Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
In 1964, Henri-Georges Clouzot's production of L'Enfer came to a halt. Despite huge expectations, major studio backing and an unlimited budget, after three weeks the production collapsed. This documentary presents Inferno's incredible expressionistic original rushes, screen tests, and on-location footage, whilst also reconstructing Clouzot's original vision, and shedding light on the ill-fated endeavor through interviews, dramatizations of unfilmed scenes, and Clouzot's own notes.
This documentary about Clouzot's unfinished 1964 masterpiece is a genuinely singular cinematic object. The unearthed original rushes are visually extraordinary — kaleidoscopic, psychedelic experiments that feel decades ahead of their time and give the film its chief claim to greatness. The documentary structure is inventive, blending archive footage, dramatized reconstructions with Bérénice Bejo and Jacques Gamblin, and talking-head interviews in a way that feels more than merely academic. The novelty is high both because the source material is so unique and because the filmmakers found a genuinely creative way to present it. Cinematography earns a 4 primarily for the astonishing Clouzot rushes themselves, which dominate the visual experience. The narrative reconstruction is competent but not revelatory, and the overall arc is fairly conventional for a 'lost film' documentary, keeping Plot and Ending at a solid but unremarkable level. Acting of the dramatic reconstructions is capable without being memorable.