The Butcher
1970 · Movie · NR · 93 min · ★ 7.1 · 95% critics
In a provincial French town, a dour working-class butcher forms an unlikely friendship with a repressed schoolteacher. Their bond grows as the community is shaken by Ripper-type murders, turning everyday interactions into a tense, unsettling puzzle about trust and dread.
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Details
- Original title
- Le Boucher
- Years
- 1970
- Release date
- 1970-02-27
- Language
- French
- Rated
- NR
- Runtime
- 93 min
- Critic score
- 95/100
- TMDB rating
- 7.1/10 (275 votes)
About
Choose it if you want a quiet, character-driven suspense with dread creeping in from village life; Not for you if you need action-heavy thrills or if you dislike slow pacing, and it may feel different from Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles or Breathless.
Pros: tense small-town dread; strong lead performances; moody atmosphere | Cons: slow stretches; murders feel distant; some pacing issues
Themes
- vietnam veteran
- province
- butcher
- murder
- french noir
Cast & crew
Stéphane Audran
as Hélène Davile, aka 'Mlle Hélène'
Jean Yanne
as Paul Thomas, aka 'Popaul'
Roger Rudel
as Commissioner Grumbach
Antonio Passalia
as Angelo
Mario Beccara
as Léon Hamel
- WG
William Guérault
as Charles
- PF
Pascal Ferone
as Father Charpy
Directed by Claude Chabrol