Le Beau Serge

Often named as the first product of the French New Wave, and counted by some specialists among the movement's key forerunners, Le Beau Serge (literally "Handsome Serge") was Claude Chabrol's first feature. He wrote and directed this French drama in 1958. In German-speaking countries it was released as Die Enttäuschten, and in Spanish it carries the title El bello Sergio. It runs 99 minutes and was made in French. It is often compared with Chabrol's next film, Les Cousins, since both star Gérard Blain and Jean-Claude Brialy.

The story begins when a young man named François, recovered from an illness, returns to his home village after a long absence. There he finds his old friend Serge a disillusioned, hard-drinking man who has given up his former hopes. Trying to pull his friend out of this decline, François has to face the closed and tense world of provincial life.

Besides Gérard Blain and Jean-Claude Brialy, the cast includes Bernadette Lafont, Claude Cerval, Edmond Beauchamp, Harry-Max, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, Jean Gruault and Jeanne Pérez, along with the director himself. The film won the best director prize at the Locarno Film Festival and the Jean Vigo Prize.