but because the characters are reacting to an initially off-screen protagonist, and there's some lax plotting near the end, the film fizzles a bit before its (mostly) satisfying conclusion.

A more purposeful attempt by the main character, a doctor, or anyone to solve the mystery of the poisonous letters would streamline the action somewhat and save us from the serendipitous action of randomly arriving missives.

The two-pronged solution to the mystery is just barely acceptable, but the characters involved are so sympathetic we'll take it as served.

Poison pen letters

[jotix100 · 10/10 · 4 October 2006]

"Le Courbeau" was Henri-Georges Clouzot's masterpiece. He paid dearly for having been instrumental in bringing it to the screen. At the time it went into production, an occupied France was not the best place to be. Because Clouzot's picture was made through German owned Continental Films, with its distribution rights, proved to cause the opposite effect than what the director wanted. He paid a high price for daring to present his tale about a page of shame in French History. Not only did the left despised this work, but Clouzot was also criticized by the Vichy government of the ultra right.

The story takes place in a provincial town where poison pen letters begin appearing all over the place. They are being sent to everyone. The main target of the intrigue points out to one of the doctors in town who is accused of performing illegal abortions as well as carrying on illicit affairs with some of the town's respectable women. The letters destroy lives and reputations without any consideration to the ruined lives along the way.

Not having seen this film in years, we must congratulate the Criterion DVD people for the glorious transfer they have done. Nicolas Hayer's crisp black and white cinematography is a joy to watch again. Tony Aubin's music score plays well in the background, complimenting Clouzot's vision.

The film is also a joy to watch because of the fabulous performances from this talented cast. Pierre Fresnay makes a wonderful Dr. Remy Germain, the man at the center of the story. Ginette Leclerc, one of the best actresses of the period and Micheline Francey, who plays Laura, make a valuable contribution. Helena Manson seen as Marie Corbin, the hated nurse, does a fine job as well.

We recommend any viewer to watch the Criterion DVD to admire Henri-Georges Clouzot masterpiece that speaks volumes about human beings at a trying time of their lives.

For get the reputation and overtones to the Occupation, this is just a good thriller

[dbborroughs · 7/10 · 6 April 2009]

Henri-Georges Clouzot's tale of the trouble an unending series of poison pen letters causes in a small village is a solid little thriller. The tale of letters signed Le Corbeau revealing all the well hidden secrets of a country village has been hailed as a great classic, I'm not sure I would go that far, but it is a good thriller. I think the fact that the film was made in occupied France and was reviled by both the occupiers and the occupied, not to mention its banning after the war, has inflated its reputation needlessly. Its a good film, certainly it has been rightly called one of the first film noirs, but I can't say thats its much more than that. I think its importance past entertainment has been overstated (especially in retrospect). for me its a good little mystery, anything else is hyperbole. Worth a look for those looking for a good thriller.

Tonally Dead And Exceedingly Underwhelming, But Is Lifted By Great Performances And Cinematography

[dommercaldi · 5/10 · 14 May 2020]

Pros: 1. The cinematography is gorgeous, with the stand-outs being the really smooth camera-work, as well as the innovative and unique shots. 2. Pierre Fresnay (Le docteur Rémy Germain) and Pierre Larquey (Le docteur Michel Vorzet) both give great performances. 3. The scope of the movie is truly impressive, especially in regards to the amount of extras featured. 4. The film deploys subtle and intelligent critiques of the French upper class that never feels overbearing or out-of-place.

Cons: 1. There are too many characters, therefore there is not enough time spent on any of them to fully develop them. 2. The lack of a score makes the entire atmosphere feel rather flat for the most part. 3. Some of the scenes either feel pointless, or they drag on for a little too long. 4. The reveal of the Le Corbeau (The Raven) is exceedingly underwhelming, and you never find out why they went through all that trouble to undermine everyone's lives. 5. As a personal preference, the dark, gritty, and paranoid tone I was hoping for was sadly missing.