What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[Fading Fast]

Le Deuxième Souffle (Second Wind) from 1966, a French film


It might be 1966, but Le Deuxième Souffle is closer to classic film noir than neo noir, with its prison break, hideouts, heist, criminal code of honor, and intrepid detective all riding comfortably in the genre's well-worn grooves.

Director Jean-Pierre Melville didn't serve up a tired offering, though; instead, he delivered another engaging take on noir's paradigmatic elements and themes. Shooting in noir's traditional black and white only reinforces his movie's classic feel.

At the opening, Gu – a well-respected underworld figure because he never rats – escapes from prison and returns to Paris to see his sister, Manouche, and his long-time trusted friend, Alban. In true noir fashion, Gu returns on a night when Manouche's restaurant becomes the site of a gangland hit.

At first, it's confusing to keep the competing gangs, the bad guys, and even the cops (who compete for jurisdiction with each other) straight, but it's easy enough to follow at a high level, while taking in the incredible atmosphere and style.

It's all about Gu, played by noted French actor Lino Ventura. His plan – and the movie's main plot – is to pull one last heist so he has money to get out of France and live somewhere without being hunted.

While trying to do this, he's tracked by police commissioner Blot, another example of that wonderful cinematic creation: the French detective who is smart, dedicated, and persistent, almost to the point of obsession, in his pursuit of someone like Gu.

The movie now follows Gu as he joins a heist team, executes the heist, hides the stolen platinum, and hides himself until he can get his share in cash before Manouche and Alban smuggle him out of the country to that perennial noir nirvana: somewhere else.

This is all old hat for the genre, but Melville makes it gripping by creating an engaging French noir atmosphere: a world of gangster honor codes and compelling characters in Gu, Blot, Manouche, Alban, and a few others.

Gu is not a good man by any normal standard. He is a crook who kills cops and others to get what he wants, but he is also a man who lives by an honor code in his world, which allows us to respect him knowing it's all a cinematic creation. We want the Gus in real life put in jail.

Blot is interesting on screen, but he violates so many legal rights of suspects that, in real life, we want the Blots of the world in jail, too: There's no justice if cops can ignore the law. Alban and Manouche are also people we enjoy on screen, but know in real life they belong in jail.

Like the characters, Melville's world is wonderfully noir, wonderfully artificial, and wonderfully engaging. His crooks have all these "rules" they live by, even dispensing "justice" in their own way. This is the crazy parallel criminal world that made The Godfather so compelling.

Despite being 1966, Melville's style is classic noir with his signature stamp. Shot in black and white, gangsters dress in dark suits and ties, cops in somewhat less drab suits and ties, and almost everyone wears a hat. Visually, it's still the 1940s in Le Deuxième Souffle.

Melville weaves the mundane into his story without making it boring. While hiding from the police, Gu, trying to do a lot in a short time, somewhat disguises himself and rides so many public buses it’s practically an advertisement for France’s transit system.

The action is here too, though – sniper shots taking out motorcycle cops, a few gun battles in small rooms, more than one rubout, and several chases – but Melville goes out of his way to remind viewers that even criminals have plenty of mundane downtime.

The climax is less about legal right and wrong and more about an unwritten code of honor not only between the crooks, but between the cops and the crooks when it's a crook "with integrity" like Gu. Look for Blot's final gesture of respect to Gu - it's subtle but beautifully done.

Le Deuxième Souffle is a classic noir released years after classic noirs had all but stopped being made. In Melville's noirish world, crooks live in an alternate universe that happens to intersect with the law-abiding world only when the crooks need something from it.

Otherwise, his characters go about their insane lives – running corrupt businesses, fighting and killing mainly each other, and playing an endless game of cat and mouse with the police – almost removed from real planet earth.

It's this "alternative universe" that makes Melville's noir so visually and emotionally appealing. It allows the viewer to have a sort of corrupt mental rumspringa from the safety of his living room. Life here is cool – even honorable in its warped way – and not hemmed in by law or convention.

Few would want to live in that world, but fantasizing about it is undeniably fun. Film noir, considered a darkish hellscape – as it often is – is made into an oddly set-apart and engaging universe in Melville's interpretation of the classic genre.

Le Deuxième Souffle is a classic film noir with a French twist. It’s a strong film with a compelling plot, but its special ingredients are its noir themes, characters, and style, which – crafted for cinematic effect rather than to reflect reality – have secured its place as a hallmark of French noir.

 

[rhenry]

View attachment 658948
Le Deuxième Souffle (Second Wind) from 1966, a French film


It might be 1966, but Le Deuxième Souffle is closer to classic film noir than neo noir, with its prison break, hideouts, heist, criminal code of honor, and intrepid detective all riding comfortably in the genre's well-worn grooves.

Director Jean-Pierre Melville didn't serve up a tired offering, though; instead, he delivered another engaging take on noir's paradigmatic elements and themes. Shooting in noir's traditional black and white only reinforces his movie's classic feel.

At the opening, Gu – a well-respected underworld figure because he never rats – escapes from prison and returns to Paris to see his sister, Manouche, and his long-time trusted friend, Alban. In true noir fashion, Gu returns on a night when Manouche's restaurant becomes the site of a gangland hit.

At first, it's confusing to keep the competing gangs, the bad guys, and even the cops (who compete for jurisdiction with each other) straight, but it's easy enough to follow at a high level, while taking in the incredible atmosphere and style.

It's all about Gu, played by noted French actor Lino Ventura. His plan – and the movie's main plot – is to pull one last heist so he has money to get out of France and live somewhere without being hunted.

While trying to do this, he's tracked by police commissioner Blot, another example of that wonderful cinematic creation: the French detective who is smart, dedicated, and persistent, almost to the point of obsession, in his pursuit of someone like Gu.

The movie now follows Gu as he joins a heist team, executes the heist, hides the stolen platinum, and hides himself until he can get his share in cash before Manouche and Alban smuggle him out of the country to that perennial noir nirvana: somewhere else.

This is all old hat for the genre, but Melville makes it gripping by creating an engaging French noir atmosphere: a world of gangster honor codes and compelling characters in Gu, Blot, Manouche, Alban, and a few others.

Gu is not a good man by any normal standard. He is a crook who kills cops and others to get what he wants, but he is also a man who lives by an honor code in his world, which allows us to respect him knowing it's all a cinematic creation. We want the Gus in real life put in jail.

Blot is interesting on screen, but he violates so many legal rights of suspects that, in real life, we want the Blots of the world in jail, too: There's no justice if cops can ignore the law. Alban and Manouche are also people we enjoy on screen, but know in real life they belong in jail.

Like the characters, Melville's world is wonderfully noir, wonderfully artificial, and wonderfully engaging. His crooks have all these "rules" they live by, even dispensing "justice" in their own way. This is the crazy parallel criminal world that made The Godfather so compelling.

Despite being 1966, Melville's style is classic noir with his signature stamp. Shot in black and white, gangsters dress in dark suits and ties, cops in somewhat less drab suits and ties, and almost everyone wears a hat. Visually, it's still the 1940s in Le Deuxième Souffle.

Melville weaves the mundane into his story without making it boring. While hiding from the police, Gu, trying to do a lot in a short time, somewhat disguises himself and rides so many public buses it’s practically an advertisement for France’s transit system.

The action is here too, though – sniper shots taking out motorcycle cops, a few gun battles in small rooms, more than one rubout, and several chases – but Melville goes out of his way to remind viewers that even criminals have plenty of mundane downtime.

The climax is less about legal right and wrong and more about an unwritten code of honor not only between the crooks, but between the cops and the crooks when it's a crook "with integrity" like Gu. Look for Blot's final gesture of respect to Gu - it's subtle but beautifully done.

Le Deuxième Souffle is a classic noir released years after classic noirs had all but stopped being made. In Melville's noirish world, crooks live in an alternate universe that happens to intersect with the law-abiding world only when the crooks need something from it.

Otherwise, his characters go about their insane lives – running corrupt businesses, fighting and killing mainly each other, and playing an endless game of cat and mouse with the police – almost removed from real planet earth.

It's this "alternative universe" that makes Melville's noir so visually and emotionally appealing. It allows the viewer to have a sort of corrupt mental rumspringa from the safety of his living room. Life here is cool – even honorable in its warped way – and not hemmed in by law or convention.

Few would want to live in that world, but fantasizing about it is undeniably fun. Film noir, considered a darkish hellscape – as it often is – is made into an oddly set-apart and engaging universe in Melville's interpretation of the classic genre.

Le Deuxième Souffle is a classic film noir with a French twist. It’s a strong film with a compelling plot, but its special ingredients are its noir themes, characters, and style, which – crafted for cinematic effect rather than to reflect reality – have secured its place as a hallmark of French noir.

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Great Review!

 

[AeroFan_07]

B29-Frozen in Time

If you like resourcefulness, WWII planes, and living as far out on the edge as a group of men could do, this is a documentary for you. This was done by Nova, a PBS subsidiary. It is well narrated, and gives a lot of detail as to the challenges faced by such an expedition in northern Greenland.

I don't want to give away too much, it's only ~ 56 minutes, it's well worth a watch for sure.

 

[Fading Fast]

Champion from 1949 with Kirk Douglas, Ruth Roman, Arthur Kennedy, Paul Stewart and Marilyn Maxwell


In the middle of the twentieth century – hard as it may be to believe today – boxing and horse racing were major sports in America. Both were deeply woven into the country's cultural fabric: Grandmothers bet on "the ponies," and "Friday Night Fights" on TV was a cultural touchstone.

The early "indie" movie Champion capitalized on that popularity while also making Kirk Douglas a star. This "sports-themed" noir has lost little of its power to hold your attention, even if its message is the evergreen but banal one that some sports heroes are selfish ingrates.

It opens with two brothers, played by Douglas and Arthur Kennedy, broke and on the road to California. Kennedy, who has a limp from WWII, is the older, calmer brother, while Douglas is the "I'm tired of being poor, kicked around, and disrespected" brother.

After Douglas is forced into a shotgun marriage with a woman, played by Ruth Roman, whom he canoodled, he skips town on her with Kennedy in tow. Douglas then begins boxing and starts climbing the grubby ladder of corruption that dominated the fight game back then.

It's by-the-book stuff now: Douglas wins fights, makes money, and "dates" a blonde gold digger, played by Marilyn Maxwell. Harsh reality hits, though, when his manager, played by Paul Stewart, tells Douglas that the mob that runs boxing demands that Douglas takes a dive in a title fight.

Stewart, a good guy and old pro at the game, is so calmly matter of fact about it to Douglas that its implication almost slides by unnoticed. But then you realize that he's saying a top sport in America is run by organized crime and that many fights are fixed.

That's tough stuff for 1949 America and Douglas to hear. Douglas wants to win and be champion, not take a dive and get his shot later "when it's his turn." A lot more happens in the movie, but nothing unwinds the fact that boxing, popular as it is, is corrupt.

In the movie's money sequence that follows, Douglas turns the tables on the powers that be – but at a big price. After that, Douglas continues to "make deals" for his career, his bankbook, and his "girlfriend," which sells out a lot of people who supported him.

It is a tangle of mob corruption, contracts being written and rewritten, crooked deals being cut, sex being had, expensive things and women being bought and sold, and friendships and families being bent or jettisoned as powerful people jockey for advantage.

Those are all classic noir themes that come up time and again in sports- and non-sports-themed film noirs. The late 1940s marked the peak of noir, revealing an America surprisingly willing to confront, or at least witness, the seedy underbelly of its post-war culture.

Here it's the old story of money, greed and power, combined with talent and ego, leading to a moral mess. With the Motion Picture Production Code still in control, there's a "reckoning" of sorts, but the points about the corruption of boxing and of the soul are still standing when the credits roll.

All this works as a movie because it's stripped of pretense – and because Kirk Douglas was tailor made for the part: You still kinda like him even when he's a rat. He'd play that role many times – Ace in the Hole and The Bad and the Beautiful being just two other examples.

Kennedy, one of those incredibly talented supporting actors, is excellent as Douglas' foil and, sometimes, conscience. Stewart, too, as the wearily honest manager trying to navigate a venal sport is outstanding at quietly conveying the complex emotions life has forced upon him.

Roman, who should have had more screen time, is sexy-smart playing Douglas' morally conflicted wife who knows Douglas isn't a good man or good for her, but the heart and (and she makes this viscerally obvious) libido want what the heart and libido want.

Filmed in black and white and on a tight budget, the fight scenes have a rawness that is impressive for the day. There is no Hollywood shine here, as the sport looks brutally violent in an uncivilized throwback way. Kudos to Douglas here, too, as he truly got into shape for the role.

If Champion has a flaw, it's that there's no moral center, no hero, no hopeful commentary on human nature. It's just a noir world of moral compromise all down the line. It's good; it's entertaining; it's well acted; but it will leave you feeling a bit soulless and exhausted.