''The Third Lover'' (french: L'Œil du malin), also titled ''The Eye of Evil'', is a 1962 French–Italian

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in C ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

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 a ...

. It tells the story of a French journalist in Southern Germany who befriends a novelist and his wife and gradually begins to destroy the couple's lives.

Plot

Albin, a solitary French journalist, is sent to Germany to write an article on noted novelist Andreas Hartmann, who lives in a village outside

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

. Albin rents a flat in the same village and, through Hartmann's French wife Hélène, becomes acquainted with the writer and successively the couple's friend. Obsessed to find the dark spot behind their seemingly harmonious marriage, he makes advances to Hélène and, after she tactfully rejects him, spies upon her, convinced that she has an affair. He finally succeeds to detect Hélène and her lover and takes compromising photographs, which he presents to her. Hélène pretends that Andreas knows of her affair but asks Albin not to show the pictures to her husband, explaining that their marriage gave both a mainstay after living a life of instability. Albin confronts Andreas with the photographs, who in a fit of rage stabs Hélène to death and then turns himself over to the police. Trying to find redemption for his scheme, Albin accuses himself for being responsible for Hélène's death, but is ignored by the police. In the final

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non- diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentation ...

, Albin states that he was unable to find work as a journalist afterwards.

Cast

* Jacques Charrier as Albin Mercier *

Walter Reyer Walther Reyer (4 September 1922 – 5 September 1999) was an Austrian actor. He appeared in more than 50 films and television shows between 1954 and 1997. Filmography References External links * 1922 births 1999 deaths Austrian m ...

as Andreas Hartmann *

Stéphane Audran Stéphane Audran (born Colette Suzanne Dacheville; 8 November 1932 – 27 March 2018) was a French actress. She was known for her performances in award-winning films such as ''The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie'' (1972) and ''Babette's Feast'' ...

as Hélène * Daniel Boulanger as the Commissioner

Production and reception

''The Third Lover'' was written by Chabrol and

Paul Gégauff Paul Gégauff (10 August 1922 – 24 December 1983) was a French screenwriter, actor, and director. He collaborated with director Claude Chabrol on 14 films. Among his films are ''Les Biches'', ''Plein Soleil'' and the autobiographical '' Une Pa ...

under their mutual pseudonym Matthieu Martial and shot on a modest budget. It met with condescending reviews upon its 1962 release and turned out a financial failure.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Third Lover, The 1962 films Films shot in Germany French crime drama films Italian crime drama films Films directed by Claude Chabrol 1962 crime drama films Films set in West Germany 1960s French films 1960s Italian films Films with screenplays by Paul Gégauff