''Ophélia'' is a 1963 French

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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

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 ...

. The story centers on a disturbed young man who becomes obsessed with the idea that his life mirrors that of the title character of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's play ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

''.

Plot

After the death of his father, a rich factory owner, Yvan's mother Claudia marries his uncle Adrien. Yvan, a troubled young man unwilling to accept the marriage, becomes convinced that his mother and her new husband killed his father. He descends into a fantasy world, imposing the story and the characters of Shakespeare's ''Hamlet'' onto the people around him. Lucie, the daughter of the family's groundskeeper, is reluctant when Yvan declares her to be his Ophelia, although she shares his feeling of affection. After confronting his mother and stepfather with his accusation in the shape of a short film he produced (analogue to the ''Mousetrap'' play in ''Hamlet''), Adrien intends to kill Yvan but, unable to do so, poisons himself instead. On his deathbed, Adrien rejects the murder accusation but confesses to Yvan that he is his biological father. Yvan, regretting his assumption and devastated, asks Lucie to comfort and look after him, to which she agrees, emphasising that she is Lucie, not Ophelia.

Cast

Alida Valli Baroness Alida Maria Laura Altenburger von Marckenstein-Frauenberg (31 May 1921 – 22 April 2006), better known by her stage name Alida Valli, or simply Valli, was an Italian actress who appeared in more than 100 films in a 70-year career, span ...

as Claudia Lesurf *

Claude Cerval Claude Cerval (21 February 1921 – 25 July 1972) was a French film actor. He appeared in more than forty films from 1955 to 1971. Biography After his secondary studies, he took drama lessons with, among others, Louis Jouvet Jules Eugène Lo ...

as Adrien Lesurf * André Jocelyn as Yvan Lesurf *

Juliette Mayniel Juliette Mayniel (22 January 1936 – 21 July 2023) was a French actress. She appeared in more than 30 films and television shows between 1958 and 1978. At the 10th Berlin International Film Festival, she won the Silver Bear for Best Actress f ...

as Lucie Lagrange * Robert Burnier as André Lagrange * Jean-Louis Maury as Sparkos * Liliane Dreyfus as Ginette * Serge Bento as François *

Sacha Briquet Sacha Briquet (1930–2010) was a French actor, born in Neuilly-sur-Seine. Biography He notably played the character of in the children's television program L'Île aux enfants. He signed a book of memories, ''Comédien, pourquoi pas?'', publish ...

as Gravedigger

Reception

Although completed before Chabrol's next film '' Landru'', ''Ophélia'' was released after the latter and met neither with the audience's nor the critics' approval. Depending on the source, the film had between 6,000 and 8,000 admissions in Paris. Upon the film's 1974

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

opening, 11 years after its French release, ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' critic Nora Sayre rated it an "equally boring and pretentious" film with an unconvincing leading actor André Jocelyn, finding merit only in Jean Rabier's camerawork. Another 11 years later,

Jonathan Rosenbaum Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for '' The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has contributed to ...

of the ''

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

'' came to a different conclusion, calling it an "underrated and unsettling" early work of its director. In a 2001 interview with Peter Lennon of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', Chabrol himself called it an "execrable" work, while on another occasion, he stated that he liked the film, although it "wasn't quite what we wanted", explaining that he emphasised the humorous side of what had originally been planned as a more serious project.

References

External links

* {{Hamlet French drama films Films directed by Claude Chabrol Modern adaptations of works by William Shakespeare Films based on Hamlet 1963 films Films set in France Films with screenplays by Paul Gégauff 1960s French films Films scored by Pierre Jansen