"Actor: Yves Verhoeven"

• L'Enfer | DVD | (07/07/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Paul and Nelly have what appears to be the perfect life; happily married a wonderful son and a successful business in their idyllic lakeside hotel. For Paul it all seems too perfect and he begins to suspect his wife of having an affair. Tormented by nightmares and visions his paranoia soon threatens Nelly as his jealousy descends into madness...

• Madame Bovary | DVD | (22/04/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Gustav Flaubert's celebrated novel of obsessive ardour undergoes a dazzling retrofit for the screen, courtesy of French neurosis-master Claude Chabrol. The basic story (a woman's selfish quest for happiness ends up obliterating all she holds dear) may be the same but Chabrol's talent for biting through to the dark marrow of passion makes this a startling experience, even for people familiar with the source material or the numerous other cinematic adaptations. Casting Isabelle Huppert in the title role (she's at least a decade older than the standard conception of this wilfully tragic heroine) was a potentially risky gambit that paid off big; underneath her glorious surface lies a startling foundation of brilliant ice. The same can be said about this stunning film. Viewers intrigued by this potent actress-director pairing may also want to check out The Story of Women and the wonderful La Ceremonie. The film is in French with English subtitles. --Andrew Wright

• Betty Fisher And Other Stories | DVD | (28/10/2002) from £2.79   |  Saving you £17.20 (616.49%)   |  RRP £19.99

  With Betty Fisher and Other Stories, writer-director Claude Miller follows the examples of Claude Chabrol and Pedro Almodóvar in adapting a Ruth Rendell novel to the screen. In this case the original novel, The Tree of Hands, has been translated seamlessly and stylishly to a Parisian setting. The plot interweaves a complexity of characters and stories, but the central thread concerns the eponymous Betty, a novelist whose young son dies while her disturbed mother Margot is staying with her. Margot, with terrifying directness, calmly abducts another child of similar age to replace the dead boy. From this loopy act there stems a whole series of consequences and side-effects involving a widening and socially diverse circle of people across the city. Miller lucidly traces his way through the intricate story with cool, ironic humour and a sure touch for the different social milieus. Once or twice the plot strains credulity--bringing three major characters together by chance for the showdown at Charles de Gaulle airport is just a little too convenient--but most of the time the social and emotional cross-currents are deftly navigated. As Betty, Sandrine Kiberlain gives an almost painfully vulnerable performance, as if she lacks several layers of skin, while Nicole Garcia makes her mother Margot into a monster of overriding, self-pitying egomania. Their scenes together carry the weight of a whole lifetime of ill-suppressed mutual aversion. As with Rendell's novels, it's endlessly fascinating to watch these people, but you feel very glad you don’t know them. --Philip Kemp