Film / Bluebeard (1963)

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Bluebeard (French title Landru) is a 1963 French crime biopic film directed by Claude Chabrol and written by Françoise Sagan.

The film chronicles the life, crimes and trial of the infamous French serial killer Henri Désiré Landru (portrayed by Charles Denner), who lured several lonely women via dating ads in newspapers, married them and murdered them to steal their belongings during World War I.

The cast also includes Michèle Morgan, Danielle Darrieux and Stéphane Audran.

This film provides examples of the following tropes:

• Artistic License – History:
  • Marie-Angélique Guillin was 52 years old when Landru killed her, not 63 as stated (the actress, Mary Marquet, was 68).
  • The unnamed German woman (played by Hildegard Knef) who possibly ends up a victim of Landru was invented for the film.
• At the Opera Tonight: Landru takes several of his future victims to the opera.
• Bald of Evil: Landru is a Serial Killer, and the top of his head is hairless.
• Bathtub Scene: Anna Colomb takes a bath at one point while she's intimate with Landru, and he pours water on her body.
• Beard of Evil: Landru is bearded and seduces women to murder them and rob them.
• Blatant Lies: Landru keeps denying he killed the women at his trial and up until his death, despite the amount of proofs.
• The Bluebeard: Landru looks for lonely women who don't have a family so he can marry them under a false name, make them sign papers to allow him to retrieve money at the bank, kill them, and sell their belongings.
• The Cameo:
  • French poet Raymond Queneau played Georges Clemenceau in two brief scenes.
  • The second aforementioned brief scene also includes the historical figure of Georges Mandel, played by filmmaker Jean-Pierre Melville.
• Crusading Lawyer: Landru's lawyer displays much eloquence in his defense of him. Before his execution, the lawyer tells him he defended him as if he was his brother.
• Death Row: While Landru is waiting for his execution in his cell, his lawyer brings him the news that the President of the Republic has denied him his pardon.
• During the War: Two thirds of the film take place during World War I, as Stock Footages of it sprinkled throughout until the 1918 Armistice show. Landru mainly targets women who get widowed by the war, and the end of the war actually bothers him since many women won't be alone anymore, meaning less potential preys for him.
• Fainting: Fernande Segret faints when Landru gets arrested.
• Faux Affably Evil: Landru slipping into a wicked tone of voice at times as well as his faux-polite manners make him unsettling (to the viewer at least).
• Fortune Teller: Landru consults a fortune teller at one point. Later, she's brought as witness at the trial, and unironically says she couldn't have foreseen what Landru did despite pretending she sees the past, the present and the future.
• Furnace Body Disposal: Landru disposes of the bodies of the women he kills by cutting them to pieces and burning them in a stove. We only ever see the black smoke coming out of the chimneys of Landru's hideout. His English neighbors always notice the smoke's awful smell.
• Historical Beauty Upgrade: Michèle Morgan was more attractive than the victim of Landru she portrayed, Célestine Buisson.
• Historical Domain Character:
  • President of the Council of Ministers (basically Prime Minister) Georges Clemenceau briefly shows up to sigh at the Versailles Treaty looking at a newspaper.
  • He also appears in another scene with politician Georges Mandel, who was deputy at the time. Mandel suggest Clemenceau to play up the Landru affair in the media to downplay the covering of the Versailles Treaty.
• Implausible Deniability: At the trial, Landru keeps denying he killed all those women despite the proofs piling up.
• Love at First Sight: Célestine Buisson and Anna Colomb are rapidly smitten by Landru the very day they meet him as he puts on a Shrinking Violet act that both attracts them and makes them lower their guard. It takes more time with Berthe Héon, on the other hand.
• Mock Millionaire: When Landru seduces his potential victims, he usually passes as a rich industry owner who fled the German-occupied North of France (so no-one will be able to check his identity).
• Modesty Bedsheet: Happens with Andrée Babeley after she sleeps with Landru.
• Nothing Is Scarier: Landru is never seen killing then dismembering his victims then throwing their parts in fire, he's always seen right after doing this. There's only a blood-soaked towel that's visible at one point. There's also shots on his chimney spewing black smoke and his English neighbors complaining about the smell (of that smoke).
• Off with His Head!: Landru is guillotined at the end, though we only hear the sound of the blade cutting his neck.
• Opportunistic Bastard: Georges Mandel suggests to Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau to play up the Landru affair in the media in order to reduce the coverage of the Versailles Treaty, the latter of which not going 100% in favor of France's demands.
• Perp Sweating: Landru is vigorously interrogated by Inspector Belin after his arrest and either stays silent or calmly denies everything, until he's too tired and falls asleep on the desk.
• Roundabout Shot: There's one of Berthe Héon (only her) when she and Landru start living in the countryside.
• Serial Killer: Landru targets lonely women to marry them, kill them and steal their money and belongings. He ultimately gets the death penalty for 11 murders committed between 1915 and 1919, though there is strong suspicion that he murdered more people.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Landru preys on lonely women who seek a good man to marry via newspaper ads.
• Slut-Shaming: Fernande Segret is called "salope" ("whore") by someone in the audience at the trial due to Landru's extra-marital relation with her.
• Stroke the Beard: Landru strokes his beard at the beginning when he spots a woman without a family seeking a husband in the newspaper ads.
• Uncertain Doom: The unnamed German woman played by Hildegard Knef. There's no shot on Landru's stove and no shot on the black smoke coming out of Landru's chimney, unlike the acknowledged victims.
• Villain Protagonist: The film's protagonist is one of the most infamous French Serial Killers in history.