Claudio Carvalho In the village of Saint Robin, the population receives poison pen letters signed as The Raven spreading rumors and accusations. Dr. Rémy Germain (Pierre Fresnay), who is having an affair with the social assistant Laura (Micheline Francey), the wife of the psychiatrist Dr. Michel Vorzet (Pierre Larquey) that works with him at the local hospital, is the main victim of The Raven. His affair is disclosed and he is also accused of abortionist. When a patient of the hospital commits suicide after receiving a letter telling that his cancer is terminal, the loathed nurse Marie Corbin (Héléna Manson) is arrested since people believe she is The Raven. But soon there are other letters and Dr. Vorzet tries to identify who might be the notorious Raven. "Le Corbeau" is an intriguing film directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, with the storyline about a mysterious character entitled The Raven that writes poison pen letters and the power of rumors and the effect in the population of a small town in France. The film was banned in France since it was produced by the German company Continental Films during World War II in the occupied France. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "O Corvo" ("The Raven")

faterson Brilliantly shot black-and-white drama & whodunnit that will keep you guessing until the last few scenes, while the final scene itself will likely manage to catch you by surprise as well. Considering that the movie is exactly 70 years old as I write this review, its quality particularly in terms of cinematography, screenplay and the actors' performances is stunning. The black-and-white photography by Nicolas Hayer is eye-popping throughout; wonderful plays of shadows versus light; beautiful small-town street scenes from the French province, meant to suggest a universal environment; ironically, it helps to this end that the movie was made during the German occupation of France: the environment seems fully sterile; you somehow feel, while watching _Le Corbeau_, that something just "isn't right" in the France as it is depicted here; you can almost feel the director Clouzot treading very carefully so as not to fall foul with his (German) censors. However, this does not in the least diminish the movie's artistic merits. Clouzot is often rightfully compared to Hitchcock; they are both supreme, equal masters of the art of suspense. Now, if you're an admirer of, for example, the classic Hitchcock blockbuster _Shadow of a Doubt_, released only a year after _Le Corbeau_, you owe it to yourself to watch _Le Corbeau_ as well; the atmosphere and quality of photography and screenplay (authored by Henri Chavance and Clouzot here) is similar in both movies, and perhaps even some of the characters, such as that of the teenage girl. While _Le Corbeau_ can't quite compete with Clouzot's finest masterpieces such as _Le Salaire de la peur_ and _Les Diaboliques_, it's definitely a first-rate cinematic experience and should be part of any library of classic world cinema. (You might even say it gave birth to the entire "film noir" genre.)

Eumenides_0 In the small French village of St. Robin a reserved country doctor receives a poison-pen accusing him of practicing abortions to relieve mothers of unwilling burdens. Soon everyone else starts receiving similar letters, accusing each and everyone of dark secrets. Paranoia and mass hysteria set in as people begin spying each other looking for the culprit. Innocents are slandered and persecuted without evidence. Violence ensues, one man commits suicide. And yet the poison-pen letters, always signed by The Raven, continue to arrive.This is a slow, carefully-built suspense movie in which the identity of The Raven isn't important (and for my part the revelation was ultimately disappointing); Henri-Georges Clouzot is more interested in the human drama, in the relationships between the characters, in the way intrigue, rumors, hidden hatreds infect and destroy a community. It's a misanthropic movie, showing how easily people can become irrational and violent and suggesting there's no cure for this, that it is embedded in our nature. Clouzot, working during the Nazi occupation of France, had many reasons to be depressed about Mankind.As the study of a community it is interesting. As a thriller I found it dull. Many of the qualities that made me enjoy his other thriller Les Diaboliques is also here, but something didn't click for me. The ending, the moralist punishment of The Raven, seemed so rushed and contrary to the rest of this bleak movie, that I wonder if Clouzot was forced to put it there. I had the same feeling about Les Diaboliques.Slow and sometimes dull, it's an interesting thriller, but not one I'd like to watch again any time soon.

CantripZ I fell in love. This film is so damn good it hurts, especially compared to the majority of English language films of the '40s.It's difficult to add much to the comments already made on this classic film (without writing a book on it), and I agree wholeheartedly with the praise it receives.The cinematography is beautiful, the writing is sharp and tight, the cast is superb and from beginning to end it's gripping and intense.I seem to have reacted differently to many on one point, however. Reading through the other comments, I see a plethora of words like dark, misanthropic, disturbing, grim, depressing....Personally, I spent much of this film chuckling to myself (quietly, so I didn't miss a single line of dialogue), gleefully revelling in the wonderfully mordant comedy which lurks just beneath the surface.Does it really present a negative view of people? I would say not. The film states emphatically, over and over, that everyone has faults and flaws.Denise sleeps around. Laura want to, but can't. Rolande misappropriates funds from the post office. Marie Corbin filches morphine from the hospital. Rémy, our protagonist, is an abortionist (and in a Catholic country to boot!).Town officials fill their pockets, drink and doze and dally while they should be working, have affairs and act... like humans.Not evil - flawed. Denise want to be respected. Laura wants to be loved. Rolande wants to live the good life. Marie is fiercely loyal. Rémy is a passionate doctor who acts according to his beliefs.To me, not even "le Corbeau" himself was wholly evil. Vorzet's actions are certainly evil, and their results tragic and catastrophic, but his insanity is pointed out as coolly as the foibles of the other characters. By the good doctor himself, which is a nice touch... one which made me laugh at the end, looking back on the jovial commentary he provides throughout the film.The humour is certainly on the dark side - and somewhat obscured by the emotional impact of the characters and the impetus of the story - but I found that at the heart of the film's darkness is a fundamental affirmation that life is a complex tapestry of good and bad, selfish and altruistic.Nobody is all good or all bad. I honestly believe that. To say so isn't misanthropic or negative - it's just a fact. Neither does such a view condone selfish or destructive behaviour; rather, I would say, it implies a degree of awareness (whether observational or personal) which is more likely to discourage than encourage.After all, if a person doesn't see their own faults, how can they deal with them? Compared to many films (not just of its own era), this is a morally complex tale. It treats all of its characters - from Rémy Germain and "la mère du cancéreux" to Vorzet himself - with a delicacy and sympathy which is unusual and moving.The fact that it's also bitingly satirical and viscerally intense... well, that's just a bonus!