Reversing the roles they play in Le Beau Serge, Gerard Blain takes the part of hard-working Charles who visits his decadent city-dwelling cousin Paul (Jean-Claude Brialy). As in the previous film, Chabrol goes to elaborate lengths to intricately undermine these superficial archetypes. Plain-spoken Charles is determined to study hard and pass his exams while Paul throws extravagant parties, courts various women, and theatrically skirts the edges of danger. Their mutually mixed feelings for one another motivate each to pursue the same lover and ultimately exchange certain fates. Artfully expressed through extraordinary camera work, miraculous mise-en-scène and a darkly humorous script by Paul Gégauff, Les Cousins is a complex of personalities and personas intertwining in a tragically modern world. – BG