Diabolique vs. Secret Agent

faithx5

on 5/4/2012

Henri-Georges Clouzot is often considered a French Hitchcock,and not without merit - films like Diabolique definitely share sensibilities with Hitch's suspensers. Generally I'll take Hitchcock over Clouzot, but I found myself pretty underwhelmed by Secret Agent when I saw it, one of a series of spy thrillers Hitchcock did in England, all of which are decent but few outstanding. Confusingly, this one is not based on Joseph Conrad's novel The Secret Agent, but Hitchcock did direct an adaptation of the novel as Sabotage the same year. That film is much better. Anyway, back to the point. Diabolique is a fantastic film, adding a layer of paranoia and possible supernatural phenomena on top of its Hitchcockian murder mystery plot. Secret Agent is a disappointment from a master. Diabolique wins hands down.