Word: serrault
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...centerpiece of the film is Michel Serrault's stunning performance as the infamous doctor. He plays the murdering madman perfectly, prancing about gleefully as he empties the pockets of his dying patients, but he shows his real talent in the scenes where the delicate facade of the doctor threatens to break down. In spite of himself, the doctor punches a patient in the stomach to see whether an ulcer is improving, closes doors on his patients' feet, and seems more hurried and harried than he should be. But his patients, unlike the audience, never suspect a thing, and the mortality...
...chaos and violence expertly rendered by Serrault are reiterated, throughout the film, by haunting music and startling images. Shots fire in a posh Paris arcade. A man plays a saw with a violin bow. Naked men chase women in Gestapo uniforms. Focusing relentlessly on objects of horror, the camera captures the greenish grey tone of the film and uncovers the ghoulishness of even the most serene images. After a Jew is beaten and taken from his home, the picture-perfect image of the house of the Jew and the house of his neighbor standing identical, side by side, underlines...
...excellent script, joined with the accomplished performance of Serrault and the sensitive direction of Christian de Chalonge, make this a masterful film about sanity and madness, good and evil, and the strange connections between them. When at the end Dr. Petiot tries to elude police by jumping through a movie screen again, the film has come full circle. The final scene--showing the "inventory of evidence," the luggage that Petiot's victims had intended to bring to South America--has the feel of a Holocaust documentary. But here the killer has a voice, as he pleads for understanding...
ANOTHER SEQUEL TO the La Cage Aux Folles trilogy has just hit the silver screen, and the two principal characters, Renato/Zaza (Ugo Tognazzi), the transvestite star of the Cage aux Folles cabaret, and Albin (Michel Serrault), the manager of the St. Tropez nightclub, are still being played by the original actors. Naturally, Zaza and Baldi have aged a little bit since the saga began--they mostly go by the names "Mammi" and "Pappi" as a concession to the passing of time...
...that, honey. You shall give yourself nightmares. Please! Be sensible!". When she has to wear a business suit, she complains, "I hate flat shoes! I absolutly hate flat shoes! How can anybody ever keep their balance in these damn things!". Funny dialogue is great, but gestures and expression make Serrault's performance really memorable; when she gets frisked by a policeman, she frisks back...