The Butcher

"An outstanding new film by one of France's leading directors."

1970 1h 33m FR

👍

7.1

SOLID

🔥

100%

CERTIFIED FRESH

⭐

7.3

IMDB

★7.1TMDB · 294🍅100%Rotten Tomatoes★7.3IMDB · 9,803

ThrillerCrimeDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

An unlikely friendship between a dour, working class butcher and a repressed schoolteacher coincides with a grisly series of Ripper-type murders in a provincial French town.

“An outstanding new film by one of France's leading directors.”

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Cast

Stéphane Audran
Hélène Davile, aka 'Mlle Hélène'
Jean Yanne
Paul Thomas, aka 'Popaul'
Roger Rudel
Commissioner Grumbach
Antonio Passalia
Angelo
Mario Beccara
Léon Hamel
William Guérault
Charles
Pascal Ferone
Father Charpy

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Claude Chabrol
Writers: Claude Chabrol
Languages: French
Countries: France, Italy

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

56 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: France, Italy.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Claude Chabrol, shot by Jean Rabier. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Pierre Jansen. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jacques Gaillard shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Stéphane Audran and Jean Yanne and Roger Rudel carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "An outstanding new film by one of France's leading directors.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Claude Chabrol directs. Jean Rabier behind the camera. Pierre Jansen scores. Jacques Gaillard cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in France, Italy. Dialogue in French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

156 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2International production across 2 countries: France, Italy.
3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
4Directed by Claude Chabrol, shot by Jean Rabier. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Pierre Jansen. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Jacques Gaillard shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Stéphane Audran and Jean Yanne and Roger Rudel carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "An outstanding new film by one of France's leading directors.".
9IMDB entry: tt0064106 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Jean Rabier
Original score: Pierre Jansen
Editing: Jacques Gaillard
Production design: Guy Littaye
Costume design: Joseph Poulard
Makeup / hair: Louis Bonnemaison
Runtime: 93 min · 1h 33m
Status: Released
Original language: FR
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Butcher (1970)
Rotten Tomatoes: 100% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 7.3/10 · 9,803 votes
MPAA: Unrated
US box office: $474,458

Awards

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award2 wins & 1 nomination total

Also by

Claude Chabrol

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2026-09-15
★ 7/10
At a time when unmarried relationships were distinctly frowned upon, the local school teacher "Hélène" (Stéphane Audran) is acutely aware that her spinster status might turn some heads if she is seen to be too closely associated with the recently arrived soldier "Paul" (Jean Yanne) who has taken on the job of running the local butchers. He is fairly clear about his "feelings" for her but she is much more wary of lowering her guard. She already has some baggage on this front but doesn't reject him out of hand, though, and even gives him a valuable cigarette lighter for his birthday so imagine her shock when on a school trip one day they discover the body of a young girl and that very gift not an arm's length away. Of course that doesn't mean that he committed the crime but with her suspicions now aroused and him having half an idea that she suspects him too, there is some eggshell treading now undertaken as she gradually falls for a man she thinks might just be a murderer. What might we not do for love, eh? This has something of an Hitchcock look to it as the story takes ten minutes for it's introductions and then sets off a-pace for another eighty. It's a crime thriller, with just an hint of psychology thrown in too, and I was frankly quite pleased that auteur Claude Chabrol presented it as such. No, we don't really get to know the characters nor what makes them tick; the romance simmers - even teases - but never gets in the way of the more gruesome thread of the plot and there is an unnerving, almost sterile, effort from Audran that works really quite effectively with that of the chatty, bon vivant, type of character crafted by a Yanne who seems reconciled to just about everyone knowing his character's dirty little secret. The denouement adds a little extra mystery of it's own and I quite enjoyed the rustic simplicity of this film.

Production companies