La Poison
As Ginette Vicendeau’s essay, included with the Criterion Blu-ray, helpfully points out, the French word “poison,” which means the same thing in English, is “le poison”; that is, masculine. So “la poison” refers, not to poison, but to the wife in the movie, played with scowling malevolence by Germaine Reuver.
By rights, “La Poison” should be a distasteful experience. At the very least, it’s a strange movie, about an unhappy marriage in which both partners are actively plotting to kill each other, only the man succeeds first. It’s essentially about a man who kills his wife, and everything in the movie — including the wife’s unsuccessful plan to off him first — is an elaborate justification for the murder.
But this is a Sacha Guitry film, and that makes all the difference. Guitry was a playwright who came to films in middle age and subsequently made a series of sophisticated comedies, which are revered in France and almost unknown in the United States.
The direction is what you notice first. The world of it feels so assured, the tone both original and clear, and the performances full of idiosyncratic and revealing touches. Guitry gets great work from Michel Simon as the husband, but you’d pretty much expect that: Simon was a remarkable actor, with a wonderful rumpled humanity and a face reminiscent of Herman Munster on a bad hair day.
But the other actors are strong as well, particularly Jean Debucourt as the defense attorney. This is a strangely delightful film that may inspire you to seek out Guitry’s other films.
The digital transfer is pristine, but this is Criterion, so we expect that. The special features include a 1965 TV special devoted to Guitry, and a 2010 documentary about the Simon-Guitry collaboration. Both are 60 minutes long. Plus, there’s a nice interview with director Olivier Assayas, who talks about why he loves Guitry’s work. — Mick LaSalle