Claudio Carvalho In Paris, while crossing a bridge over the Seine, the bored bisexual millionaire Frédérique (Stéphane Audran) meets the homeless young street painter Why (Jacqueline Sassard) and invites her to drink tea at her apartment. They have a love affair and Frédérique brings the virgin Why to spend winter in her house in Saint Tropez, where two weird gay friends of her live. When Frédérique gives a party for a few guests, the handsome architect Paul Thomas (Jean-Louis Trintignant) hits on Why. She is seduced by Paul and spends the night with him in his place. On the next day, the selfish Frédérique visits Paul and seduces him. They travel together to Paris and when they return, Frédérique tells Why that Paul is going to live with them in her house. Why is disturbed and she secretly poses like Frédérique unsuccessfully trying to seduce Paul. One night, Why proposes them to get drunken expecting to go to their room and have a threesome, but she is unwanted by the couple. When Frédérique and Paul travel to Paris for an urgent business, the deranged Why follows them expecting to stay in Frédérique's apartment. But when she is rejected by the socialite, tragedy is announced."Les Biches" is a sensual and sexy thriller divided in four parts ("Prologue"; "Frédérique"; "Why"; and "Epilogue") and ahead of time for a 1968 film, dealing with themes like bisexualism and homosexualism in subtle situations. The romance between Frédérique and Why, for example, is never explicit but it is to be read between the lines through the glances of the socialite to her protégé. Why Frédérique supports her two gay friends is never clear but maybe she finds them amusing with their silliness. Paul Thomas seems to be only interested in Frédérique's money but his character is also not well developed and serves only as a pivot to the tragedy. The open conclusion is left to the interpretation of the viewer and a trademark of Chabrol. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): Not Available

gridoon2018 "Les Biches" must be one of Claude Chabrol's sexiest movies ever. Both Stéphane Audran and Jacqueline Sassard are gorgeous women, but beyond that, the way the camera captures their bodies, their movements, their smiles, their kisses, etc. is purely erotic. They are also pretty terrific actresses. Audran fits her role like a glove, and Sassard (who sadly dropped out of acting after this film) gives a performance full of understated passion. The male lead, Jean-Louis Trintignant, is easily the least interesting and developed of the three main characters, but it doesn't matter much; the story begins and ends with the two women. Audran's two eccentric friends / freeloaders in her lavish house provide some amusing comic relief. The film is quite unpredictable in its development, in fact for a while it almost seems like everything might turn out just fine, until you remember that a) Chabrol doesn't like happy endings, b) that poisoned dagger could not have been introduced so early without a reason....Anyway, this is an absorbing, beautifully filmed psychological thriller, and I think it's also a great starting point for those still unfamiliar with Chabrol's work. *** out of 4.

writers_reign Having recently seen two other Chabrol films starring his then wife Stephane Audran I thought this slightly earlier one would be fairly similar and I was as right as I was wrong. Certainly the trademarks are on hand - stylish settings, photography, behaviour verging on the obsessive etc - but this time Chabrol throws sexual deviation into the mix at a time when it wasn't as commonplace as it was to become shortly afterwards. A lot depends on Why in more senses than one given that the second female character answers to that name, but why DOES Audran leave a ridiculously large tip for a pavement artist, why does Why allow herself to be picked up and ultimately of course why do we care. Completing the menage a trois is the ever reliable Jean-Louis Trintignant and whilst it's far from a waste of time I won't be so eager to watch it again as I will Le Boucher or La Femme Infidele.

pyamada While the beauty and terrific acting of Sassard and Audran make this film seem to be about sexual roles, sexual ambiguity and personal and sexual identity, at its core, this is about a girl who is or becomes unbalanced, and once she comes unhinged, becomes a violent character from a Fritz Lang noir. The penultimate scene is transfixing, but the entire film is beautifully shot, tautly edited and exceptionally stylish and intelligent without calling attention to itself. As usual, Chabrol begins with a noir thriller and casual plot and transforms these elements into something else. Though not a common video, it is available on tape; please see it.