Rent The Breach (1970)

Bleak - The Breach review by sb

FILM & REVIEW Working my way through the Claude Chabrol catalogue to this - one is his most fiendishly clever films as well as a particularly bleak take on the human condition. Audran plays Helen married to Charles with a young son. He suffers from mental health episodes and one morning attacks her and throws their son across the room. She subdues him beating him with a frying pan - Police and an ambulance are called but his Father (Boucher) is immensely rich and secrets his son away. Helen wants a divorce and custody but the father who always thought she was no good takes action to get custody of the boy. To further his aims he hires the destitute son of his late business partner Paul (Jean- Pierre Cassel - Vincent’s father) to dig the dirt. He pretends to be terminally ill and moves into the same boarding house across from the hospital where Helen’s son is being looked after. He finds nothing so concocts a despicable plot involving his nympho girlfriend, some Porno movies , LSD and the landlady’s mentally retarded daughter to frame Helen. Needles to say it doesn’t go to plan and things soon spiral way out of control. Audran is as always excellent and Cassel is a mixture of suave charm and slimey creepiness that centres the film and as mentioned it one of Chabrols bleakest films but very very good - 4/5