The Unfaithful Wife (La Femme infidèle)

Murder maestro Chabrol is one of the heralded French New Wave directors whose intelligent twists on genre (thrillers are his domain) ushered in an exciting new era in filmmaking. In "Wife," he offers a fresh take on the standard crime-of-passion tale, with the intense Bouquet playing a wealthy cuckold and Audran, Chabrol's own beautiful spouse, lending her ironic talents to the role of über-bored trophy wife. Chabrol's graceful camerawork, his sardonic attitude toward the nouveau riche, and a disquieting resolution will make you faithful to this "Wife." (Note: Divorce yourself from Adrian Lyne's wan 2002 remake.)

Another insightful tale from the talented Claude Chabrol. Audran is very good here. What's it about? Well, the title gives you a pretty good idea. A married woman steps out on her Hubby...and Hubby does his best to, ah, deal with it. Won't insult your intelligence, like some films in this genre. Suspenseful.

I disagree with the other reviews. The rich, bored wife engages in an indifferent affair with an urbane lover and her suspicious, unemotional, possessive husband finds out. The best part of the movie was the background music. Of course there can be understated performances but these are so wooden as to rival those of Pinoccohio. Contrast this with the excellent performances by Richard Gere, Diane Lane and Olivier Martinez in the American version:"Unfaithful". (I concede that it is a miracle that an American version of a French film is superior!!! One has only to consider the vapid American versions of the wonderful movies of Francis Veber as proof.) In "Unfaithful" Diane Lane gives a superb performance as a woman who regretfully endangers her happy marriage and yields to an obsessive affair with a man she to whom she is irresistibly attracted, much to her surprised delight, chagrin and despair. Gere gives a perfect performance as the unsuspecting husband and Martinez is convincing as the selfish, amoral lover.

Well produced and acted

EXCELLENT

When I ordered this dvd for 20 dollars, it arrived in a broken case and the disc was loose in side. When I opened it, it had been all scratched up. I exchanged it but when the new one arrived, it was the same. Broken case, disc loose inside and all scratched up. There was even what seemed to be a wet white substance on the plastic. If the disc plays ok I'll keep it but I payed 20 bucks for this......

Let's see. Your wife is none other than the blonde goddess Stephane Audran: sweet, loving, intelligent, outgoing, and the mother of your happy, well-adjusted, 10-year-old son -- there's even a scene where mommy and sonny are in the bathtub together (no kidding). Naturally, in light of the blissful existence you enjoy thanks to your wife, you shower this wonderful, beautiful woman with all the affection and attentiveness a man could muster, including the physical kind, plus love letters and flowers every day. You go to sleep at night thanking the gods for this gift, ditto in the morning before going to work. Right? Chabrol sez: BZZZZZZT! Wrong movie. "I'm making one called 'The Neglectful, Boring, Stupid Husband,' but that's too long a title and not very marketable at that so I'll call it 'The Unfaithful Wife." Okay, now what? The husband suspects something is amiss when he can't quite verify his wife's Paris comings and goings and hires a detective to find out if she is stepping out on him. Sure enough, the weasel comes back with the evidence that, yup, she's doing a writer dude three times a week, someone she met at the movies and hit it off with. The choice of writer is not an accident in the plot because, after all, those guys can talk, express feelings, make an effort to understand women, and so on, which is more than the office clod of a husband can do. At this point, the husband, having gotten a wake-up call big time, goes home and decides to mend his ways before it's too late and his wife leaves him or makes his life a living hell. He starts writing love letters, send her flowers for no reason, takes lessons in lovemaking from an expert and applies those to his wife, throws her a big birthday party, takes her on a trip to somewhere fun and exciting, and so on. They all live happily ever after. Right? Chabrol sez: BZZZZZZT! Wrong movie again. He's into a different genre (noir), and moral lesson. I'm not gonna spoil it by telling you what chubby hubby does do, but let's just say that flowers are involved -- though most likely flowers his wife will put on his grave. I gave four stars for the superb acting, spot-on direction, and very effective music -- and the privilege of watching Stephane Audran.

Amazon should not sell this item. Horrible video quality. This is not a commercial issued video, it looks a computer made video copy. By selling this video Amazon is insulting its customers.