Madame Claude (1977)

Madame Claude is a 1977 Just Jaeckin movie.

Just Jaeckin had what was in many ways an unfortunate career as a film director. His first movie, Emmanuelle, was the biggest hit in the history of the French film industry. And that’s what caused the problem. He was always going to be reviled by society’s self-appointed moral watchdogs but Emmanuelle made him a lot of other enemies as well. Film critics and the film industry establishment were outraged that what they considered to be a mere porno movie had made about a hundred times more money than the sorts of serious movies that they thought the public should be watching.

From the point on film critics were determinedly hostile and his chances of breaking into the mainstream film industry were zero. The notoriety of Emmanuelle had also ended his very successful career as a fashion photographer. Jaeckin fund that the only work he was going to be offered was directing erotic movies, which was not really what he particularly wanted to do.

He ended up directing just eight feature films. But his sparse filmography is actually surprisingly impressive. As far as Emmanuelle is concerned he was hired to make a very classy very stylish softcore porn movie and that’s what he did. His next movie is more interesting. The Story of O deals with subject matter, sadomasochism, that pushes people’s buttons just as much today as it did in the 70s. But The Story of O remains one of the very very few movies to approach such subject matter intelligently and non-moralistically. It’s a great movie.

The critics were really gunning for him when he made Lady Chatterley’s Lover but in fact it’s an interesting and very good adaptation of Lawrence’s novel. Gwendoline was considered by critics to be almost beneath contempt but it’s a superb fun-filled sexy adventure romp.

Which brings us to Madame Claude. Madame Claude (Françoise Fabian) runs a very high-class call-girl ring. Not just high-class. These girls are the top of the range. Their clients are generals, diplomats, princes, politicians, CEOs.

Claude is trying to recruit a new girl. Claude caught her shoplifting but thinks she has potential. Claude will remake the girl. That’s how Claude operates.

There is a problem, and it’s going to be a problem for Claude and for a lot of other people. That problem is sleazy photographer David Evans (Murray Head). David is collecting material for blackmail and he has compromising photographs of extremely important men cavorting with Claude’s girls. But there’s something else in those photos, the significance of which David doesn’t yet fully appreciate. Or at least there might be something else in the photos. What matters is that certain people think there’s something in those photos.

The CIA is convinced that the photos contain evidence pertaining to the Lockheed bribery scandal (which was one of the biggest scandals of the 70s). The CIA is obviously determined to cover up that scandal. They want those photos. But other people know about the photos and want them just as much.

The photos are the movie’s McGuffin. Everybody wants them.

This political scandal/thriller plot remains in the background for the early part of the movie but it’s always ticking away, like a bomb.

Mostly the movie’s focus is on Madame Claude and her relationship with her girls. Claude is rather fond of her girls. She expects them to remain focused on the job at all times, but she is generous and mostly treats them like daughters. She never recruits a girl against the girl’s will, the girls make immense amounts of money and she’s honest with them. She is convinced that she knows what’s best for them, and she is probably right. Madame Claude is a rather sympathetic character - she has her faults but she’s a much more moral person than any of the people out to destroy her.

This is both an erotic film and a political thriller. In fact it belongs to a sub-genre of its own, the erotic political thriller. It’s very much in the mould of 70s paranoia movies. Everybody has everybody else under surveillance. Every individual and every agency mixed up in the business is obsessed with damage limitation, and finding a way to double-cross some other individual or agency.

Madame Claude herself is caught in the middle. She has ethics. She has never tried to blackmail a client and never would, but since nobody else in the movie has any ethics they naturally assume she’s as unethical as they are.

This is very obviously a movie about voyeurism, and movies about voyeurism are always themselves voyeuristic. Voyeurism and paranoia always makes an effective combination.

Françoise Fabian is quite exceptional in the title role. The support cast is impressive. Klaus Kinski is excellent as the super-rich Alexander Zakis, a man who lives for power. Amazingly Jaeckin found Kinksi very easy to work with.

Special mention should be made of Serge Gainsbourg’s score, and of Jane Birkin’s wonderful vocals.

The Cult Epics Blu-Ray looks great. Extras include an audio commentary by Jeremy Richey and an interview withe Jaeckin in which, among other things, he talks about his contempt for the French Nouvelle Vague.

Madame Claude is a gorgeous sumptuous movie, it’s very erotic and it’s a gripping intelligent political thriller. This is a great movie. Highly recommended.