In Paris, the successful American writer William Brandels (Bruce Dern) lives with his French wife Claire Brandels De La Tour Piquet (Stéphane Audran) a loveless marriage without sex. Claire's niece Nathalie De La Tour Piquet (Sydne Rome) lives in the apartment with the couple and Gretel (Maria Schell) is their maid. Claire has a love affair with William's publisher Jacques Lavolet (Jean-Pierre Cassel). When William does not win the Zola Prize, he becomes upset and has a writer's block. When Claire meets William's Italian translator Charlie Minerva (Ann-Margret) in in the release of his new book, she learns that Jacques gave a jewel to her, and she becomes upset with him. When she witnesses William walking with Charlie and her daughter through the streets of Paris, she becomes jealous of her husband and tries to rekindle their love. Will she succeed?
"Folies bourgeoises", a.k.a. "The Twist" (1976), is an unfunny, boring and messy comedy by Claude Chabrol, who is a master of the suspense and crime, but does not work in comedies. Bruce Dern is neither handsome nor a comedian and is completely miscast in this movie. How a man with his face can attract women that are out of his league like Ann-Margret? The plot is unfunny, and it is impossible to laugh at the situations and Claire's paranoia. It is also messy, and hard to find the point of the whole story. My vote is three.
Title (Brazil): "Vidas em Jogo" ("Lives at Stake")
