All the French look as if they have parts in a French movie. They're just made that way, and it's a tribute to the French film industry that it has so reflected them. Here's a quintessential French movie, all the more quintessential in that it was written by Poles and directed by a Yugoslav. Paris has never looked better, and the three stars featuring as wronged women all play magnificently. Of course the three (even four) strands of storyline would be a lot to handle for most American youthful moviegoers, and many of the visual prompts require a degree of attention to detail and a knowledge of western culture (Medea, the Acropolis, the Age of Reason) that would be beyond them, too. That said, it's worth pointing out that L'Enfer follows the Hollywood trend of portraying men entirely negatively. Even the father, who is ostensibly vindicated in the end, behaves so brutally that he, too, is a villain. With the exception of a couple of cameo parts, every man in this picture is a villain, every woman a tortured saint. I'm sick of it, and I wish heartily that someone would pass a law against it. Another niggle: the painstakingly photographed title scenes showing the nesting habits of the common cuckoo --- what symbolism does this have with regard to the rest of the film? Or did it simply appeal to the director? These concerns aside, there is an irresistible allure to any film capturing the ambiance of Paris flats, squares, cafes, streetscapes and glimpses of the chateaux beyond, including the beloved TGV which is the only place where one of the women ever manages to get any sleep...and of course, it must all revolve around l'amour, l'amour, toujours l'amour.
