Rent The Unfaithful Wife (1968)

French Thriller. - The Unfaithful Wife review by Steve

Slight psychological thriller which serenely unfolds towards a satisfying final twist. Michel Bouchet plays a wealthy, middle aged art dealer who takes his beautiful, younger wife (Stéphane Audran) for granted. Frustrated by his flickering sex drive, she conducts a quiet affair with a strikingly similar divorced writer (Maurice Ronet).

When the two men meet, the panicked husband kills the lover. Which at least shifts him from the rut of his usual humdrum comfort zone! The stunned murderer is out of condition, and his sedentary lifestyle is clearly no preparation for murder. Stéphane stays sexy, while Michel gets a paunch.

The visual design creates an impression of how tasteless French style is at the fag end of the ‘60s. The ugly clothes, the beige interiors and the tacky bistro and disco. And how much they smoke and drink… Ronet comments that bourbon is the best whisky for mornings!

Claude Chabrol also illustrates how sexist is this environment; there is an abundance of satire. The characters don’t discuss their feelings, yet the actors convey these nuances with considerable skill. It’s a subdued suspense picture, but also a subtle exploration of the middle years of a marriage.