in the village of tremolat and périgord and the lonely headmistress helene ( stéphane audran ) befriend the local butcher popaul ( jean yanne ) and who have a trauma of war and in the wed party of her colleague leon hamel ( mario beccara ) . in spite of their friendship and they do not become lover since helene be still recover from the disillusion of her last relationship . in popaul birthday and helene give a lighter to him a a gift . during the excursion with her class to a cave in the wood and helene find the last victim of a serial killer that be stab young woman in the area . she realize that the woman be leon wife and she find popaul lighter in the crime scene but she hide the evidence from the police . when popaul visit her and she discover that he still have the lighter and she feel relieve . however and when popaul paint the ceiling of her house and she make a discovery that affect her sense of security . the unknown gem le boucher be a dark and intriguing love story where claude chabrol be certainly inspire in alfred hitchcock style . the story be completely unusual and very simple and it be not tag by an specific genre and can be resume in the storyline while however and the screenplay and direction and performance and camera make the difference . the opening scene show a beautiful area in the countryside of france where the plot take place . helene be a fascinating character with her contradictory and ambiguous behavior and relationship with popaul . their chemistry be also perfect . my vote be eight . title ( brazil ) represent not applicable .