Released only months after Le Beau Serge, and starring the same actors
in similar roles, Les Cousins is a fascinating companion piece and
boasts a classic performance from Jean-Claude Brialy as a wealthy
Parisian student whose high living wrecks his poor cousin's chances of
making it. Unlike Hitchcock in his great 'double' film Strangers On A
Train, Chabrol depicts the central relationship with remarkable
even-handedness. The film continues Le Beau Serge's social
commentary, but is likewise free of didacticism. The film's schematic
plotting is redeemed by the strength of its two-hander comedy, and by
the typically new wave attention to minor characters.
