If you think you’ve had a bad day at work then I would suggest watching Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno this Thursday.......
If you think you’ve had a bad day at work then I would suggest watching Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno this Thursday (October 6th, 8.30pm). A documentary detailing the disastrous attempt by legendary French director Henri-Georges Clouzot to shoot his experimental masterpiece Inferno in the early 60s, it should make you feel considerably better.
Inferno stared Serge Reggiani as a paranoid husband consumed with jealousy over his wife’s (Romy Schneider) suspected infidelity. Clouzot, inspired by the art of that period, wanted to revolutionise film with an innovative work using visuals and sound to express the character’s moods and their perception of reality.
After his American backers Columbia Pictures saw the rushes of his experimental tests with lighting, camera lenses, makeup and wardrobe they provided him with an unlimited budget for the ambitious project, but Inferno was never completed. Clouzot, an insomniac and regarded as a detailed obsessed director, took on the roles of producer, director and writer. With nobody to help steer him or his grandiose plans he became difficult and indecisive, alienated his cast and crew, and drove Reggiani to walk off set. Ultimately, Clouzot suffered a heart attack, and the production was shut down.
Apart from the test rushes, all that is left of Inferno is 13 hours of footage and thanks to a fortuitous meeting in a stalled elevator between film restorer Serge Bromberg and Clouzot’s widow Inès (who granted him access to the footage) we now get an imagined glimpse of Clouzot’s Inferno.
Directed by Serge Bromberg and Ruxandra Medrea, the documentary reconstructs Clouzot’s film with the archival footage and new re-enactments, and features enlightening interviews with surviving cast and crew members. While it’s a shame we’ll never get to see Clouzot’s potential masterpiece as he envisioned it, Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno is a fascinating portrait of a self destructive artist, and a wonderful introduction to Clouzot’s work which features in this month’s Directors' Showcase, every Sunday night at 8.30pm.