The Unfaithful Wife

The Unfaithful Wife is a 1969 French–Italian crime drama film written and directed by Claude Chabrol and starring Stéphane Audran and Michel Bouquet. The story follows a businessman who, upon his discovery of his wife's infidelity, kills her lover. Plot Insurance broker Charles Desvallées lives in a beautiful house in the countryside near Paris with his wife Hélène and their young son. Hélène often goes to Paris, allegedly for shopping, beauty treatments and cinema sessions. By accident Charles discovers she was not at the hairdresser as she had claimed. He gradually grows more suspicious about the way she employs her time and asks a private investigator to follow her. The investigator reports that his wife regularly sees a writer called Victor Pégala at his home in Neuilly-sur-Seine. On a day his wife is busy hosting a birthday party for their son, Charles pays Pégala a visit. At first he tells the confused writer jovially that he and his wife have an open marriage and sits and talks pleasantly with him. He asks for a tour of the small flat. On seeing the bed his demeanour changes. He spots a giant cigarette lighter at the bedside, which had been a third anniversary present to his wife from him. He suddenly grabs a stone bust and kills Pégala with two violent blows to the head. Charles then meticulously cleans up and removes all fingerprints. He takes away Pégala's body in his car and disposes of it in a pond. The following days, Hélène appears to feel unwell. Two detectives turn up to interrogate her about Pégala, who has been reported missing by his ex-wife. Hélène's name has been found in his address book, but she pretends that he had been only a distant acquaintance. In the evening, the detectives return and interrogate both Hélène and Charles, who denies having even heard of the man before.