Ophélia (1963)
Directed by Claude Chabrol

Drama

Film Synopsis

Yvan Lesurf is having difficulty coming to terms with his mother Claudia's marriage to Adrien, his father's brother, barely a few months after his father's death.  Yvan has grown to loathe his uncle but is at a loss what to do, so he wanders aimlessly in the grounds of his house.  Claudia understands her son's disquietude and tries to assuage her husband's anger.  One day, André Lagrange, a friend of the family, voices his objection to Yvan's attempts to seduce his daughter Lucie.  Having seen Olivier's Hamlet at the local cinema, Yvan is struck by the similarities between Shakespeares's play and his own situation.  This soon turns into a morbid obsession and Yvan even believes he is Hamlet and starts to call Lucie Ophélia.   Meeting his friend François at a café, Yvan explains that his mother and his uncle are Gertrude and Claudius, Hamlet's mother and stepfather.  It is they who killed his father!  To expose this crime, Yvan persuades his friend to help him make a short film...
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Film Credits

  • Director: Claude Chabrol
  • Script: Claude Chabrol, Paul Gégauff, Martial Matthieu, William Shakespeare (play)
  • Cinematographer: Jacques Rabier, Jean Rabier
  • Music: Pierre Jansen
  • Cast: Alida Valli (Claudia Lesurf), Claude Cerval (Adrien Lesurf), André Jocelyn (Yvan Lesurf), Juliette Mayniel (Lucie), Robert Burnier (Andre Lagrange), Jean-Louis Maury (Sparkos), Sacha Briquet (Gravedigger), Liliane Dreyfus (Ginette), Pierre Vernier (Paul), Serge Bento (François), Roger Carel (Worker), Henri Attal (Guard), Dominique Zardi (Guard), Jean-Marie Arnoux (Guard), László Szabó
  • Country: France
  • Language: French
  • Support: Black and White
  • Runtime: 105 min

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