THE FLOWER OF EVIL ***

The family at the centre of Claude Chabrol's "La Fleur du Mal" have several skeletons in the closet and a few that aren't in the closet at all. They're an incestuous little bunch and have been up to no good for at least six generations. Mum, (Nathalie Baye), is running for mayoral office. Dad, (Bernard Le Coq), doesn't want her to win and sleeps around. Meanwhile his son, (Benoit Magimel), is sleeping with her daughter, (Melanie Doutey). Yes, mum and dad had been married before and to further complicate matters, the youngsters aren't just stepbrother and stepsister but they may or may not be cousins as well while Aunt Line, (a superb Suzanne Flon), is haunted by memories of when her father was a German collaborator during the war. And then there's a murder, a splendidly Chabrolian murder with an even more splendidly Chabrolian aftermath.

Yes, this is another wonderfully entertaining Chabrol picture of rottenness though the only really rotten character is the father; the others are just unfortunate enough to be part of this particular family. The narrative isn't as tightly knit as in earlier pictures, (this one dates from 2003), and maybe there is one too many red-herrings. Still, no-one does this sort of thing better than Chabrol; he relishes giving us characters we are not supposed to empathize with and he has great fun toying with our sensibilities.