Alice ou la dernière fugue (1977)
Directed by Claude Chabrol

Film Review

In the incredibly varied oeuvre of director Claude Chabrol there are few films as bizarre as Alice ou la dernière fugue, a dark, hallucinatory fairytale in which reality and fantasy become intertwined to chilling effect. Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was clearly the starting point for Chabrol's most oniric film, in which an attractive young woman finds herself trapped in a quasi-Gothic universe which fails to make the slightest concession to her desires.  That Alice is in some kind of dreamworld is evident from the moment she wakes up to find her car mysteriously repaired, and so the only question is: how did she get here?  Was the dream induced artificially by the seemingly benign Monsieur Vergennes or is it a natural dream caused by her desire to escape from a husband she has come to despise?  Or is there a third, more fantastic, explanation?  Chabrol keeps us guessing right until the final shot and has plenty of mischief along the way.  The clue is in the title.

The 1970s is generally considered the lowpoint in Chabrol's career. The first half of the decade was marked by some of the director's least well regarded films - La Décade prodigieuse (1971), Docteur Popaul (1972) - whilst, towards the end of the decade, Chabrol would devote more of his time to television. Uneven though his output was in this middle phase of his career, it was here that Chabrol was at his most eclectic and experimental. Alice ou la dernière fugue is one of the more interesting oddities that he came up with in this 'prodigious decade', which includes one or two other neglected gems - Juste avant la nuit (1971), Les Innocents aux mains sales (1975) and Violette Nozière (1978).

Much of the criticism that Alice ou la dernière fugue received on its original release was directed at the casting of Sylvia Kristel in the lead role, that of the heroine Alice.  Kristel had recently become a worldwide star through her appearance in the Emmanuelle films and Chabrol takes full advantage of her close association with erotica by having her appear front-fontal naked in one scene.  Kristel may not have been the world's greatest actress but her doll-like lack of expression makes her a perfect casting choice for this film.  Like the mysterious characters Alice encounters (played by a colourful ensemble that includes such luminaries as Charles Vanel and André Dussollier), she gives nothing away.  She is as enigmatic as her surroundings, sufficiently charismatic to hold our attention and yet flagrantly detached from reality, as though she too were an artificial construct of our dream-making apparatus.  Alice ou la dernière fugue is among Claude Chabrol's most elegantly directed films, and also one of his most poetic - a haunting excursion into an Escher-like dreamscape from which there is no possibility of escape.

Film Synopsis

After walking out on her husband, Alice gets into her car and sets out for what she hopes will be a new life.  Whilst driving through the countryside a storm breaks and her windscreen suddenly cracks.  She takes refuge in an old mansion where she is cordially greeted by an old man, Vergennes, and his butler.  Vergennes persuades Alice to stay the night and assures her that her car will be repaired by the morning.  The next day, Alice awakes to find the house deserted and breakfast waiting for her.  To her surprise, she finds that her car windscreen is intact.  But when she tries to drive away every route she takes is blocked by a fallen tree.  On foot, Alice follows the wall surrounding the house and fails to find an exit.  A strange young man then appears from nowhere, but he refuses to answer any of her questions.  Realising there is no escape, Alice returns to the house and is welcomed by Vergennes and his manservant for a second time...