This film is about jealousy. This is a complex subject for study, because of the forces that drive and escalate sexual jealousy are many and varied: power, guilt, feeling of inadequacy/ impotence, race, class, existential loneliness, so on and so on.
But Chabryol's L'Enfer is very narrow in range: he is only interested in the symptoms of jealousy, and the intensity of the madness. We are not to understand the thoughts and emotions behind the husband's rapidly building suspicion, and as a consequence, we see no psychological depth in the two leading characters, in their respective contributions, and then the responses, to the tragedy. Compare this to, among many fine examples, Godard's "Contempt", or von Steinem's "Blue Angel", the current film pales in virtuosity.
But what intensity, and what pain! In spite of the narrow focus, the effect on the viewer is dramatic, which goes to testify to the great empathetic power of the director.
The tempo of this film is a case study of effectiveness. The first laf flies by quite quickly, with flash-like editing and busy entries and exits into the picture frame, throwing the audience into the bustle, and slight confusion, of the hero's inn-keeping life. This makes the husband's early suspicion easier to understand. Then around 1/2 of the film, the pace palpably slows down, to suit the pondering, deliberateness nature of the Hell our hero sinks into.
No masterpiece, but a fine example in the repertoire of movies that appemt a limited effect, yet do it well.
