I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Very good film, one of the last of Claude Chabrol, with excellent performances by Emmanuelle Beart and Francois Cluzet. Although not the best film of Chabrol, it is one of the most competent (and disconcerting) films to deal with the subject of sick and obsessive jealousy. Merit also for the end of the film and for the fact that we will never be shown if the woman is unfaithful or not.Originally written by screenwriter and director Henri Georges Clouzot, "l'enfer", years later he had his rights sold by his widow to a producer who offered him to Claude Chabrol. His plot revolves around Paul Prieur, a man possessed by a sick jealousy of his wife.No doubt this is a fascinating study that shows how one's insecurities can affect, in addition to his own life, those of all who find themselves around him.Although considered as one of the great filmmakers of French cinema, this film is not considered among the best achievements of Chabrol, such as "le beau serge", "les cousins", "une affaire de femmes", "la ceremonie" , among others.

French New Wave director, actor, producer and screenwriter Claude Chabrol's forty-fifth feature film which he wrote, is an adaptation of a screenplay written by French screenwriter, producer and director Henri-Georges Clouzot (1907-1977) who suffered a heart attack during the making of the film in 1964 which led to the production being stopped. Claude Chabrol's film was shot on various locations in Southern France and was produced by French director and producer Marin Karmitz. It tells the story about Paul Prieur, a successful hotel manager who lives an idyllic life with his wife Nelly and their young son Vincent at a lakeside hotel in France. Paul and Nelly have been married for seven years and are happy together, but Paul's job is wearing him out and he begins to become suspicious about things. These sudden suspicions gradually increases and when Paul suspects his wife of having an affair, his personality alters and threatens both his own and Nelly's life.This visually ardent and character-driven French production draws a pervasive study of character about a seemingly happy man who one warm summer when suddenly struck by jealousy, descends into a state of madness and loses his grip on reality. Claude Chabrol's riveting and well-paced internal voyage goes far into the excruciating and nightmarish mind of the protagonist and the persistent suspense in this clinical psychological thriller which examines themes such as marriage, jealousy and mental illness, is reinforced by his precise and acute directing, the rigorous narrative structure and the efficient editing by Claude Chabrol's frequent collaborator Monique Fardoulis. The score by his longtime collaborator and son Matthieu Chabrol emphasizes the significant atmosphere in this luminous drama which is impelled by Francois Cluzet's multifaceted acting performance in a complicated role and a good acting performance by Emmanuelle Béart.

Not a pleasant film to watch, and it does get a little repetitive by the end, but still a masterful psychological thriller that attempts, and largely succeeds at, the not so easy task of entering into a man's brain and showing us how it operates: how he confuses fantasy with reality, how in brief moments of mental clarity he can realize what's happening to him but he is unable to control it, etc. For Claude Chabrol, the essence of insane jealousy seems to be that you stop seeing your partner as a person and you start seeing them as your property. The movie visually progresses according to the story: open, sunny and idyllic at the start, dark, stormy and claustrophobic at the end. Both Cluzet and Beart give career-defining performances. See "L'Enfer" when you're in the mood for something more than simple "entertainment". *** out of 4.

I will have to disagree with other reviewers who wrote that «L'Enfer» is one of the best film by Claude Chabrol. For me, it was one of its dullest. Emmanuelle Béart and François Cluzet have made better movies too. Their acting is good but doesn't save the movie either. I gave it a 6, and I was generous.