Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Michel Serrault, François Cluzet, Jean-François Balmer
Director: Claude Chabrol
Producer: Marin Karmitz
Screenplay: Claude Chabrol
Cinematography: Eduardo Serra
Music: Matthieu Chabrol
U.S. Distributor: New Yorker Films
In French with subtitles
At first glance, it appears that The Swindle is just another motion picture about two grifters and the cons they pull. After a while, however, it becomes clear that this movie is more complex and entertaining than that. The writer/director is respected French film maker Claude Chabrol - a man who, over the course of a long and revered career, has helmed more than four dozen features, many about crimes and criminals. His previous effort was the bloody noir thriller, La Ceremonie. In some ways, The Swindle is a departure for Chabrol. While the characters' psychological dimensions are explored with the same rigor as in his other features, this movie as a whole has a lighter tone, with frequent forays into straight comedy. Only towards the end, when the protagonists find themselves in over their heads, does the situation turn ominous.
At the beginning, things seem straightforward. Betty (Isabelle Huppert) and her partner, Victor (Michel Serrault), are pulling a job at a casino. After locating a mark, a married salesman who has been lucky at the roulette wheel, Betty drugs one of his drinks, then encourages him to invite her to his room. Once he's out cold, she lets Victor in. They relieve him of less than half of his considerable winnings (leaving enough so he'll never know he was robbed), then take off in a mobile camper, heading back to Paris for a brief respite before their next job at a dentists' convention. But Betty has been plotting her own caper for a year, and it's about to come to fruition. A lover named Maurice (Francois Cluzet) works as a courier for an organized crime syndicate, and he has planned to run away with 5 million francs. Betty's plan is for Victor to swap suitcases with Maurice then walk off with the cash. But things are never as simple as they initially seem, and, in The Swindle, circumstances become complicated fast.
By the movie's mid-point, the question everyone in the audience is asking is "Who's scamming whom?" Is Betty betraying Victor in order to run off with Maurice? Is she playing Maurice for a fool? Is she double-crossing both men? Or is it something different altogether? What's Maurice's game? Is he really as infatuated with Betty as he seems to be? Are the mobsters as gullible as he thinks? And what about the ever-resourceful Victor? Will he be meekly led into a trap, like a lamb to a slaughter? Chabrol develops the plot slowly, deferring answers to all questions until the climax, while constantly posing new ones. The Swindle becomes progressively more intense and involving with every passing moment.
Aside from the plot complications, one of the most fascinating aspects of this movie is the relationship between Betty and Victor. Chabrol elects not to explicitly reveal its nature - are they just partners, or is there a sexual liaison as well? (And, if one chooses to interpret one of Betty's appellations for Victor as something more straightforward than an endearment, it's possible to postulate a familial relationship.) They're certainly well-matched, and, when Victor sees Betty with Maurice, there's an element of jealousy in his reaction. Romantic entanglements are not out of the realm of possibility, even considering the age difference (Betty is in her 40s, Victor in his 70s). In France (as in American movies), there's nothing unusual about a much older man with a younger woman.
For the leads, Chabrol has corralled two of France's top actors. Isabelle Huppert is widely recognized as one of the most accomplished female performers in Europe. Her impressive resume includes the likes of La Separation, Entre Nous, and Hal Hartley's Amateur. She has worked with Chabrol on several previous occasions (Violetta, The Story of Women, Madame Bovary, La Ceremonie), and is deserving of the numerous accolades she has received. Her versatility can be seen in The Swindle, where she effortlessly slides from personality to personality. Not until the closing minutes do we know who the real Betty is. Appearing opposite Huppert is veteran Michel Serrault (Diabolique, La Cage aux folles, Nelly and M. Arnaud), an icon of French cinema. Serrault plays Victor as outwardly suave, debonair, and crotchety, but occasionally allows us glimpses of a less certain, human inner self. And, although The Swindle never resolves the exact nature of Victor and Betty's relationship, it's clear that the two actors develop a palpable (although not necessarily sexual) chemistry.
While it's often true that films about con artists incorporate a dark, offbeat sense of humor, Chabrol's script occasionally ventures into the realm of pure comedy, as in a scene where Victor hides from the unwanted attentions of an elderly Italian widow. Chabrol manages to mix in the lighter scenes without a hint of awkwardness, and the escalating sense of tension is never derailed by this approach. Like The Grifters and Bound, The Swindle succeeds because, in addition to telling an engaging crime story with vivid characters, it never takes itself too seriously. This is a wonderful achievement for a film maker, who, even after making movies for more than 40 years, continues to surprise and delight with each new feature.
© 1999 James Berardinelli