Innocents with Dirty Hands (1975)

Touches You

How sad is this?

Best movie ever!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Let me leave aside the glamour coefficient of Romy, which was in large measures in this movie, she looked glamorous even in a prim suit here, and it was no wonder that every one was making a pass on her, from the judge, to the defense lawyer to her husband's best friend, and becoming her mortal enemy when she rebuffed them and that is the basic crux of the story. This is a story more into study of human sexuality, or rather a man's and as pointedly told in the end "It's a man's world, where all the law's are made by man" The main two character around whom the story revolves are the spouses Wormser (Romy and Steiger) and their problem is the lack of physical relationship due to the husband's health, first we are made to belief it was his heart problem, and later told that he was impotent, it was one of those, or something else, wouldn't be divulged till the end.Anyway lack of physical relationship (for couple of years by then), the young and glamorous wife falls in the arm of a young pulp-fiction-writer, and they plan to murder the wealthy husband, frame it as an accident, and then legally walk off with the money. From there the crossing and double crossing starts between not only the three main figures (husband wife and lover), but a few others too. The police suspects, but without the corpus delicti, and also the prime suspect (lover) supposed to be dead in and accident the case falls flat, and the widow is acquitted, despite police rightly suspecting her. Nothing out of the ordinary in the deduction process, may be a bit Sherlock-ian, but the evidences for deductions were all there, even to audience, to come to the conclusion the detectives (or rather one) did. As some have pointed out, there had been twists and turns, including resurrection, but that didn't create too much of aberration, and rather brought the story to a some-what predictable end, without surprises. By surprise I mean, creating situations to force the end, here everything fell naturally without manipulation, even the end.The characters of the men, all swarming around the glamorous young woman were all well portrayed, even their 'male' mind-set was clear by the epithets they used for her, especially considering that she was a deprived woman than a depraved woman. But ce'st la vie, don't we still look at most with that eyes? The crime graph would show that it is really a man's world. If a woman resists, either she is subjugated or termed as bitch or even worse.This deprivation could have serious implications too, and that is again natural. Here, her all internal feelings remained in, the ember was covered in the thick ash courtesy the physical needs and could come out when the ash was rudely shaken.

"Innocents With Dirty Hands" could perhaps be described as Claude Chabrol's variation on the classic French thriller "Diabolique". It's not a perfect movie: it's long and talky; the plot has some extreme "conveniences"; the final shot is a bit of a WTH. But it's a refreshingly adult, constantly twisty, sometimes creepy, morally complex thriller that challenges its viewers by giving them characters (the central love triangle, the two cops, the financial adviser) who are not easy to like, and who through the process of the movie reveal that they are not who they first appear to be. The one likely audience-pleasing character is the quick-thinking lawyer Albert Legal; Jean Rochefort gives a flamboyant performance and nearly steals the show in about 10 minutes of screen time. At first you may fear that Rod Steiger will feel out of place in a French film, but somehow he fits right in. And between Romy Schneider, the St.Tropez locations, and the big beautiful house with a view where most of the action takes place, your eyes will usually have something to get fixed on. Beware of a harrowing physical attack scene near the end, though. **1/2 out of 4.

Top notch Chabrol! I was a bit worried at first as after the initial nude appearance of the delectable Romy Schneider, a rather puffy faced Rod Steiger does not look too good. His being dubbed does not help but soon enough with such a fast moving tale, any misgivings are forgotten. This twists and turns like some manic giallo and Chabrol does not take himself too seriously, even allowing us to laugh - out loud at one point, that must be a first for me in this directors films. I'm sure if analysed carefully there are plot holes but it is clever, involving and very enjoyable. It can also be taken very seriously as Schneider' s character as the only female, takes a little more than the 'male gaze' from everybody else in the film and the varying relationship between the two leads is as puzzling as the film itself.

Claude Chabrol's Les Innocents aux Mains Sale sometimes runs the risk over becoming very, very slow-paced. Particularly the scene in the judge's office in which Julie's attorney cunningly pleads for her innocence is way, way too long. A little less dialogue, and a little more suspense would have helped this film, although it is really not bad.But... The major attraction in this film is not the story, which, I must say, does have some highly unexpected twists and does indeed show Chabrol's creative skills and pleasure in directing. The star of Les Innocents is no one less than the wonderful Romy Schneider, whose acting performance, charm and beauty in this film are more stunning than ever before. I am very happy that Chabrol has chosen her character as the central one, for now we can admire gracious Scheider in almost every scene. I have the impression the camera man was in love with her, and who can blame him. Romy even looks amazing in the scene where she is putting curlers in her hair. She is the perfect cast for this complicated Femme Fatale role.Although mainly the mediteranean filming locations in combination with the outstanding weather are to be credited for providing this Film Noir with a deceptively pleasant yellow, warm glow, it is Romy Scheider's radiance and talent that make Les Innocents aux Mains Sales a joy to watch.