''The Breach'' (french: "La Rupture") is a 1970 film written and directed by

Claude Chabrol Claude Henri Jean Chabrol (; 24 June 1930 – 12 September 2010) was a French film director and a member of the French New Wave (''nouvelle vague'') group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. Like his colleagues an ...

, based on the novel ''The Balloon Man'' by

Charlotte Armstrong Charlotte Armstrong Lewi (May 2, 1905, in Vulcan, Michigan – July 18, 1969 in Glendale, California) was an American writer. Under the names Charlotte Armstrong and Jo Valentine she wrote 29 novels, as well as short stories, plays, and screenpl ...

. The film was also known as ''The Breakup'' at times in its release in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The film had a total of 927,678 admissions in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Plot

Hélène Régnier's ( Audran)

mentally ill A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

husband Charles ( Drouot) injures their son, Michel, in a violent rage. Hélène beats Charles to the floor with a frying pan, flees and starts divorce proceedings. Charles moves back in with his wealthy and manipulative parents, who never approved of his marriage and are determined to secure custody of Michel. While the boy is recovering in a local

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

, Hélène moves to a boarding house nearby. The Régniers hire Paul Thomas (

Cassel Cassel may refer to: People * Cassel (surname) Places ;France * Cassel, Nord, a town and commune in northern France ** Battle of Cassel (1071) ** Battle of Cassel (1328) ** Battle of Cassel (1677) ;Germany * Cassel, Germany, a city in Hesse renam ...

), an impoverished family acquaintance, to find damaging material on Hélène to help them secure custody. Paul moves into the boarding house and, with the help of his girlfriend Sonia ( Rouvel), plots to ruin Hélène's reputation.

Principal cast

Critical reception

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'': Dave Kerr of ''

The Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by ...

'':

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Breach 1970 films 1970s psychological drama films 1970s psychological thriller films Films directed by Claude Chabrol Films shot in Belgium Films shot in Paris French thriller drama films French psychological thriller films French psychological drama films Italian psychological thriller films Italian psychological drama films Italian thriller drama films Films based on American novels Films based on works by Charlotte Armstrong 1970 drama films 1970s French-language films 1970s Italian films 1970s French films