This is a very welcome release in the Masters of Cinema series and whilst academics will no doubt seize the opportunity to use it as a tool in the 'teaching' of film the admirers of French Cinema will relish the chance to view and/or even own a genuine early masterpiece. Marcel LHerbier made some 58 films between 1917 and 1975 and by 1921 he had already explored the world of finance with Promethe, banquier but he trumped that fine effort three times over with this adaptation of Zola in 1928. The technique on display is awesome in its ambition and staggering in its execution as time and again L'Herbier pulls off brilliant effects not least a sumptuous party that was possibly inspired by Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby which had been published some three years earlier. Though there is a substantial plot involving rival financiers, publicity stunts, solo flights, deceptions and seductions this is merely a peg on which to drape some of the most outstanding directorial flourishes in French Cinema. Unmissable.
Review of L'Argent
