The Third Lover

(L’oeil du malin) A freelance journalist insinuates himself into the life of a painter and his partner, in this early study in voyeurism and manipulation. François Truffaut had Jules et Jim, Jean-Luc Godard Bande à part. Chabrol’s cinematic ménage à trois revolves around a freelance journalist who insinuates himself into the lives of a painter and his partner, with terrible consequences. One of Chabrol’s most psychologically precise early works, The Third Lover is a study in voyeurism and manipulation, anticipating the claustrophobic domestic dramas that would define the filmmaker’s greatest period. Contains scenes of domestic violence or abuse.