Les Biches (1968)

Very well executed

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

American films are usually about someone coming in to clean up the mess around them; A good many French films are about people dealing with the mess that's inside--and in Les Biches (not only "The Bad Girls" as uneasily translated, but "The Does," as in fauns) director Claude Chabrol returns to his obsession with the sexual power that one individual attempts to have over another, and like Hitchcock, with identities that fluctuate as the situation changes.Les Biches is a subtle and subversive look at two women, one rich and powerful and beautiful, and a younger street artist who draws "does" on the sidewalks of Paris, picked up by the elder to vacation with her in St. Tropez during the winter--Jean-Louis Trignitant enters as the token love interest, and quietly nasty love games ensue: Chabrol's early films do not seem to date the way most films of the 1960's do, and the only problem with this one is that is should be available in widescreen as some of his quietly elegant compositions have been hacked at the edges by some corporate type that should have known better.

"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.

A movie is doomed when it does not live up to what is written on the back of its video box. When you advertise a movie of seduction, passion, and lust and than produce a 90 minute movie with empty conclusions at every scene that go nowhere, you get Les Biches. In my opinion, this movie of seduction is rated G. Bad, far from enjoyable, most of the movie is annoying to an American audience. Every character disappoints the audience. Neither one hasn't anything seductive about them.Could have been a great movie, lost its chance, a passionless movie about passion.

This is a beautiful and emotionally tense movie, full of unsaid things, wealth and desire. The photography is beautiful, the performances excellent.However, I must warn you that if are hoping for a movie that depicts bisexual and polyamorous people as realistic, sane or mature, you will be disappointed. This movie seems to be the prototype for other "threatening bisexual woman" movies, such as "Basic Instinct", but see it anyway for the drama and the beauty.