Deciding to spend the next 100 days watching 100 French films,one of the main goals I gave myself was to watch as many of auteur film maker Jacques Becker's 13 credits (with the superb Antoine et Antoinette being the only one I've seen before.) Taken by Simone Signoret's role in Henri-Georges Clouzot's chilling Les Diaboliques,I was delighted to find a title where Signoret and Becker teamed up,which led to me putting on the Casque D'or (Golden Helmet.)
The plot:
Getting out of jail,former gangster Georges Manda vows to stay on the straight and narrow.Returning to town,Manda crosses paths with powerful gangster Félix Leca.Attending a dance hall,Manda meets Marie,and falls in love at the very first sight of her.Taken by his rugged appearance,Marie finds herself starting to secretly fall for Manda. Furious over Marie having eyes for another man,Leca's gang member Roland Dupuis challenges Manda to a fight to the death for Marie.Killing Dupuis,Manda and Marie decide to leave town and run to the countryside. Desperate to get their revenge,Leca's gang decide to plant Dupuis's murder on Manda's old friend Raymond.
View on the film:
Rowing into the movie,co-writer/(along with Jacques Companéez/ Annette Wademant & "Romi") director Jacques Becker & cinematographer Robert Lefebvre enter Leca's underworld with an immaculate shine,with the razor sharp suits,gold-covered walls and blazing sun keeping the evil under the sun bubbling away.Along with expert use of deep focus shading in Marie's transfixing face,Becker chips away at the sunlight to crack the Film Noir darkness,which pours out in stylish reflecting mirror shots gazing at the fractures Leca is creating,and powerfully raw, unflinching close-ups punching into the Film Noir darkness Manda has returned to.
Looking ravishingly beautiful, Simone Signoret gives an incredible performance as dame Marie,where Signoret displays a subtle grip on make each facial expression (no matter how minor) express the developing love Marie has for Manda.Caught in the middle of a vicious set-up, Raymond Bussières gives a great performance as Raymond, (how long did they spend think up that name for him!)by making Ray try in desperation to hold onto a gentleman's loyalty,even as the Film Noir pit caves in. Finding himself unable to escape the old crowd, Serge Reggiani gives a superb performance as Georges Manda,via balancing a heart-wrenching love for Marie with a chewy Film Noir grit,as Manda sets his sights of Marie and Leca.
Following Manda back into the darkness,the screenplay by Becker/ Companéez/ Wademant & Romi brilliantly twist Manda's Film Noir world round Marie's little finger,which slides in on a silk,romantic atmosphere,where the writers place a tense sense of longing between the couple.Clawing away at the dapper dress of Leca,the writers dip Becker's theme of loyalty into deadly Film Noir waters which tear Film Noir loner Manda's between loyalty for his friend,and loyalty for his love,the girl with the golden helmet.
The plot:
Getting out of jail,former gangster Georges Manda vows to stay on the straight and narrow.Returning to town,Manda crosses paths with powerful gangster Félix Leca.Attending a dance hall,Manda meets Marie,and falls in love at the very first sight of her.Taken by his rugged appearance,Marie finds herself starting to secretly fall for Manda. Furious over Marie having eyes for another man,Leca's gang member Roland Dupuis challenges Manda to a fight to the death for Marie.Killing Dupuis,Manda and Marie decide to leave town and run to the countryside. Desperate to get their revenge,Leca's gang decide to plant Dupuis's murder on Manda's old friend Raymond.
View on the film:
Rowing into the movie,co-writer/(along with Jacques Companéez/ Annette Wademant & "Romi") director Jacques Becker & cinematographer Robert Lefebvre enter Leca's underworld with an immaculate shine,with the razor sharp suits,gold-covered walls and blazing sun keeping the evil under the sun bubbling away.Along with expert use of deep focus shading in Marie's transfixing face,Becker chips away at the sunlight to crack the Film Noir darkness,which pours out in stylish reflecting mirror shots gazing at the fractures Leca is creating,and powerfully raw, unflinching close-ups punching into the Film Noir darkness Manda has returned to.
Looking ravishingly beautiful, Simone Signoret gives an incredible performance as dame Marie,where Signoret displays a subtle grip on make each facial expression (no matter how minor) express the developing love Marie has for Manda.Caught in the middle of a vicious set-up, Raymond Bussières gives a great performance as Raymond, (how long did they spend think up that name for him!)by making Ray try in desperation to hold onto a gentleman's loyalty,even as the Film Noir pit caves in. Finding himself unable to escape the old crowd, Serge Reggiani gives a superb performance as Georges Manda,via balancing a heart-wrenching love for Marie with a chewy Film Noir grit,as Manda sets his sights of Marie and Leca.
Following Manda back into the darkness,the screenplay by Becker/ Companéez/ Wademant & Romi brilliantly twist Manda's Film Noir world round Marie's little finger,which slides in on a silk,romantic atmosphere,where the writers place a tense sense of longing between the couple.Clawing away at the dapper dress of Leca,the writers dip Becker's theme of loyalty into deadly Film Noir waters which tear Film Noir loner Manda's between loyalty for his friend,and loyalty for his love,the girl with the golden helmet.