The Cousins (Kuzenler)

Les Cousins (English: The Cousins) is a 1959 French drama directed by Claude Chabrol from a screenplay he wrote with Paul Gégauff. The story follows Charles, a studious and innocent young man from the provinces who moves to Paris to study law, and his cousin Paul, a jaded Parisian who hosts him in his apartment and draws him into a world of parties and decadence. Their opposing temperaments grow into open rivalry when both men fall for the same woman, pushing the relationship toward a tragic outcome. Gérard Blain and Jean-Claude Brialy, who had also starred in Chabrol's debut Le Beau Serge, play the two cousins, with Juliette Mayniel in a leading role. The film became a key early work of the French New Wave and won the Golden Bear at the 9th Berlin International Film Festival, bringing Chabrol his international breakthrough.