Poulet au vinaigre – Cop au vin (1985)

Directed by: Claude Chabrol | 110 minutes | drama, comedy, crime | Actors: Jean Poiret, Stéphane Audran, Michel Bouquet, Jean Topart, Lucas Belvaux, Pauline Lafont, Andrée Tainsy, Jean-Claude Bouillaud, Jacques Frantz, Albert Dray, Henri Attal, Marcel Guy, Dominique Zardi, Jean-Marie Arnoux, Caroline Cellier , Josephine Chaplin

French film director Claude Chabrol became best known in the late 1950s and 1960s as a co-founder of the “nouvelle vague” movement in French cinema. In those years he made a number of successful films in which he focused on the behavior of the bourgeoisie and mercilessly dissected it. Because of the kind of films he made, in terms of themes and tension, he was also called the “French Hitchcock”. In the 1980s, Chabrol began to broaden his oeuvre to include more light-hearted drama and ironic thrillers. This wasn’t to everyone’s taste, but even a “lesser” Chabrol is often more entertaining than a random movie in the same genre from another director.

‘Poulet au vinaigre’ (literally “chick in vinegar”, but a play on words in French and strongly translated into English as ‘Cop au vin’) is such an ironic thriller, with pitch black humor, based on a book by Dominique Roulet . Recognizable Chabrol themes abound: a dominant mother, the devious plans of the bourgeoisie, which spiral out of control and lead to murder and at the same time denounce the same middle class. In a drowsy village in the Normandy countryside, apparently nothing seems to be happening, but there is plenty going on beneath the surface. Chabrol analyzes the inhabitants in his usual detached manner, which works better here than in some of his other films. None of the characters can really count on sympathy, although mother’s child Louis Cuno (Lucas Belvaux) is pretty much the central figure in all his awkward clumsiness. He is deeply troubled by his disabled mother (Stéphane Audran), whose house and land stand in the way of the scheming lords of the village. Butcher Filiol (Jean-Claude Bouillaud), doctor Philippe Morasseau (Jean Topart) and notary Hubert Lavoisier (Michel Bouquet) have concocted a major real estate project and the Cuno family gets in their way. Between the advances of his colleague Henriëtte (Pauline Lafont), the postman Louis manages to spy on the trio and read their mail. He thinks he can get them back by scratching cars and then throwing sugar in Filiol’s gas tank. When the butcher dies as a result, the very unconventional inspector Lavardin (Jean Poiret) comes to investigate. Without hesitation, Lavardin also uses various forms of physical abuse to get the people of the village to talk. Like a bloodhound sniffing a trail, Lavardin rages to get to the bottom of it.

The psychological profile of the inhabitants against the backdrop of an old-fashioned murder mystery works very well and Poiret is very convincing in his role. His female counterpart is unmistakably Audran, as the mentally unstable Mrs. Cuno, who plays a very strong role. Unfortunately, that cannot be said for all actors, but a moan who pays attention to it. Chabrol has too much fun for that to fillet the characters, with or without the help of Lavardin. Everyone is spying on everyone, it seems, and the viewer is soon taken in, without moral boundaries.

In the end ‘Poulet au vinaigre’ collapses a bit at the conclusion of the murder mystery, but enough “vinegar” is served as the film progresses. A Claude Chabrol film is usually also a bit of a family affair. He directs his ex-wife Stéphane Audran, his third wife Aurore worked behind the scenes as director of the second unit and script supervisor and son Matthieu (of first ex-wife Agnes) composed the film music. Chabrol and Poiret would make a sequel a year later titled ‘Inspector Lavardin’ and between 1988 and 1990 Poiret took on the role of the policeman again in four TV episodes.