Simple, good-hearted country cousin Charles comes to study at the Sorbonne in Paris where he stays at the luxury apartment of Paul, his cynical city cousin. Charles works hard but fails his exams, Paul doesn’t but passes and gets Charles’s girl. Chabrol’s second feature film re-unites Jean-Claude Brialy and Gerard Blain, the two lead actors from his debut feature, ‘Le Beau Serge’. Paul (Brialy) is a hedonistic and confident Parisian student living in his uncle’s fashionable inner city flat. He spends his time drinking, carousing, sleeping with a variety of female friends and playing the role of matchmaker for his friends, arranging trysts in an ongoing merry go round of bed partners. He is an emotionally remote and decadent man, adhering to a dubious moral code, who approaches his friends love lives with devilish detachment. Charles (Blain) is his naive country cousin, a dedicated student, who stays with Paul whilst studying for his law exams. When Charles is introduced to Paul’s swinging set, he instantaneously falls for Florence, a beautiful woman who is intrigued by Charles’ innocence. Paul is perturbed as he observes the attraction between the two and the respect that Charles displays for Florence. A clash is inevitable as the rivalry for Florences affection grows. The contrast between the two main characters morality is acute, especially in their attitudes toward women. A dramatic study of class conflict and personal responsibility ‘Les Cousins’ is a riveting and perverse study of decadent Parisian student life. The City of Lights is captured by Decae’s camera as if seen through the amazed eyes of Charles. The film won the Best Film award at the Berlin Film Festival in 1959. Also available on VHS.
Credits: Producer, Paul Wagner ; director, Claude Chabrol ; writers, Claude Chabrol, Paul Gegauff ; photography, Henri Decae ; music, Paul Misraki ; editing, Jacques Gaillard.
Cast: Gerard Blain, Jean-Claude Brialy, Juliette Mayniel, Claude Cerval, Genevieve Cluny, Guy Decomble, Stephane Audran.
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How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
X000071
Languages
English
French
Subject category
Foreign language films
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Black and White
Holdings
16mm film; Limited Access Print (Section 2)