1
00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:40,560
<i>Imagine you're at the movies.</i>

2
00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:07,440
A JOURNEY THROUGH FRENCH CINEMA

3
00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:23,960
<i>Something unites Bertrand and me:</i>

4
00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:29,000
<i>We are both children of the Liberation
and the Cinematheque.</i>

5
00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:35,160
It may have all begun in this park,

6
00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:38,520
where the house I was born in
once stood.

7
00:01:39,960 --> 00:01:42,000
I filmed Philippe Noiret here,

8
00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:44,534
looking for his past like I am now,

9
00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:49,560
and my father too.
To hear about his war years...

10
00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:54,040
...and about Louis Aragon
whom my parents had hid for months

11
00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:57,920
and who wrote "There Is No Happy Love"
for my mother.

12
00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:00,680
Aragon played a role in my life

13
00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:03,440
<i>when I defended Godard's
Pierrot le Fou.</i>

14
00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:05,240
But let's not go too fast.

15
00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:11,000
<i>It was here, the house I lived in.</i>

16
00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:13,534
It was here, in this park,

17
00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:15,976
in the house that stood there

18
00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:19,040
that those first images
fired my imagination.

19
00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:23,480
I especially remember one afternoon,

20
00:02:23,640 --> 00:02:27,216
my parents took me out
to the terrace that overlooked Lyon.

21
00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:30,000
I was 3 years old,
it was September '44.

22
00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:33,600
And I saw lots of flares
lighting up the sky.

23
00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:36,136
They announced the entrance of troops

24
00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:39,016
liberating Lyon.
American and French troops.

25
00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:42,200
All around me
people were laughing and clapping.

26
00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:44,267
It was a festive atmosphere.

27
00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:46,000
And I've never forgotten

28
00:02:46,640 --> 00:02:47,840
that sight.

29
00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:51,080
I've never forgotten
that light in the sky.

30
00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:54,560
And when I went to the movies

31
00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:59,120
and suddenly light filled the screen

32
00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:01,040
and the curtain opened,

33
00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:04,200
I thought of the lights in the sky.

34
00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:07,840
The screen about to light up

35
00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:13,120
symbolized in a way
the hope I sensed around me

36
00:03:13,640 --> 00:03:15,907
during that moment on the terrace.

37
00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:18,520
To be a child of the Liberation

38
00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:20,480
was also to be a war child,

39
00:03:20,920 --> 00:03:23,200
with all that goes with it.

40
00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:29,600
I was diagnosed early on
with a problem in my retina

41
00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:31,760
that was apparently due

42
00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:33,880
to the food shortage.

43
00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:38,720
I had what they called
"a primary infection."

44
00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:43,120
I learned only recently
that it was actually tuberculosis.

45
00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:45,560
My parents sent me

46
00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:48,080
to a sanatorium in St. Gervais.

47
00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:50,080
On Sundays,

48
00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:51,800
they showed movies.

49
00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:56,760
That's where a movie
made its first real impact on me.

50
00:03:57,040 --> 00:03:59,120
It was a chase scene.

51
00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:01,720
There were two motorcycle cops

52
00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:03,520
chasing gangsters.

53
00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:08,080
They had to decide
whether to take the coast road

54
00:04:08,600 --> 00:04:10,320
or the tunnel.

55
00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:12,880
<i>They must've taken the tunnel.</i>

56
00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:17,000
<i>If we take the shortcut
we can head them off.</i>

57
00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:21,200
I could visualize that chase scene

58
00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:24,120
very clearly for years to come.

59
00:04:24,280 --> 00:04:27,440
But it wasn't
until maybe 25 years later

60
00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:30,536
that I identified the movie.

61
00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:33,720
The first movie
that really impressed me

62
00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:35,947
was directed by Jacques Becker.

63
00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:37,920
<i>It was Dernier Atout.</i>

64
00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:42,080
The film that so impressed me
was the work

65
00:04:42,280 --> 00:04:44,880
of one of France's
greatest filmmakers.

66
00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:47,160
One that I would worship.

67
00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:50,480
At age 6,
I could've made a worse choice.

68
00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,760
<i>Dernier Atout is a brilliant</i>

69
00:04:56,920 --> 00:04:59,040
but minor film of Becker's.

70
00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:02,896
<i>The real shock came
in seeing Casque d'Or</i>

71
00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:05,096
at the Noctambule
on Rue Champollion

72
00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:07,120
where I used to play hooky.

73
00:05:07,280 --> 00:05:09,680
I was staggered

74
00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:14,320
by the serene assurance with which

75
00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:17,960
Becker managed to create
a tragic climate

76
00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:21,200
that he usually distilled
with more restraint.

77
00:05:22,840 --> 00:05:24,574
<i>I can't leave you my lamp.</i>

78
00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:27,880
Here the tragedy hits you frontally.

79
00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:37,280
What's striking is
his formal and visual command,

80
00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:39,160
the narrative elegance,

81
00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:42,600
and the way this mastery

82
00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:46,136
never interferes with the emotion,

83
00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:50,040
never makes the work impersonal.

84
00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:56,240
It's a film in which you constantly
feel the characters' heartbeat.

85
00:05:57,280 --> 00:06:00,080
The mise en scene flexes emotion

86
00:06:00,280 --> 00:06:02,080
like you flex your muscles.

87
00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:25,536
<i>It's a gangster's den.
We could get murdered.</i>

88
00:06:25,560 --> 00:06:26,760
<i>Maybe even raped.</i>

89
00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:31,920
See how the various characters
enter the dance hall,

90
00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:33,256
"The Angel Gabriel."

91
00:06:33,280 --> 00:06:35,136
The way the bourgeois enter,

92
00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:38,094
all edgy about being
in this den of iniquity.

93
00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:42,120
Casque d'Or's entrance.

94
00:06:50,840 --> 00:06:52,040
And Manda's.

95
00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:58,776
Each is broken down into shots
and framed with such precision,

96
00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:02,880
such clarity
and minute attention to reality

97
00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:07,280
that enables Becker to create
every time a different climate,

98
00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:09,680
a different tension.

99
00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:19,800
<i>The famous Mr. Modigliani.
Do sit down.</i>

100
00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:21,760
He didn't use those devices

101
00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:24,640
that date
a number of French films:

102
00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:28,200
tilt shots, falsely poetic ideas.

103
00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:32,960
There's a remark that applies

104
00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:36,880
to Becker as well
that Jacques Rivette made about Hawks:

105
00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:39,216
that he put the camera at eye level.

106
00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:41,800
<i>- Mr. Modigliani and Mr...
- Sborovsky.</i>

107
00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:44,040
<i>Pleased to meet you.</i>

108
00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:53,040
Becker is one
of the French directors

109
00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:57,320
who best understood and mastered
American filmmaking.

110
00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:01,080
He was a huge fan
of Hawks and Lubitsch.

111
00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:03,480
That passion for American movies

112
00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:05,827
is evident in all his films.

113
00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:10,600
<i>First his love of jazz
in Rendez-vous de juillet.</i>

114
00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:36,494
Like all American filmmakers,
he knew how to convey

115
00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:38,760
that sense

116
00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:40,320
of space and time.

117
00:08:40,560 --> 00:08:41,460
<i>Manu!</i>

118
00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:51,787
<i>What are you waiting for?</i>

119
00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:54,054
<i>Don't shoot. You'll kill Martin.</i>

120
00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:05,776
<i>It's crooked!
It's longer in back than in front.</i>

121
00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:08,480
Like many American directors,

122
00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:10,774
he knew that pace is everything.

123
00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:12,960
And pace in Becker's films

124
00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:16,520
is quick, crisp and lean.

125
00:09:16,680 --> 00:09:20,760
It's a pace in tune
with the characters' feelings.

126
00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:22,720
It's not contrived.

127
00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:24,320
<i>I hate you.</i>

128
00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:27,600
<i>What was that?</i>

129
00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:29,760
<i>I hate you!</i>

130
00:09:29,920 --> 00:09:31,240
<i>You're vile.</i>

131
00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:36,000
He assimilated American movies
but didn't copy them.

132
00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:43,400
Most of his films have
a distinctly French flavor.

133
00:09:43,560 --> 00:09:46,656
<i>They have great camembert here.
How do they manage?</i>

134
00:09:46,680 --> 00:09:48,000
<i>You like camembert?</i>

135
00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:51,776
<i>- I asked, you like camembert?
- To hell with camembert!</i>

136
00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:54,880
He could highlight a detail
to evoke

137
00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:57,960
the climate of a period
like no one else.

138
00:09:58,120 --> 00:09:59,440
<i>Cauliflower!</i>

139
00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:03,600
<i>- It looks awful.
- Take it or leave it.</i>

140
00:10:06,680 --> 00:10:07,960
<i>There's only 2 kgs.</i>

141
00:10:08,640 --> 00:10:09,800
<i>That'll do.</i>

142
00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:13,000
<i>All the characters
in Rendez-vous de juillet</i>

143
00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:16,960
seem bound by the climate of the time,

144
00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:19,160
the changes perturbing society

145
00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:22,880
and the dreams seeming to emerge

146
00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:24,760
in the postwar period.

147
00:10:27,560 --> 00:10:29,240
<i>In Grisbi,</i>

148
00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:33,040
the gangsters are nothing like
American gangsters.

149
00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:36,600
Some scenes would be unthinkable

150
00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:39,280
in an American film noir of the time.

151
00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:49,400
<i>Here's a brush for your chops.
Toothpaste's on the sink.</i>

152
00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:53,240
Another major difference
with American movies

153
00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:55,880
is Becker's distrust of plot.

154
00:10:56,320 --> 00:10:59,760
Even when he brilliantly melds

155
00:10:59,920 --> 00:11:03,520
<i>the destiny of some 15 characters
in Goupi-Mains Rouges</i>

156
00:11:03,680 --> 00:11:07,240
none of the characters
disappear behind the plot.

157
00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:09,840
They each have their own lives.

158
00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:11,440
<i>What's so funny?</i>

159
00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:13,734
<i>Eating apples makes me laugh.</i>

160
00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:18,600
And when he interweaves
destinies

161
00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:20,080
and feelings,

162
00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:22,176
instead of complicating,

163
00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:24,320
he refines the plot.

164
00:11:24,680 --> 00:11:27,481
<i>In Antoine and Antoinette
the dramatic core</i>

165
00:11:27,560 --> 00:11:30,960
is amazingly simple:
Someone loses a lottery ticket,

166
00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:33,400
he may or may not find it.

167
00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:37,840
That's the plot.
It comes 30 minutes into the action.

168
00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:00,880
<i>Can't find it?</i>

169
00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:09,734
<i>He tried to use very few events,</i>

170
00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:12,616
<i>giving them significance
by dissecting them.</i>

171
00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:15,760
<i>Always the idea
of dilation and dissection,</i>

172
00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:19,000
<i>of confronting difficulty
by breaking it down.</i>

173
00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:21,840
<i>Something difficult?
He'd break it down</i>

174
00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:24,080
<i>into gestures, gazes, words,</i>

175
00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:26,107
<i>and overcome the difficulty.</i>

176
00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:32,560
In his comedies,
the plot is even more pared down.

177
00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:35,521
<i>Edouard et Caroline
unfolds in a few hours,</i>

178
00:12:35,680 --> 00:12:39,000
and revolves
around a dress being torn.

179
00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:50,400
<i>Grisbi simplifies Simonin's novel.</i>

180
00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:54,280
Becker merely follows his hero, Max.

181
00:12:54,560 --> 00:12:57,160
We see nothing but what Max sees.

182
00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:01,720
Becker insisted on
these very organic, simple plots.

183
00:13:01,880 --> 00:13:04,296
He didn't want to give the impression

184
00:13:04,320 --> 00:13:08,280
that the characters' behavior
was scripted,

185
00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:10,014
but that their behavior

186
00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:13,280
seemed to dictate the script.

187
00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:15,136
In that regard he remains

188
00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:18,160
one of the most modern filmmakers
of his time.

189
00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:22,960
<i>Florence, what a pleasure!</i>

190
00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:28,760
What strikes me in his films
is his empathy

191
00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:30,400
for his characters.

192
00:13:30,560 --> 00:13:34,840
There's an incredible blend
of warm familiarity

193
00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:36,280
and restraint.

194
00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:40,467
<i>I'd rather you speak French.</i>

195
00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:42,880
<i>I don't understand your English.</i>

196
00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:44,680
<i>- Really?
- Not a word.</i>

197
00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:48,216
<i>Strange that Spencer
doesn't understand your English.</i>

198
00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:50,720
<i>I think you speak just fine.</i>

199
00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:53,200
<i>I learned it in college.</i>

200
00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:54,600
<i>Oxford, you know.</i>

201
00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:59,240
<i>That explains it. Oxford talk
has nothing to do with Chicago.</i>

202
00:13:59,440 --> 00:14:02,416
<i>Possibly, because in England
they get me just fine.</i>

203
00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:05,840
Watching his movies,
I thought of him

204
00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:07,696
as "a friendly filmmaker,"

205
00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:11,376
while thinking I'd hesitate
to call him by his first name,

206
00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:14,560
intimidated
by the sense of propriety he exuded.

207
00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:18,467
To me Becker is a director
who had common decency,

208
00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:21,000
that notion dear to George Orwell,

209
00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:23,840
which implies ordinary acts

210
00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:26,720
of mutual aid and trust,

211
00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:29,480
minimal but basic social ties.

212
00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:31,080
<i>A 1st-class ticket.</i>

213
00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:33,840
<i>Antoinette, going out tonight?</i>

214
00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:36,816
<i>No, I'm finishing my dress.
Lend me your sewing machine?</i>

215
00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:38,374
<i>- Sure.
- See you later.</i>

216
00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:41,560
Not an ethic, but a spontaneous sense

217
00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:44,600
of what should and shouldn't be done.

218
00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:46,627
<i>Give me the box.
We'll share.</i>

219
00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:47,680
<i>Chow time.</i>

220
00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:53,040
<i>Funny how you rub your hands.</i>

221
00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:57,240
<i>I come from a family of clergy.
My uncle was a bishop.</i>

222
00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:01,707
<i>You don't say.
So that's why they call you Monsignor.</i>

223
00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:04,160
<i>- Do I dig in?
- Please do.</i>

224
00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:08,056
<i>- I'd do anything for you.
- Go away.</i>

225
00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:09,120
<i>Listen.</i>

226
00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:11,307
<i>You're all I think about,</i>

227
00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:13,856
<i>your eyes, your hair, your body...</i>

228
00:15:13,880 --> 00:15:14,780
<i>Let me go!</i>

229
00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:17,387
<i>I'd give you everything.
Come with me.</i>

230
00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:21,056
The grocer, however, who probably
got rich on the black market

231
00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:23,547
played brilliantly by Noel Roquevert,

232
00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:26,280
is a good example of common indecency,

233
00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:33,560
if only in the way he treats
the women who work for him.

234
00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:36,120
<i>Mr. Roland, will you be long?</i>

235
00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:37,520
<i>Why?</i>

236
00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:38,740
<i>Do you care?</i>

237
00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:41,936
<i>If anyone calls, what do I say?</i>

238
00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:45,160
<i>If you care, stop by tonight.
It's been a month.</i>

239
00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:48,760
<i>You have a good job.
Don't lose it.</i>

240
00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:52,080
An unusual remark for the period.

241
00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:56,680
French cinema at the time
was hardly known

242
00:15:56,840 --> 00:15:59,174
for its radical feminism. Becker...

243
00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:00,920
<i>...was one of those men</i>

244
00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:04,760
<i>who believed that women
occupied a major place in life,</i>

245
00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:07,760
<i>that he couldn't quite pinpoint,</i>

246
00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:12,854
<i>that wasn't easy to rationalize,
but that was very powerful.</i>

247
00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:16,054
<i>In talking about life,
you had to include women.</i>

248
00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:30,880
<i>Got a match?</i>

249
00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:33,400
<i>Who's that?</i>

250
00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:35,320
<i>I should ask you that.</i>

251
00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:38,216
Look at the character
of Manda's fiancee,

252
00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:40,720
a character films usually sacrifice

253
00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:43,934
and who here isn't belittled.

254
00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:47,080
Becker makes her really exist.

255
00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:48,600
<i>Cheers, buster.</i>

256
00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:49,760
<i>Whore!</i>

257
00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:53,640
<i>- What?
- You'd better go, Marie.</i>

258
00:16:57,000 --> 00:16:59,067
<i>I got one yesterday.
We're even.</i>

259
00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:02,000
Becker manages to get in

260
00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:05,160
very biting notations
about women's roles

261
00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:08,216
<i>or very funny remarks,
as in Rue de I'Estrapade,</i>

262
00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:11,480
when Anne Vernon makes fun
of Louis Jourdan.

263
00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:14,627
<i>You can't wear a woman's scarf!</i>

264
00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:16,920
<i>Doesn't it suit me?</i>

265
00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:22,280
Becker and Annette Wademant
reverse roles.

266
00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:24,120
<i>I want you!</i>

267
00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:26,400
<i>You're pretty, so pretty.</i>

268
00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:29,480
<i>You know you are, you little scamp.</i>

269
00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:30,540
<i>Enough!</i>

270
00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:33,200
The last aspect
of Becker's movies,

271
00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:35,016
maybe the most important:

272
00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:37,320
He was the French director

273
00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:39,976
who made his characters
work the most.

274
00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:42,056
No one is idle in Becker's films.

275
00:17:42,080 --> 00:17:44,400
<i>The peasants
in Goupi-Mains Rouges,</i>

276
00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:46,867
<i>the seamstresses in Falbalas...</i>

277
00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:50,267
<i>3 weeks! And the overtime!
I can see it coming.</i>

278
00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:54,840
<i>If you're not happy, complain
to the boss. Now get cracking.</i>

279
00:17:55,120 --> 00:17:58,136
Jean-Paul Gaultier,
a guest at The Lumiere Institute,

280
00:17:58,160 --> 00:18:02,000
<i>told us he watched Falbalas again
every year</i>

281
00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:04,627
and every year it made him cry.

282
00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:10,856
<i>It showed a world I didn't know,
the world of high fashion</i>

283
00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:13,016
<i>and he did it
in an exceptional way.</i>

284
00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:15,240
<i>When I went into that line</i>

285
00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:18,016
<i>thanks to the film,
because of the film,</i>

286
00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:20,560
<i>I realized just to what extent</i>

287
00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:23,600
<i>the description was wildly accurate...</i>

288
00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:27,120
<i>just how real
the details and the characters were.</i>

289
00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:39,320
<i>Hello, Raymond.</i>

290
00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:42,320
<i>So, it's work work, grind grind.</i>

291
00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:43,440
<i>As you see.</i>

292
00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:44,880
Even the youths

293
00:18:45,120 --> 00:18:48,654
<i>in Rendez-vous de juillet
are people who want to work.</i>

294
00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:50,760
<i>It's harder than you think.</i>

295
00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:55,040
<i>Given my budget,</i>

296
00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:59,120
<i>I can only give you a tiny,
virtually symbolic subsidy.</i>

297
00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:01,960
<i>Do you see what I mean?</i>

298
00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:05,040
<i>Something like a blessing.</i>

299
00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:07,200
<i>That would help our cause.</i>

300
00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:11,160
<i>The most convincing example
is of course Le Trou.</i>

301
00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:14,600
The entire film rests on

302
00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:17,520
a group effort

303
00:19:17,800 --> 00:19:21,160
with those very long scenes
filmed in real time

304
00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:23,254
where you see people digging.

305
00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:25,816
Becker had much in common
with Bresson.

306
00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:29,000
There's a kinship
in their stylistic purity,

307
00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:31,400
in their formal refinement.

308
00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:38,000
<i>Jacques Becker died
while finishing Le Trou.</i>

309
00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:43,000
His death inspired Jean-Pierre Melville
to write a magnificent tribute.

310
00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:46,840
<i>He was 52 when his mastery
and his maturity</i>

311
00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:49,456
<i>dictated that he make
a monumental film</i>

312
00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:52,736
<i>that would deal with
all the essential aspects of man:</i>

313
00:19:52,760 --> 00:19:54,520
<i>dignity, courage,</i>

314
00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:56,920
<i>fraternity, intellect,</i>

315
00:19:57,080 --> 00:20:00,160
<i>nobility, respect and shame.</i>

316
00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:48,694
A few years after the sanatorium,
again for my health,

317
00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:50,736
I was sent to boarding school.

318
00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:53,320
We could only go out on Sundays,

319
00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:55,880
if we had good marks.

320
00:20:56,040 --> 00:21:00,200
That's when I saw tons of movies
in neighborhood theaters

321
00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:03,200
that have all vanished.
Studio Obligado,

322
00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:06,000
the California, the Delta,

323
00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:08,320
the Florida,

324
00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:10,400
the Eldorado...

325
00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:13,160
When Quentin Tarantino heard

326
00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:16,280
that I watched movies at the Far West,

327
00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:20,347
he said to me, "That's incredible,
Bertrand, you saw movies

328
00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:24,760
in a theater called the Far West.
That's so cool."

329
00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:29,320
As an example of the atmosphere
in those theaters then,

330
00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:33,800
at the Pathe Journal,
I saw a guy next to me

331
00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:37,080
open a can of peas, heat it up

332
00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:38,560
and eat it.

333
00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:42,920
No one

334
00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:46,120
described
these local theaters better

335
00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:49,000
than Luc Moullet in a film

336
00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:51,680
that's funny, inventive and incisive:

337
00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:53,720
<i>The Seats of the Alcazar.</i>

338
00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:56,600
<i>With a good bath of oil,</i>

339
00:21:56,840 --> 00:21:59,240
<i>it works just fine.</i>

340
00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:04,560
...in which he reproduces
screening conditions,

341
00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:09,280
the difficulty of getting a ticket
for a front row seat...

342
00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:12,800
<i>This was my favorite seat.</i>

343
00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:15,107
<i>There was also "Titanic."</i>

344
00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:25,360
But also the petty disputes

345
00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:29,960
between rival clans of critics

346
00:22:30,120 --> 00:22:32,480
<i>from Cahiers du Cinema and Positif.</i>

347
00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:35,240
<i>So you've gone cold on Cottafavi?</i>

348
00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:38,856
<i>- What do you mean?
- You walked out of A Free Woman.</i>

349
00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:42,016
They showed mostly westerns
and American B movies

350
00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:44,000
released 10-15 years earlier,

351
00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:47,120
but also French films
from the '30 and '40s,

352
00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:50,640
<i>Fernandel vehicles like
Un de la Legion</i>

353
00:22:51,360 --> 00:22:54,440
<i>and the ghastly Ernest the Rebel.</i>

354
00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:57,320
I didn't choose between old films

355
00:22:57,520 --> 00:22:59,760
and new releases.

356
00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:02,254
And I didn't feel like a nostalgic.

357
00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:07,560
I discovered with great pleasure

358
00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:09,560
<i>Macao, L'Enfer du Jeu</i>

359
00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:13,600
a Sternbergian exotic adventure

360
00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:16,080
set against the Sino-Japanese war

361
00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:19,560
brilliantly directed
by Jean Delannoy.

362
00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:25,160
<i>Spend your holidays in Japan,
Land of the Rising Sun</i>

363
00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:45,400
Colorful adventurers

364
00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:50,080
wonderfully played by Sessue Hayakawa
and Erich von Stroheim

365
00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:52,560
feud and betray one another

366
00:23:53,120 --> 00:23:54,960
over a load of weapons.

367
00:23:55,120 --> 00:23:58,080
<i>I need 100 Mauser machine guns,</i>

368
00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:00,160
<i>Model 21,</i>

369
00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:02,320
<i>with a million cartridges,</i>

370
00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:06,040
<i>3,000 Mauser rifles,</i>

371
00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:07,880
<i>Model 21,</i>

372
00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:09,720
<i>.38 caliber.</i>

373
00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:13,440
Also over the beautiful
Mireille Balin.

374
00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:20,640
Her scenes with a very subtle,
sometimes touching Stroheim,

375
00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:23,400
served by Roger Vitrac's
superb dialog,

376
00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:24,960
are memorable.

377
00:24:25,120 --> 00:24:28,600
<i>I figured you didn't have time
to get your luggage.</i>

378
00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:31,160
<i>My 22 trunks are still at the hotel.</i>

379
00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:34,080
<i>What do you think of this dress?</i>

380
00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:37,880
<i>You've been cruising
on the Place Vendome.</i>

381
00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:39,680
<i>Among other places.</i>

382
00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:41,840
<i>It's a 42.</i>

383
00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:43,560
<i>Just my size.</i>

384
00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:48,320
Her surprisingly natural,
uninhibited acting style

385
00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:50,200
is extremely modern.

386
00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:54,880
<i>You're a couturier?</i>

387
00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:58,720
<i>No, just a collector.</i>

388
00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:04,840
But the disenchanted,
disillusioned tone is also striking,

389
00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:07,000
and there's no real bad guy

390
00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:09,560
or a Manichean plot,

391
00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:12,240
making the film totally amoral,

392
00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:15,200
which has enabled it to age well.

393
00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:20,000
<i>About that check that bounced...</i>

394
00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:23,560
<i>Well, it's all settled now.</i>

395
00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:46,400
Under the Occupation,
Delannoy had to get rid of Stroheim

396
00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:49,680
and reshoot his scenes
with Pierre Renoir

397
00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:53,680
so that the Nazis
wouldn't destroy the film.

398
00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:03,640
One Sunday afternoon
I got my second movie shock

399
00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:05,360
with a French film.

400
00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:08,280
<i>Jean Renoir's Grand Illusion.</i>

401
00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:11,000
I saw it in a theater

402
00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:13,560
on Faubourg Montmartre

403
00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:15,640
called Le Club.

404
00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:29,880
I arrived in the middle of the film,

405
00:26:30,360 --> 00:26:34,160
in a scene that immediately
impressed me by its power

406
00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:35,840
and its emotion.

407
00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:39,520
<i>Stop the show!</i>

408
00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:41,520
<i>Stop the show!</i>

409
00:26:42,360 --> 00:26:43,720
<i>Stop, fellas.</i>

410
00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:47,334
<i>We've retaken Douaumont.
It's in the German papers.</i>

411
00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:50,747
<i>The Marseillaise, please.</i>

412
00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:10,787
You have to imagine a teenager
watching the scene,

413
00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:14,120
his head full of stories
of the Occupation,

414
00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:15,720
the Resistance,

415
00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:18,040
everything my father told me.

416
00:27:18,520 --> 00:27:21,840
Each shot,
each moment had such resonance,

417
00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:25,480
blending a past
that was still very present

418
00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:27,600
with a World War I story.

419
00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:34,120
When the film was over,

420
00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:36,800
I was totally stunned.

421
00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:39,147
I remained in the theater

422
00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:40,800
to watch it again.

423
00:27:44,360 --> 00:27:46,560
<i>Hey, Halphen!
Going to Epernay?</i>

424
00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:49,440
That scene
often brings tears to my eyes.

425
00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:52,240
In that little moment, you sense

426
00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:55,040
that Renoir dredges up
tons of feelings:

427
00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:57,240
that the war was dragging on,

428
00:27:57,400 --> 00:27:59,800
that Gabin has been through a lot,

429
00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:02,640
that things weigh heavily on him.

430
00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:04,920
None of that is in the dialog.

431
00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:08,200
It's all conveyed in the way
the characters move,

432
00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:11,240
the choice of framing,
and the silences.

433
00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:26,560
I find this scene miraculous.

434
00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:30,560
<i>Liquor kills! Liquor drives you mad!
The captain drinks it</i>

435
00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:34,760
I felt
I was seeing another type of cinema.

436
00:28:35,360 --> 00:28:39,360
<i>There's something particularly French
about Grand Illusion.</i>

437
00:28:39,560 --> 00:28:41,760
<i>I was on stage before the war,</i>

438
00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:43,560
<i>in vaudeville.</i>

439
00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:48,280
<i>- Ever see me?
- Theater's too deep for me.</i>

440
00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:51,680
<i>I prefer cycling.
You follow the Tour de France?</i>

441
00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:57,120
<i>You must've heard of Fabert, Lapize,
Garrigou, Troussellier...</i>

442
00:28:57,520 --> 00:28:59,360
<i>Yvan Ouder the Belgian.</i>

443
00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:00,420
<i>Sure.</i>

444
00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:03,480
<i>We can buy anything we like?</i>

445
00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:05,600
<i>Sure, through the PX.</i>

446
00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:08,840
So I very quickly caught up

447
00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:10,707
on all of Renoir's films.

448
00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:13,080
Few endings move me as much

449
00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:15,507
<i>as the end of
A Day in the Country.</i>

450
00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:31,400
<i>I come here often.</i>

451
00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:34,880
<i>I have my best memories here.</i>

452
00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:39,054
<i>I think about it every night.</i>

453
00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:52,120
<i>Henriette!</i>

454
00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:07,616
<i>La Marseillaise is a masterpiece,</i>

455
00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:10,480
even if the subject is bowdlerized.

456
00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:14,080
It's one of the first epics
to dramatize

457
00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:17,080
anonymous figures, ordinary people.

458
00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:20,880
<i>I wanted to treat this great moment</i>

459
00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:23,480
<i>in a spirit of intimacy.</i>

460
00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:27,280
<i>I tried to imagine</i>

461
00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:32,000
<i>I was witness to real,
contemporary events,</i>

462
00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:34,760
<i>and that my camera was concealed,</i>

463
00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:39,440
<i>capturing the little aspects
of these great moments.</i>

464
00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:41,280
<i>Is your crow done?</i>

465
00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:46,200
<i>It's as dry as an old man
without breeches.</i>

466
00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:47,760
<i>It's an old crow.</i>

467
00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:51,576
<i>Lucky we found it. With only
Mr. de Lafayette's provisions...</i>

468
00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:55,376
<i>Down with aristocrats.
We starve, they betray the homeland.</i>

469
00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:56,800
<i>And De Rochambeau?</i>

470
00:30:57,160 --> 00:31:00,000
<i>You don't know De Rochambeau?</i>

471
00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:04,400
<i>The General? I haven't had the honor.</i>

472
00:31:04,560 --> 00:31:07,480
<i>I know Marat.
I talked to him once in Rouen.</i>

473
00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:10,880
There's a grounding,

474
00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:14,680
a strength, a lyricism
and openness of mind.

475
00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:17,280
The portrait of the royal family

476
00:31:17,440 --> 00:31:20,120
is simply extraordinary.

477
00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:28,000
Certain actors, technicians
and directors

478
00:31:28,280 --> 00:31:31,640
believe that Renoir was no technician.

479
00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:35,480
He didn't act
like an ordinary filmmaker.

480
00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:37,160
<i>What a lot of leaves.</i>

481
00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:41,214
<i>They're falling early this year.</i>

482
00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:44,360
Not a technician, and yet...

483
00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:46,520
Let's look for instance at

484
00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:48,296
<i>Rules of the Game.</i>

485
00:31:48,320 --> 00:31:50,240
<i>Sorry I shot that pheasant.</i>

486
00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:51,816
<i>I thought it was mine.</i>

487
00:31:51,840 --> 00:31:54,440
Often Renoir's camera movements

488
00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:57,200
aren't there to accelerate the action.

489
00:31:57,360 --> 00:32:01,680
They're used to link the background

490
00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:04,840
with what's about to happen
in the foreground.

491
00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:10,360
These movements bring together

492
00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:14,600
what's going on
in the background and the foreground.

493
00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:19,120
They're very subtle,
sometimes lyrical variations

494
00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:21,600
on depth of focus.

495
00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:27,280
Lateral movements

496
00:32:27,440 --> 00:32:30,974
combine with perpendicular
movements of the characters

497
00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:34,800
who come from the back
and approach the camera.

498
00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:37,760
<i>Like Carette in Rules of the Game.</i>

499
00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:40,680
The shot begins on Carette.

500
00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:44,587
As he walks forward,
the camera follows him laterally...

501
00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:47,400
<i>Marceau!</i>

502
00:32:47,560 --> 00:32:51,240
...to another character
who brings us back to Carette.

503
00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:54,320
<i>Hello, Schumacher.
How are you?</i>

504
00:32:56,080 --> 00:32:57,560
<i>Want my rabbit?</i>

505
00:32:58,240 --> 00:32:59,560
<i>Right, Schumacher?</i>

506
00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:02,160
<i>I don't know. I just got here.</i>

507
00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:05,360
Watch how the camera
follows a character

508
00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:07,480
in a wide shot,

509
00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:10,680
loses him to focus on another,

510
00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:14,480
then switches from a long shot
to a medium shot

511
00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:17,374
without resorting to
a reverse angle shot.

512
00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:19,560
<i>La Chesnaye may be a yid,</i>

513
00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:22,776
<i>but he chewed me out recently
over a potato salad.</i>

514
00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:26,656
<i>You know, or maybe you don't,
that for a salad to be any good,</i>

515
00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:31,280
<i>you pour white wine on the potatoes
when they're boiling hot.</i>

516
00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:34,496
<i>But Celestin was afraid
of burning his fingers.</i>

517
00:33:34,520 --> 00:33:38,056
<i>Well, the boss sensed right off
that he hadn't done it.</i>

518
00:33:38,080 --> 00:33:41,520
<i>Say what you like,
but I call that a true gentleman.</i>

519
00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:43,920
Renoir had this stroke of genius,

520
00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:47,840
adding people throughout the scene,
probably upstairs,

521
00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:50,160
who are practicing piano.

522
00:33:52,080 --> 00:33:55,720
<i>I'm the new valet.
The Marquis must have mentioned me.</i>

523
00:33:55,880 --> 00:33:57,920
<i>What can you do, my good man?</i>

524
00:33:58,120 --> 00:34:01,160
<i>I dunno.
A bit of everything.</i>

525
00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:02,840
<i>Do you shine boots?</i>

526
00:34:03,080 --> 00:34:08,000
<i>When it comes to grooming,
I'm what you call a specialist.</i>

527
00:34:08,160 --> 00:34:12,094
<i>Tomorrow morning, collect the boots
outside the guest rooms.</i>

528
00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:14,080
<i>He's a decent fellow.</i>

529
00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:17,856
I get the feeling Renoir's dolly shots

530
00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:20,800
were a reaction
against his father's attempt

531
00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:23,480
to abolish depth of field.

532
00:34:23,640 --> 00:34:25,840
He admired his father deeply,

533
00:34:26,040 --> 00:34:29,776
but wanted to find a visual approach
that didn't copy him.

534
00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:32,280
A way of staking out his territory.

535
00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:33,680
<i>Delighted.</i>

536
00:34:34,320 --> 00:34:36,816
<i>And honored to have you.
You know everyone.</i>

537
00:34:36,840 --> 00:34:38,120
<i>My dear Jurieux.</i>

538
00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:41,000
It's enough to watch the fluidity

539
00:34:41,160 --> 00:34:44,640
with which Renoir blocks out
group scenes

540
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:46,400
- meals, meetings -

541
00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:50,800
the way characters cut each other off,
how the dialog overlaps,

542
00:34:51,040 --> 00:34:54,840
to demolish the criticisms
about his technical ability.

543
00:34:55,040 --> 00:34:57,536
<i>Let me kiss you.
I'm so glad to see you here.</i>

544
00:34:57,560 --> 00:34:59,440
<i>Andre, may I kiss you too?</i>

545
00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:01,360
<i>And me... and me?</i>

546
00:35:01,560 --> 00:35:02,480
<i>And me?</i>

547
00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:05,000
<i>I think I'm entitled to.</i>

548
00:35:06,120 --> 00:35:08,587
<i>- Does he play belote?
- Sure he does.</i>

549
00:35:08,640 --> 00:35:09,680
<i>Let's ask him.</i>

550
00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:33,987
<i>A nice wedding isn't bad.</i>

551
00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:36,320
<i>Almost as good as a nice funeral.</i>

552
00:35:52,240 --> 00:35:53,520
<i>That's a good one.</i>

553
00:35:54,040 --> 00:35:56,160
<i>Old Legrand, ever on the ball!</i>

554
00:35:56,480 --> 00:35:57,760
<i>What do you think?</i>

555
00:35:57,920 --> 00:36:00,040
<i>Very, very good cover.</i>

556
00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:04,680
<i>But why all the stuff
about pharmaceutical products?</i>

557
00:36:04,840 --> 00:36:08,800
It's amusing to note
that Jean Renoir and Jacques Prevert

558
00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:11,760
were the first to criticize

559
00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:14,760
the intrusion of ads in a work of art.

560
00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:17,536
<i>"Arizona Jim
put his revolver on the table,</i>

561
00:36:17,560 --> 00:36:21,456
<i>"took a small round box out
of his pocket and opened it saying:</i>

562
00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:24,896
<i>With Ranimax pills, be bold,
be bold and evermore bold."</i>

563
00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:26,096
<i>That's disgusting.</i>

564
00:36:26,120 --> 00:36:29,054
<i>- As you say.
- I never wrote that! Pathetic.</i>

565
00:36:29,240 --> 00:36:32,680
<i>I published Arizona Jim
solely as a favor to you.</i>

566
00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:35,800
<i>- I know that.
- But all that costs money.</i>

567
00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:39,000
<i>Usually,
authors help us out a bit.</i>

568
00:36:39,280 --> 00:36:43,096
<i>That's not the case with you.
That's why we add a little advertising.</i>

569
00:36:43,120 --> 00:36:44,280
<i>A little.</i>

570
00:36:44,600 --> 00:36:47,080
<i>There's some on page 3.
On page 9.</i>

571
00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:50,296
<i>- And on the last page.
- We do what it takes.</i>

572
00:36:50,320 --> 00:36:53,280
<i>Money is money.
There's no way around it.</i>

573
00:36:55,120 --> 00:36:56,920
<i>You're an artist.</i>

574
00:36:57,480 --> 00:36:58,614
<i>You're a dreamer.</i>

575
00:36:58,920 --> 00:37:03,760
When Renoir came up against
an unexpected difficulty

576
00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:06,360
he'd disappear,

577
00:37:06,520 --> 00:37:08,920
leaving his crew to work it out.

578
00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:12,400
<i>So you want to stay with him?
You just can't.</i>

579
00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:15,134
<i>I sacrificed everything for you.</i>

580
00:37:15,240 --> 00:37:18,000
<i>Come on, Lucienne,
I want you to know...</i>

581
00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:21,120
<i>If you only knew,
you might understand.</i>

582
00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:23,320
<i>La Chienne, for instance</i>

583
00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:26,560
was mostly edited by Paul Fejos.

584
00:37:29,360 --> 00:37:33,640
Renoir was at a loss
before the material he'd filmed

585
00:37:33,800 --> 00:37:36,200
and Fejos managed to structure it

586
00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:39,040
and give it a logical flow.

587
00:37:39,240 --> 00:37:42,560
Marguerite Renoir took over
for subsequent films

588
00:37:42,720 --> 00:37:45,560
and played a considerable role.

589
00:37:47,200 --> 00:37:48,720
<i>Don't laugh, Lucienne.</i>

590
00:37:49,240 --> 00:37:50,707
<i>Don't laugh like that.</i>

591
00:37:52,400 --> 00:37:54,534
<i>Don't laugh like that, Lucienne.</i>

592
00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:56,480
<i>Don't laugh like that!</i>

593
00:37:59,360 --> 00:38:03,096
Jean Gabin and I talked about Renoir
at length one afternoon.

594
00:38:03,120 --> 00:38:06,640
I spent 5-6 hours with Gabin,

595
00:38:06,840 --> 00:38:09,920
who said to me,
"Tavernier, let me tell you:

596
00:38:10,120 --> 00:38:13,880
I learned my craft
with Renoir and Duvivier.

597
00:38:14,120 --> 00:38:17,440
Renoir taught me everything
about acting,

598
00:38:17,760 --> 00:38:22,720
how to act,
how to modulate one's performance,

599
00:38:22,880 --> 00:38:27,000
how to hold back
or on the contrary let oneself go.

600
00:38:27,160 --> 00:38:31,680
Duvivier taught me everything
about playing to the camera.

601
00:38:32,080 --> 00:38:34,576
<i>When shooting La Bete Humaine,
in the cab,</i>

602
00:38:34,600 --> 00:38:37,240
cameraman Curt Courant
said to me,

603
00:38:37,400 --> 00:38:38,520
"Mr. Gabin,

604
00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:42,216
"I want you to move over there
because for the frame,

605
00:38:42,240 --> 00:38:44,360
the lighting will be nicer."

606
00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:48,216
Gabin said: That's one
of the few times I saw him get angry.

607
00:38:48,240 --> 00:38:49,800
He started hollering,

608
00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:53,054
shouting angrily,

609
00:38:54,160 --> 00:38:57,440
"Mr. Courant, don't talk to Mr. Gabin
like that.

610
00:38:57,600 --> 00:39:00,400
"Mr. Gabin wants to stand there.

611
00:39:00,560 --> 00:39:02,160
"It's up to you to adapt

612
00:39:02,240 --> 00:39:04,360
"the light to Mr. Gabin,

613
00:39:04,520 --> 00:39:07,600
"Mr. Gabin is not at your service.

614
00:39:07,760 --> 00:39:09,800
"And stop

615
00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:13,680
badgering the actors
with your UFA lighting."

616
00:39:13,880 --> 00:39:17,920
That's the story Gabin told,
and he added,

617
00:39:18,240 --> 00:39:20,240
"Few people back then

618
00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:23,240
dared defy the cameraman's tyranny.

619
00:39:23,480 --> 00:39:26,240
It gave the actors

620
00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:32,040
great freedom.
We felt comfortable with him."

621
00:39:32,720 --> 00:39:34,987
<i>You sense that in La Bete Humaine,</i>

622
00:39:35,080 --> 00:39:38,160
in one of the finest scenes
in French cinema.

623
00:39:38,320 --> 00:39:39,776
<i>What's in your basket?</i>

624
00:39:39,800 --> 00:39:42,336
<i>A can of sardines and cassoulet.
Want some?</i>

625
00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:44,720
<i>No, canned food ruins the stomach.</i>

626
00:39:44,880 --> 00:39:47,280
<i>Get married, old buddy. Get married.</i>

627
00:39:47,320 --> 00:39:50,187
<i>I'm already married to Lison.
That's enough.</i>

628
00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:54,800
<i>So now we're married to a locomotive!</i>

629
00:39:55,520 --> 00:39:57,240
<i>Goodbye, fellows.</i>

630
00:39:58,200 --> 00:39:59,120
<i>Say, Gramps,</i>

631
00:39:59,320 --> 00:40:02,176
<i>we had a swell train today.
Wind at our backs.</i>

632
00:40:02,200 --> 00:40:04,840
<i>We saved on coal.
Good for us.</i>

633
00:40:05,040 --> 00:40:07,200
<i>That burned gearbox worries you.</i>

634
00:40:07,360 --> 00:40:09,480
<i>Only because we're here.</i>

635
00:40:10,320 --> 00:40:12,496
<i>If we were at the Batignolles depot,</i>

636
00:40:12,520 --> 00:40:14,654
<i>I know all the guys in the shop.</i>

637
00:40:14,720 --> 00:40:16,560
<i>They do good work here.</i>

638
00:40:16,720 --> 00:40:17,620
<i>Well, yeah.</i>

639
00:40:19,880 --> 00:40:24,280
<i>I got to work with Renoir
on the revival of La Bete Humaine.</i>

640
00:40:24,480 --> 00:40:27,040
We spent 2-3 weeks together.

641
00:40:27,240 --> 00:40:29,616
He spoke movingly about Simone Simon

642
00:40:29,640 --> 00:40:33,400
and dialogue attributed to him
that were actually Zola's.

643
00:40:33,560 --> 00:40:37,560
He added, "Zola's a better dialogist
than people think,

644
00:40:37,720 --> 00:40:41,160
and I stole a number of his lines."

645
00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:43,520
<i>Let go of my hands.</i>

646
00:40:44,480 --> 00:40:47,736
<i>Don't look at me like that.
You'll wear your eyes out.</i>

647
00:40:47,760 --> 00:40:54,200
He was an incredibly warm person,
always ready with a laugh,

648
00:40:54,360 --> 00:40:58,640
who you were inclined to believe
even when it turned out

649
00:40:58,800 --> 00:41:00,680
he was giving you nonsense.

650
00:41:02,400 --> 00:41:04,880
I think he so wanted to charm

651
00:41:05,080 --> 00:41:08,214
and not disappoint the person
he was talking to.

652
00:41:08,280 --> 00:41:12,320
Much of what he told
Truffaut and Rivette

653
00:41:12,720 --> 00:41:15,040
turns out to be highly debatable.

654
00:41:15,200 --> 00:41:19,680
No, Renoir didn't hate the studio.
That's totally untrue.

655
00:41:19,880 --> 00:41:22,947
Many of his scenes,
including some of the best,

656
00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:24,760
were shot in the studio.

657
00:41:24,920 --> 00:41:29,320
<i>In Rules of the Game,
everyone is saying goodnight.</i>

658
00:41:29,480 --> 00:41:34,600
Given the facilities back then, the
scene could only be shot in the studio.

659
00:41:34,880 --> 00:41:35,780
<i>Good night.</i>

660
00:41:37,480 --> 00:41:39,080
<i>Good night, old boy.</i>

661
00:41:39,240 --> 00:41:40,360
<i>Pleased?</i>

662
00:41:44,840 --> 00:41:46,480
<i>Good night, La Chesnaye.</i>

663
00:41:46,880 --> 00:41:49,160
<i>There once was a little boat</i>

664
00:41:50,800 --> 00:41:53,067
<i>That had ne-ne-never been to sea</i>

665
00:41:54,960 --> 00:41:59,240
Renoir used to claim that
the "Little Boat" scene was improvised.

666
00:41:59,400 --> 00:42:02,080
But Pascal Merigeau's biography says

667
00:42:02,240 --> 00:42:05,974
it was in the first version
of the script, word for word.

668
00:42:13,920 --> 00:42:15,880
<i>Lovely as ever, Valentine.</i>

669
00:42:16,320 --> 00:42:18,336
<i>You should never fear revenants.</i>

670
00:42:18,360 --> 00:42:21,080
<i>Look at
Le Crime de Monsieur Lange.</i>

671
00:42:21,360 --> 00:42:25,256
It's absurd to think such a shot
was conceived that morning,

672
00:42:25,280 --> 00:42:28,360
given the heavy equipment,
the cameras,

673
00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:32,680
the way such a scene had to be lit
with indoor sets

674
00:42:32,840 --> 00:42:34,200
and outdoor sets.

675
00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:38,840
It had to have taken 2-3 days
of preparation and fine tuning.

676
00:42:40,120 --> 00:42:43,720
The camera frames Rene Lefevre
on the first floor.

677
00:42:43,880 --> 00:42:46,200
We see him move
from room to room.

678
00:42:46,360 --> 00:42:48,160
The camera leaves him

679
00:42:48,520 --> 00:42:51,920
and frames him again coming down,
out into the yard.

680
00:42:53,120 --> 00:42:57,000
And there, contrary to
what's often been written,

681
00:42:57,160 --> 00:42:58,840
there's another shot.

682
00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:03,480
I still read that this scene
was done in one long take.

683
00:43:03,640 --> 00:43:06,160
But there's a continuity cut

684
00:43:06,320 --> 00:43:09,520
from a long shot to a medium shot.

685
00:43:09,880 --> 00:43:14,360
The whole shot is described in detail
in the first draft

686
00:43:14,520 --> 00:43:17,520
which was called "On the Courtyard."

687
00:43:17,840 --> 00:43:19,374
It was all thought out.

688
00:43:19,440 --> 00:43:22,374
From the writing stage,
Renoir fully intended

689
00:43:22,400 --> 00:43:26,360
to treat a moment like that
in a single shot

690
00:43:26,520 --> 00:43:28,760
or make it look like one.

691
00:43:28,920 --> 00:43:31,120
It's another trick.

692
00:43:33,600 --> 00:43:34,760
<i>Is he dead?</i>

693
00:43:37,240 --> 00:43:38,480
<i>It was so easy.</i>

694
00:43:40,040 --> 00:43:41,360
<i>We can't stay here.</i>

695
00:43:41,800 --> 00:43:44,200
<i>It also fits in with the idea</i>

696
00:43:44,360 --> 00:43:47,120
<i>that I keep trying to perfect:</i>

697
00:43:47,280 --> 00:43:48,880
<i>not to cut scenes</i>

698
00:43:49,080 --> 00:43:52,120
<i>and let the actors
follow their own course.</i>

699
00:43:52,280 --> 00:43:55,480
<i>I tried it
with incredibly complicated movements.</i>

700
00:43:55,600 --> 00:43:58,600
<i>Bachelet and the camera crew
had a tough time.</i>

701
00:43:58,920 --> 00:44:00,720
<i>It was like snakes</i>

702
00:44:00,880 --> 00:44:04,200
<i>were twisted around the camera tripod.</i>

703
00:44:04,360 --> 00:44:06,627
<i>The camera went in all directions,</i>

704
00:44:06,760 --> 00:44:10,280
<i>going to the actors,
following them up and down.</i>

705
00:44:10,440 --> 00:44:14,120
<i>The very cramped sets
made it all the more difficult.</i>

706
00:44:14,280 --> 00:44:17,360
<i>The sets were in normal dimensions,</i>

707
00:44:17,520 --> 00:44:19,176
<i>built around a courtyard.</i>

708
00:44:19,200 --> 00:44:20,400
<i>Son,</i>

709
00:44:20,680 --> 00:44:23,680
<i>say what you like,
but work is something.</i>

710
00:44:23,920 --> 00:44:25,456
<i>Enough. How much you want?</i>

711
00:44:25,480 --> 00:44:26,640
<i>How much?</i>

712
00:44:26,800 --> 00:44:30,600
<i>I want it all, angel. It's all mine.</i>

713
00:44:31,200 --> 00:44:35,456
<i>You sold the rights of Arizona Jim
for 200,000 francs. They're mine.</i>

714
00:44:35,480 --> 00:44:37,680
<i>You forced a signature out of me.</i>

715
00:44:38,240 --> 00:44:40,560
<i>That wouldn't stand up in court.</i>

716
00:44:42,120 --> 00:44:43,856
<i>- And the complaints?
- What complaints?</i>

717
00:44:43,880 --> 00:44:46,656
<i>And Meunier's debt?
You'll be arrested if you reappear.</i>

718
00:44:46,680 --> 00:44:50,600
<i>Sure, I know that.
But they'll release me soon enough.</i>

719
00:44:50,760 --> 00:44:53,120
<i>I'll get my money back.</i>

720
00:44:54,160 --> 00:44:56,960
With his cleverness and intuition,

721
00:44:57,120 --> 00:45:00,387
he managed to create
an impression of naturalness,

722
00:45:00,440 --> 00:45:03,096
and an astounding
sense of improvisation,

723
00:45:03,120 --> 00:45:05,736
as if the camera
just happened to be there

724
00:45:05,760 --> 00:45:11,080
transcending a screenplay that was
often followed almost to the letter.

725
00:45:11,360 --> 00:45:13,360
<i>We're going to publish Javert.</i>

726
00:45:13,400 --> 00:45:14,960
<i>It will be sensational.</i>

727
00:45:15,160 --> 00:45:18,720
<i>But you can't.
There's the staff, the cooperative.</i>

728
00:45:18,960 --> 00:45:21,576
<i>Think you can make me cry
over the furniture?</i>

729
00:45:21,600 --> 00:45:24,736
<i>The staff, the cooperative...
I don't give a damn!</i>

730
00:45:24,760 --> 00:45:26,320
<i>He liked to please</i>

731
00:45:26,480 --> 00:45:30,040
<i>and he was drawn to success.</i>

732
00:45:30,200 --> 00:45:34,600
<i>He went with the Popular Front
because it was headed for success.</i>

733
00:45:35,040 --> 00:45:38,216
<i>He went with the Communist Party
because it had men</i>

734
00:45:38,240 --> 00:45:41,440
<i>who were undeniably physically</i>

735
00:45:42,480 --> 00:45:45,760
<i>and humanly strong,</i>

736
00:45:45,960 --> 00:45:47,160
<i>leaders.</i>

737
00:45:47,600 --> 00:45:51,560
<i>The impulse that thrust him
toward force,</i>

738
00:45:51,840 --> 00:45:54,960
<i>and I do mean force,
carried him very far.</i>

739
00:45:55,120 --> 00:45:57,760
<i>In that regard he became</i>

740
00:45:57,960 --> 00:46:01,080
<i>the lay godfather
of the Party leader's son.</i>

741
00:46:01,320 --> 00:46:03,760
It is a matter of regret

742
00:46:04,040 --> 00:46:07,440
that this extraordinary director

743
00:46:07,840 --> 00:46:13,080
nevertheless penned
one or two despicable letters

744
00:46:13,640 --> 00:46:14,880
in 1940,

745
00:46:15,280 --> 00:46:17,840
addressed to a Vichy minister.

746
00:46:19,200 --> 00:46:23,400
<i>That scum is still at it. I don't see
how we can eliminate them.</i>

747
00:46:23,520 --> 00:46:25,656
<i>The only way to make a decent film</i>

748
00:46:25,680 --> 00:46:28,296
<i>is to find a backer
who's not one of them.</i>

749
00:46:28,320 --> 00:46:32,456
<i>Even then, we still must deal
with those undesirables for a studio.</i>

750
00:46:32,480 --> 00:46:37,240
<i>Renoir, the man who directed
Monsieur Lange, with Prevert.</i>

751
00:46:38,880 --> 00:46:41,840
<i>What I'm telling you
took place in '40.</i>

752
00:46:43,160 --> 00:46:46,400
<i>Pierre Renoir told me,
"Jean worries me.</i>

753
00:46:46,840 --> 00:46:50,880
<i>I'm afraid he'll rush
into the arms of the Germans."</i>

754
00:46:51,400 --> 00:46:53,280
<i>- He said that?
- Yes...</i>

755
00:46:53,440 --> 00:46:55,000
<i>In late 1940?</i>

756
00:46:56,320 --> 00:47:00,376
<i>At the start of the Occupation,
when everything was so confused.</i>

757
00:47:00,400 --> 00:47:02,880
<i>- You were in Paris?
- Yes.</i>

758
00:47:03,120 --> 00:47:05,000
<i>I came back to Paris fast.</i>

759
00:47:05,320 --> 00:47:07,080
<i>I came back in September.</i>

760
00:47:07,280 --> 00:47:11,000
<i>I ran into Pierre in November</i>

761
00:47:11,600 --> 00:47:12,934
<i>and he told me that.</i>

762
00:47:14,520 --> 00:47:15,600
<i>Luckily,</i>

763
00:47:16,400 --> 00:47:19,080
<i>some time after, Pierre,</i>

764
00:47:19,240 --> 00:47:21,960
<i>with whom I'd stayed in contact,
told me,</i>

765
00:47:22,360 --> 00:47:23,627
<i>"Everything's fine,</i>

766
00:47:24,000 --> 00:47:25,734
<i>he's leaving for America."</i>

767
00:47:26,880 --> 00:47:31,800
Here again, I want to recount
what Gabin told me:

768
00:47:32,360 --> 00:47:35,600
"Renoir called a meeting in 1940

769
00:47:36,680 --> 00:47:38,240
at the Negresco."

770
00:47:38,760 --> 00:47:41,200
He added, turning to Darrieux,

771
00:47:41,360 --> 00:47:43,760
"Remember, Danielle? You were there.

772
00:47:43,920 --> 00:47:46,760
He brought us together
and said: Folks,

773
00:47:48,360 --> 00:47:52,200
I'm off to the US to convince them

774
00:47:52,360 --> 00:47:55,294
that Marshal Petain's regime
is a good idea."

775
00:47:55,800 --> 00:47:57,360
And Gabin said to me,

776
00:47:57,520 --> 00:47:59,320
"It floored me.

777
00:47:59,480 --> 00:48:02,680
I was a child
of the Popular Front."

778
00:48:02,960 --> 00:48:06,320
He added,
"Renoir, as a director:

779
00:48:06,600 --> 00:48:07,880
a genius,

780
00:48:08,640 --> 00:48:11,160
as a person: a whore."

781
00:48:12,160 --> 00:48:14,000
That was Gabin's opinion.

782
00:48:14,200 --> 00:48:17,880
He also said,
"One thing I can't forgive him for,

783
00:48:18,080 --> 00:48:20,720
when you're the son
of Auguste Renoir,

784
00:48:20,880 --> 00:48:23,600
you don't take American citizenship."

785
00:48:31,080 --> 00:48:32,400
<i>Hey, you, there.</i>

786
00:48:32,600 --> 00:48:34,120
<i>Papers, please.</i>

787
00:48:46,760 --> 00:48:50,456
<i>- This your first job in France?
- No, I've been here before.</i>

788
00:48:50,480 --> 00:48:51,800
<i>Okay, go on.</i>

789
00:49:07,880 --> 00:49:11,080
Remember what Charles Spaak
said about him,

790
00:49:12,280 --> 00:49:16,440
"Renoir has such enthusiasm
that he can meet

791
00:49:16,680 --> 00:49:21,080
an Italian fascist, and if he's well
dressed, wearing fine leather,

792
00:49:21,240 --> 00:49:23,800
suddenly he'll embrace his cause

793
00:49:24,000 --> 00:49:27,800
without even realizing
that fascism and the Marxism

794
00:49:28,000 --> 00:49:30,240
he'd professed moments earlier

795
00:49:30,400 --> 00:49:33,200
were incompatible.

796
00:49:34,800 --> 00:49:38,360
"And finally," said Spaak,

797
00:49:39,000 --> 00:49:41,160
you'd forgive Renoir anything."

798
00:49:47,440 --> 00:49:49,480
One of the best ways to forget

799
00:49:49,720 --> 00:49:51,400
these regrettable flaws

800
00:49:51,760 --> 00:49:55,427
is to watch the films he made
after returning to France,

801
00:49:55,520 --> 00:49:59,254
<i>in particular the dizzying
final number in French Cancan.</i>

802
00:50:30,720 --> 00:50:32,720
<i>Spotlight on</i>

803
00:50:37,360 --> 00:50:41,400
<i>There was the prewar period
and the postwar period.</i>

804
00:50:42,600 --> 00:50:46,440
<i>Before the war, yes,
I made some good films.</i>

805
00:50:47,720 --> 00:50:50,560
Gabin was the first actor

806
00:50:50,720 --> 00:50:55,320
to lend a sort
of tragic substance

807
00:50:55,480 --> 00:50:59,360
to the notion of a people's hero
and a working class hero.

808
00:51:01,320 --> 00:51:03,960
<i>What d'you expect?
I slog all day long.</i>

809
00:51:04,360 --> 00:51:06,894
<i>When you slog,
nights are for sleeping.</i>

810
00:51:07,360 --> 00:51:10,040
It's as if Gabin was my passport

811
00:51:10,200 --> 00:51:14,240
to understanding the spirit
of the Popular Front.

812
00:51:14,440 --> 00:51:18,000
<i>You know what?
Basically, we all want the same thing.</i>

813
00:51:18,160 --> 00:51:21,227
<i>To be free.
Free, in a little place of our own.</i>

814
00:51:21,400 --> 00:51:23,560
<i>None us can get that on his own.</i>

815
00:51:23,720 --> 00:51:26,416
<i>Think you'll get far
on your 20,000 francs?</i>

816
00:51:26,440 --> 00:51:28,240
<i>But if we stick together...</i>

817
00:51:28,520 --> 00:51:31,680
He's totally linked
to Renoir, Duvivier,

818
00:51:31,840 --> 00:51:33,080
Gremillon,

819
00:51:33,240 --> 00:51:35,240
Prevert and Spaak.

820
00:51:35,560 --> 00:51:38,720
He's totally linked
to a number of filmmakers

821
00:51:38,880 --> 00:51:41,720
who imposed characters at the time

822
00:51:41,880 --> 00:51:43,840
that were unusual.

823
00:51:44,480 --> 00:51:46,414
<i>A deserter in Port of Shadows</i>

824
00:51:46,560 --> 00:51:49,894
wasn't the sort of character
you met in many films.

825
00:51:50,000 --> 00:51:51,760
<i>Shooting seems easy.</i>

826
00:51:52,960 --> 00:51:54,494
<i>Like at the fairground.</i>

827
00:51:55,080 --> 00:51:56,760
<i>At the shooting gallery,</i>

828
00:51:58,400 --> 00:52:00,000
<i>you shoot,</i>

829
00:52:01,440 --> 00:52:03,160
<i>the guy lets out a shout,</i>

830
00:52:04,040 --> 00:52:07,800
<i>puts his hands on his belly
and makes a little face,</i>

831
00:52:08,000 --> 00:52:10,280
<i>like a kid who's eaten too much.</i>

832
00:52:10,480 --> 00:52:12,080
<i>Then his hands turn red.</i>

833
00:52:13,000 --> 00:52:14,160
<i>Then he falls.</i>

834
00:52:15,280 --> 00:52:17,120
<i>And you're there all alone,</i>

835
00:52:17,640 --> 00:52:19,440
<i>kind of bewildered.</i>

836
00:52:20,280 --> 00:52:24,680
There's a natural acceptance
of obstacles to overcome,

837
00:52:24,920 --> 00:52:26,454
and tasks to accomplish

838
00:52:26,480 --> 00:52:29,640
that Gabin handles marvelously.

839
00:52:31,040 --> 00:52:33,376
<i>Are they taking the goddam towline
or not?</i>

840
00:52:33,400 --> 00:52:36,536
<i>They couldn't shut up earlier.
Now, not a squawk!</i>

841
00:52:36,560 --> 00:52:38,760
<i>What a mess, for chrissake.</i>

842
00:52:40,760 --> 00:52:43,494
<i>The lifeboat!
Look, the lifeboat, Captain!</i>

843
00:52:43,520 --> 00:52:47,120
<i>They're nuts! Lowering a lifeboat
in weather like this!</i>

844
00:52:51,440 --> 00:52:55,000
<i>Say, flowers. That's nice.
Are they for my name day?</i>

845
00:52:55,240 --> 00:52:57,720
<i>Is your name Francois?</i>

846
00:52:57,960 --> 00:53:00,000
Gabin has been much maligned.

847
00:53:00,440 --> 00:53:05,240
It's been said
that he betrayed his prewar ideals,

848
00:53:05,400 --> 00:53:07,134
that he became gentrified.

849
00:53:07,160 --> 00:53:08,736
<i>Then who are the flowers for?</i>

850
00:53:08,760 --> 00:53:10,280
Gabin betrayed?

851
00:53:10,440 --> 00:53:13,800
One must remember
that he left France

852
00:53:14,000 --> 00:53:17,200
for the United States
to avoid the Collaboration.

853
00:53:17,320 --> 00:53:20,520
That afternoon I spent with him,
he told me,

854
00:53:20,680 --> 00:53:23,880
"Tavernier, you gotta remember,

855
00:53:24,080 --> 00:53:27,480
I'm one of the only Frenchmen
who paid to go to war.

856
00:53:27,760 --> 00:53:30,560
I had to buy back
my Universal contract."

857
00:53:30,760 --> 00:53:33,760
He added,
"Do you think he thanked me?

858
00:53:34,080 --> 00:53:35,280
That guy,

859
00:53:35,520 --> 00:53:37,160
that pituitary gland,

860
00:53:37,320 --> 00:53:39,200
that Flemish giant rabbit?"

861
00:53:39,400 --> 00:53:40,880
He meant De Gaulle.

862
00:53:41,480 --> 00:53:43,960
Gabin had enlisted.

863
00:53:44,120 --> 00:53:46,520
The ship carrying him to Italy

864
00:53:46,680 --> 00:53:48,720
was bombed one night.

865
00:53:49,560 --> 00:53:52,440
That was the night
his hair went white.

866
00:53:58,120 --> 00:54:00,600
<i>Don't care to save
a mug like that.</i>

867
00:54:02,280 --> 00:54:03,880
His war episode

868
00:54:04,160 --> 00:54:08,680
would re-emerge in a very obscure
Gilles Grangier film.

869
00:54:08,960 --> 00:54:12,160
<i>Supposedly
I cleaned up under Adolf.</i>

870
00:54:12,480 --> 00:54:13,520
<i>What crap!</i>

871
00:54:13,880 --> 00:54:18,347
<i>I made less in 4 years with the Krauts
than 2 months with the Yanks.</i>

872
00:54:22,440 --> 00:54:24,640
<i>Where were you at the Liberation?</i>

873
00:54:24,800 --> 00:54:26,040
<i>On the beaches.</i>

874
00:54:26,200 --> 00:54:27,734
"I was on the beaches."

875
00:54:28,240 --> 00:54:32,320
A virtually autobiographical remark

876
00:54:32,520 --> 00:54:34,920
that pops up by surprise
in the film.

877
00:54:35,040 --> 00:54:35,960
Not bad.

878
00:54:37,040 --> 00:54:40,120
He had trouble getting back in movies,

879
00:54:40,320 --> 00:54:42,680
under Marlene Dietrich's influence.

880
00:54:42,840 --> 00:54:45,974
<i>She pressed him to refuse
Les Portes de la nuit.</i>

881
00:54:46,000 --> 00:54:49,600
Prevert was furious
at Marlene Dietrich,

882
00:54:49,760 --> 00:54:52,760
"that idiot who spent the war
in Beverly Hills

883
00:54:52,800 --> 00:54:55,334
who thought our script
was anti-French.

884
00:54:55,440 --> 00:54:58,136
She had no idea
what Occupation was like."

885
00:54:58,160 --> 00:54:59,656
<i>It was tough, you know.</i>

886
00:54:59,680 --> 00:55:02,680
<i>I call it my dark period,</i>

887
00:55:05,160 --> 00:55:08,094
<i>when the black flag
floats over the soup pot.</i>

888
00:55:09,600 --> 00:55:10,680
<i>It wasn't good.</i>

889
00:55:10,840 --> 00:55:14,000
<i>Sure, I left when I was 37.</i>

890
00:55:14,160 --> 00:55:19,080
<i>Right when my career was booming
because of all those good films.</i>

891
00:55:19,360 --> 00:55:22,694
<i>Then the war.
I came back with all that white hair.</i>

892
00:55:28,800 --> 00:55:30,520
But Gabin after the war

893
00:55:30,840 --> 00:55:35,240
<i>remained working class
in La Nuit est mon Royaume.</i>

894
00:55:36,320 --> 00:55:40,560
It's a film that recaptures
the virtues of the prewar period.

895
00:55:55,480 --> 00:55:58,080
<i>- I'll say it again...
- Once is enough!</i>

896
00:55:58,120 --> 00:56:00,776
<i>The humbug, the good advice,
I've had my fill.</i>

897
00:56:00,800 --> 00:56:03,080
<i>I've had it up to here.</i>

898
00:56:03,320 --> 00:56:06,096
<i>Your Dr. Veaujoy lied to me,
my mother lied to me.</i>

899
00:56:06,120 --> 00:56:07,840
<i>All of you who can see.</i>

900
00:56:08,040 --> 00:56:10,280
<i>The worst possible thing hits me.</i>

901
00:56:10,440 --> 00:56:12,776
<i>And a nun comes
and tells me it's nothing.</i>

902
00:56:12,800 --> 00:56:14,160
<i>Are you kidding me?</i>

903
00:56:16,040 --> 00:56:18,376
The prewar Gabin
is never totally gone.

904
00:56:18,400 --> 00:56:21,456
<i>"They'll find something..."
Tell me the truth, stop leading me on.</i>

905
00:56:21,480 --> 00:56:22,960
<i>It's the worst remedy.</i>

906
00:56:23,120 --> 00:56:24,816
<i>Because I'm suffering, too.</i>

907
00:56:24,840 --> 00:56:27,296
<i>When you go blind,
we'll talk about it.</i>

908
00:56:27,320 --> 00:56:29,200
<i>Des Gens sans Importance</i>

909
00:56:29,360 --> 00:56:32,840
starts with a line
that situates the type of work.

910
00:56:33,440 --> 00:56:37,080
<i>Berthier and I had been driving
for 60 hours non-stop.</i>

911
00:56:39,800 --> 00:56:42,160
<i>Is this thing always slow?</i>

912
00:56:42,320 --> 00:56:43,600
<i>In Gas-Oil...</i>

913
00:56:43,760 --> 00:56:46,280
<i>So you're gonna wake me
at dawn again?</i>

914
00:56:46,440 --> 00:56:49,456
<i>I have to pick up the endives
at Berthier's at 5.</i>

915
00:56:49,480 --> 00:56:51,336
<i>He's still there in Le Chat.</i>

916
00:56:51,360 --> 00:56:53,656
<i>Le Chat is a film Gabin wanted to do.</i>

917
00:56:53,680 --> 00:56:56,360
<i>He coproduced Le Chat.</i>

918
00:56:57,200 --> 00:56:59,400
<i>What's the use
of their meetings?</i>

919
00:56:59,560 --> 00:57:03,000
<i>What's the use? You amaze me.
What d'you live on?</i>

920
00:57:03,160 --> 00:57:04,320
<i>My pension.</i>

921
00:57:04,480 --> 00:57:07,056
<i>Meetings like this
got you your pension.</i>

922
00:57:07,080 --> 00:57:08,160
<i>But still...</i>

923
00:57:08,320 --> 00:57:10,520
<i>No "but still," that's how it is.</i>

924
00:57:10,600 --> 00:57:12,760
He's also remarkable

925
00:57:13,000 --> 00:57:14,816
<i>in La Verite sur Bebe Donge.</i>

926
00:57:14,840 --> 00:57:16,680
And there, he took risks.

927
00:57:17,720 --> 00:57:21,960
For part of the film,
he's unpleasant and macho.

928
00:57:22,120 --> 00:57:24,216
<i>Your sister nearly married first.</i>

929
00:57:24,240 --> 00:57:26,320
<i>In the end you beat her.</i>

930
00:57:26,480 --> 00:57:30,240
<i>By a nipple, true.
A bit small for my taste.</i>

931
00:57:30,440 --> 00:57:32,320
<i>So you know my taste now.</i>

932
00:57:34,520 --> 00:57:36,280
<i>So I'm crude, what of it?</i>

933
00:57:36,440 --> 00:57:38,376
<i>Sorry about your girlish dreams.</i>

934
00:57:38,400 --> 00:57:41,934
<i>Wake up now. At some point
you have to snap out of it.</i>

935
00:57:42,240 --> 00:57:45,360
<i>Grisbi
is 20 years ahead of its time.</i>

936
00:57:45,520 --> 00:57:46,840
<i>We gotta talk, Max.</i>

937
00:57:47,040 --> 00:57:47,960
<i>About what?</i>

938
00:57:48,120 --> 00:57:52,640
Becker creates one of cinema's
first anti-heroes.

939
00:57:53,000 --> 00:57:58,520
In doing so he plays havoc
with the Gabin myth.

940
00:57:58,680 --> 00:58:00,214
Gabin the romantic hero

941
00:58:00,280 --> 00:58:03,840
in this film
is a rather jaded fiftysomething

942
00:58:04,040 --> 00:58:05,774
who wants to turn in early

943
00:58:05,800 --> 00:58:08,534
and even refuses
Jeanne Moreau's advances.

944
00:58:08,640 --> 00:58:12,000
<i>If you talk to him, he'll listen.</i>

945
00:58:14,760 --> 00:58:16,440
<i>Don't be mad at me, Max.</i>

946
00:58:16,800 --> 00:58:20,440
<i>I'd like your help.
I'm scared what might happen to me.</i>

947
00:58:22,520 --> 00:58:25,576
<i>The paper was right.
You're the star of French cuisine.</i>

948
00:58:25,600 --> 00:58:27,616
<i>- What did I tell you?
- Satisfied?</i>

949
00:58:27,640 --> 00:58:30,800
France in the 1950s
was changed by the war.

950
00:58:31,000 --> 00:58:34,360
There were no more utopias,
but wounds to heal.

951
00:58:34,520 --> 00:58:38,440
It's true that Gabin would represent
a wealthier France.

952
00:58:39,440 --> 00:58:42,080
<i>I submitted your file to the Ministry.</i>

953
00:58:42,440 --> 00:58:45,456
<i>You'll be decorated in January,
under Fine Arts.</i>

954
00:58:45,480 --> 00:58:47,480
<i>Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister.</i>

955
00:58:47,520 --> 00:58:50,720
He's absolutely brilliant

956
00:58:51,520 --> 00:58:53,200
<i>in En Cas de Malheur.</i>

957
00:58:53,840 --> 00:58:56,240
He represents a strong France,

958
00:58:56,680 --> 00:59:00,520
sure of its rights,
that would suddenly meet the Devil.

959
00:59:07,400 --> 00:59:10,240
<i>May as well enjoy it
before they jail me.</i>

960
00:59:13,120 --> 00:59:16,187
He is equally superb
as the lone, alcoholic cop

961
00:59:16,280 --> 00:59:19,760
<i>in Gilles Grangier's neglected
Desordre et la Nuit.</i>

962
00:59:19,960 --> 00:59:23,056
Contrary to the puritan image
associated with him,

963
00:59:23,080 --> 00:59:25,600
he goes to bed on the first night

964
00:59:25,760 --> 00:59:27,960
with a prostitute junkie

965
00:59:28,120 --> 00:59:32,880
who is also a major witness
in the investigation he's conducting.

966
00:59:33,080 --> 00:59:35,880
<i>Are you for or against?</i>

967
00:59:38,720 --> 00:59:40,360
<i>I mean my stockings.</i>

968
00:59:42,680 --> 00:59:44,360
<i>How old are you, Lucky?</i>

969
00:59:46,360 --> 00:59:47,360
<i>Come.</i>

970
00:59:48,040 --> 00:59:49,707
<i>I'll tell you everything.</i>

971
00:59:49,800 --> 00:59:52,200
<i>His roles in En Cas de Malheur</i>

972
00:59:52,360 --> 00:59:55,200
<i>and in La Traversee de Paris</i>

973
00:59:55,400 --> 00:59:58,240
are extraordinary achievements.

974
00:59:58,400 --> 01:00:00,176
<i>Those things aren't for the poor.</i>

975
01:00:00,200 --> 01:00:01,320
<i>Look, mister,</i>

976
01:00:01,560 --> 01:00:04,856
<i>don't make trouble. Just go.
This is a quiet business...</i>

977
01:00:04,880 --> 01:00:06,000
<i>And respectable.</i>

978
01:00:08,080 --> 01:00:10,614
<i>But you employ Jews in a public place.</i>

979
01:00:10,680 --> 01:00:12,040
<i>I don't employ her.</i>

980
01:00:12,240 --> 01:00:13,574
<i>She gives me a hand.</i>

981
01:00:14,200 --> 01:00:16,320
<i>You exploit her, too.</i>

982
01:00:16,480 --> 01:00:19,176
<i>I oughta denounce you,
teach you some manners.</i>

983
01:00:19,200 --> 01:00:22,040
<i>Why make laws
if you don't obey them?</i>

984
01:00:22,240 --> 01:00:23,520
<i>Riffraff!</i>

985
01:00:23,680 --> 01:00:25,720
<i>Drop it! Don't listen to him.</i>

986
01:00:25,880 --> 01:00:28,496
<i>People without a conscience
make me sick.</i>

987
01:00:28,520 --> 01:00:30,854
<i>Filth! I'd throw you all in prison.</i>

988
01:00:30,960 --> 01:00:32,720
<i>No pity. In prison.</i>

989
01:00:32,960 --> 01:00:35,360
<i>Hoodlums. Anarchists.
Bad Frenchman.</i>

990
01:00:35,600 --> 01:00:39,000
<i>But first, names, ages,
marital status. Out with it.</i>

991
01:00:39,720 --> 01:00:43,840
<i>Look, man, I did anger scenes
'cause people stuck me with 'em.</i>

992
01:00:44,040 --> 01:00:47,440
<i>The subject demanded it.</i>

993
01:00:47,600 --> 01:00:49,320
<i>Personally, I'm not keen.</i>

994
01:00:49,560 --> 01:00:53,336
<i>Look at handsome here with
his drunkard's mug and his gray meat,</i>

995
01:00:53,360 --> 01:00:55,894
<i>and flab everywhere, nothing but flab.</i>

996
01:00:56,080 --> 01:00:58,080
<i>You'll never change your face.</i>

997
01:00:58,240 --> 01:01:01,336
<i>And the old biddy
with a face like jelly and lard.</i>

998
01:01:01,360 --> 01:01:03,694
<i>Three chins and boobs down to here.</i>

999
01:01:03,800 --> 01:01:07,496
<i>50 years each, 100 years the lot.
100 years of stupidity.</i>

1000
01:01:07,520 --> 01:01:11,320
<i>You think France
can afford a financial scandal?</i>

1001
01:01:11,480 --> 01:01:14,560
<i>The two years you'd do
like some common thief</i>

1002
01:01:14,720 --> 01:01:17,654
<i>wouldn't be reparations
as regards the state.</i>

1003
01:01:18,440 --> 01:01:21,296
<i>Mr. Prime Minister,
I swear I only told my wife.</i>

1004
01:01:21,320 --> 01:01:23,400
<i>Keep still, you married a bank!</i>

1005
01:01:24,000 --> 01:01:26,480
<i>You're a monster, Mrs. Morin.</i>

1006
01:01:26,800 --> 01:01:28,880
<i>A monster of stupidity.</i>

1007
01:01:29,200 --> 01:01:30,696
<i>You're acting like a...</i>

1008
01:01:30,720 --> 01:01:33,600
<i>Vain, possessive,</i>

1009
01:01:33,760 --> 01:01:34,880
<i>and mean.</i>

1010
01:01:35,160 --> 01:01:38,680
<i>But most of all, you're stupid.
Oh, so stupid!</i>

1011
01:01:38,840 --> 01:01:40,800
<i>You made your son stupid.</i>

1012
01:01:41,000 --> 01:01:44,680
<i>You kept him from father, friends,
a normal childhood.</i>

1013
01:01:44,840 --> 01:01:47,576
<i>Because he's not normal,
you both know that!</i>

1014
01:01:47,600 --> 01:01:49,040
<i>Ask his wife.</i>

1015
01:01:49,520 --> 01:01:52,321
<i>He may have talent,
but not for everything.</i>

1016
01:01:52,440 --> 01:01:53,640
<i>That's your doing.</i>

1017
01:01:53,840 --> 01:01:56,880
People said he played Gabin.
A bunch of crap!

1018
01:01:57,080 --> 01:01:58,720
Gabin was versatile.

1019
01:01:58,960 --> 01:02:01,056
He wasn't the same
as prime minister...

1020
01:02:01,080 --> 01:02:04,576
<i>You like to go through the kitchen
for news like everyone.</i>

1021
01:02:04,600 --> 01:02:06,080
<i>It's a little routine.</i>

1022
01:02:06,360 --> 01:02:08,696
<i>If my cook
gives you news of my health,</i>

1023
01:02:08,720 --> 01:02:11,454
<i>why not give her
the Beef Mironton recipe?</i>

1024
01:02:11,560 --> 01:02:14,694
As a truck driver,
he didn't have the same walk.

1025
01:02:14,960 --> 01:02:19,400
Even if he moved at a slow pace,
it wasn't the same slow pace.

1026
01:02:24,000 --> 01:02:25,534
<i>Two chicken a la creme,</i>

1027
01:02:25,640 --> 01:02:28,640
<i>two sides of peas,
two Grand Marnier souffles.</i>

1028
01:02:28,880 --> 01:02:31,560
He was someone
who espoused any trade

1029
01:02:31,720 --> 01:02:35,720
in an incredibly organic,
visceral fashion,

1030
01:02:35,880 --> 01:02:39,240
making us believe
he'd been at it for 15 years.

1031
01:02:39,680 --> 01:02:41,800
<i>Madam Chatelin, your wife.</i>

1032
01:02:43,400 --> 01:02:44,440
<i>My ex.</i>

1033
01:02:46,080 --> 01:02:47,680
<i>What does she want now?</i>

1034
01:02:48,120 --> 01:02:50,787
<i>- Are you a relative?
- I'm her daughter.</i>

1035
01:02:51,680 --> 01:02:53,414
<i>What does she want, money?</i>

1036
01:02:54,440 --> 01:02:56,880
<i>In the 20 years since we divorced,</i>

1037
01:02:57,080 --> 01:02:59,256
<i>when I hear from her,
it's to hit me up.</i>

1038
01:02:59,280 --> 01:03:03,456
He invokes the character's past
without it ever being described.

1039
01:03:03,480 --> 01:03:05,960
That's what made him so brilliant.

1040
01:03:06,160 --> 01:03:09,200
<i>He's phenomenal in Un Singe en Hiver.</i>

1041
01:03:09,400 --> 01:03:11,080
<i>Things bring on things.</i>

1042
01:03:11,240 --> 01:03:14,240
<i>Whatsits beget whatsits.
Nothing is by chance.</i>

1043
01:03:14,440 --> 01:03:16,520
<i>Back to the barracks.</i>

1044
01:03:16,680 --> 01:03:19,040
<i>This is on me.</i>

1045
01:03:19,360 --> 01:03:22,960
<i>Mind your beeswax, rookie.
I got my back pay.</i>

1046
01:03:23,880 --> 01:03:26,147
<i>They paid you with a train ticket?</i>

1047
01:03:26,760 --> 01:03:27,680
<i>Here.</i>

1048
01:03:28,960 --> 01:03:32,376
<i>I'll give you one way
and keep the return. Do the same.</i>

1049
01:03:32,400 --> 01:03:34,480
<i>- I can't.
- You don't trust me?</i>

1050
01:03:34,640 --> 01:03:36,107
<i>I don't have a ticket.</i>

1051
01:03:36,160 --> 01:03:38,560
<i>You should always have a ticket.</i>

1052
01:03:38,720 --> 01:03:40,440
<i>Just in case.</i>

1053
01:03:40,800 --> 01:03:44,320
<i>I spent my life going back and forth.</i>

1054
01:03:44,480 --> 01:03:46,014
<i>Unstable, they call it.</i>

1055
01:03:46,160 --> 01:03:49,494
<i>We're doing too much talking.
We'll get dehydrated.</i>

1056
01:03:49,760 --> 01:03:53,360
<i>Nine times out of 10,
the director didn't direct Gabin.</i>

1057
01:03:53,480 --> 01:03:56,040
<i>Gabin directed the director.</i>

1058
01:03:56,200 --> 01:03:59,000
<i>Listen to him.
He goes through his script,</i>

1059
01:03:59,360 --> 01:04:00,440
<i>then says,</i>

1060
01:04:00,680 --> 01:04:04,816
<i>"On page 19 there's a line that sticks
in my mouth. I'm cutting it."</i>

1061
01:04:04,840 --> 01:04:06,120
<i>That's Gabin.</i>

1062
01:04:06,640 --> 01:04:09,120
<i>Or the director says,</i>

1063
01:04:09,280 --> 01:04:14,520
<i>"Jean, hurry to the window,
open it and look at the street.</i>

1064
01:04:14,760 --> 01:04:18,240
<i>Close it suddenly.
The cops are downstairs."</i>

1065
01:04:18,760 --> 01:04:20,240
<i>Gabin doesn't react.</i>

1066
01:04:20,400 --> 01:04:24,040
<i>But he doesn't like two words:
"hurry" and "suddenly."</i>

1067
01:04:24,280 --> 01:04:27,200
<i>The director eagerly says,
"Let's rehearse."</i>

1068
01:04:27,600 --> 01:04:29,040
<i>So Jean gets up,</i>

1069
01:04:29,320 --> 01:04:31,680
<i>he goes to the window, slowly,</i>

1070
01:04:31,960 --> 01:04:33,480
<i>dragging his feet,</i>

1071
01:04:33,680 --> 01:04:35,200
<i>doesn't open it,</i>

1072
01:04:35,440 --> 01:04:38,120
<i>looks at the street,
scratches his neck,</i>

1073
01:04:38,280 --> 01:04:41,480
<i>turns to the camera
and says, "I'm ready."</i>

1074
01:04:48,120 --> 01:04:50,200
He knew what a shoot was.

1075
01:04:50,440 --> 01:04:52,307
He had the film in his head.

1076
01:04:58,760 --> 01:05:00,536
He'd call the screenwriter,

1077
01:05:00,560 --> 01:05:03,080
"Moliere, c'mere. Hey Moliere!

1078
01:05:03,240 --> 01:05:05,360
You oughta rework your text.

1079
01:05:05,520 --> 01:05:07,360
Look, I thought that...

1080
01:05:10,440 --> 01:05:11,400
There."

1081
01:05:11,560 --> 01:05:12,520
He cut it.

1082
01:05:13,120 --> 01:05:14,454
"Isn't that better?"

1083
01:05:14,640 --> 01:05:16,307
he'd say. Just like that.

1084
01:05:16,440 --> 01:05:19,840
And someone'd say,
"We need you on the set."

1085
01:05:21,320 --> 01:05:24,280
So he'd come.
It was an airplane cabin.

1086
01:05:25,600 --> 01:05:28,240
He looked at the camera,
"What lens?"

1087
01:05:28,400 --> 01:05:30,096
The guy answers, "A 50 mm."

1088
01:05:30,120 --> 01:05:33,000
He'd say, "I'm not in frame,"
and leave.

1089
01:05:33,160 --> 01:05:35,320
The guy said, "He's right."

1090
01:05:35,560 --> 01:05:38,800
So it's true,
at the very end of his career,

1091
01:05:39,000 --> 01:05:41,160
he didn't knock himself out.

1092
01:05:41,360 --> 01:05:45,440
He worked only with crew he liked.

1093
01:05:45,640 --> 01:05:47,600
He'd refuse to go up stairs

1094
01:05:47,760 --> 01:05:50,360
because he was afraid
of a heart attack.

1095
01:05:50,520 --> 01:05:52,400
So he'd say,

1096
01:05:53,160 --> 01:05:54,880
"Alright, three steps

1097
01:05:55,400 --> 01:05:56,680
and then cut."

1098
01:05:57,640 --> 01:06:02,440
<i>In Le Chat, he's supposed
to leave Signoret and go upstairs.</i>

1099
01:06:02,600 --> 01:06:04,934
Off screen, he went all the way up.

1100
01:06:12,960 --> 01:06:14,896
He came back and asked Simone,

1101
01:06:14,920 --> 01:06:16,120
"That help you?

1102
01:06:17,200 --> 01:06:18,440
For the look?"

1103
01:06:19,760 --> 01:06:21,880
<i>I just love actors.</i>

1104
01:06:22,160 --> 01:06:23,640
<i>I love them.</i>

1105
01:06:23,800 --> 01:06:26,600
<i>Actors are swell. Actors are great.</i>

1106
01:06:26,760 --> 01:06:29,294
<i>They're the ones who translate it all.</i>

1107
01:06:31,800 --> 01:06:36,680
<i>On Day 2 of Gas-Oil
he called Grangier after the dailies.</i>

1108
01:06:36,960 --> 01:06:39,280
"The youngster this morning,

1109
01:06:40,000 --> 01:06:41,640
Bozzuffi... He's good.

1110
01:06:42,280 --> 01:06:45,440
So do the shot on him, not on me."

1111
01:06:46,600 --> 01:06:50,760
He even added, "I always ask for
at least 2 scenes from behind.

1112
01:06:50,960 --> 01:06:54,560
Can't let them get sick of our face.
Give 'em a rest."

1113
01:06:54,760 --> 01:06:56,360
He told Bozzuffi,

1114
01:06:56,800 --> 01:06:59,000
"Whatever happens in your career,

1115
01:06:59,320 --> 01:07:01,000
always stay a redskin."

1116
01:07:01,880 --> 01:07:05,720
Bozzuffi asked,
"A redskin? What do you mean?"

1117
01:07:05,880 --> 01:07:08,200
"Let me explain, it's simple:

1118
01:07:09,040 --> 01:07:10,360
"A redskin:

1119
01:07:11,040 --> 01:07:12,907
You're Place de la Concorde,

1120
01:07:13,760 --> 01:07:15,760
there's loads of traffic.

1121
01:07:17,280 --> 01:07:19,440
Cars and people everywhere.

1122
01:07:20,320 --> 01:07:24,000
Next to the obelisk is an Indian.
All you see is him."

1123
01:07:27,320 --> 01:07:28,520
<i>That's me.</i>

1124
01:07:28,840 --> 01:07:30,720
<i>In several copies.</i>

1125
01:07:31,040 --> 01:07:32,800
<i>Sweet of you to put me up.</i>

1126
01:07:33,080 --> 01:07:35,214
And then, there's Gabin's charm,

1127
01:07:35,520 --> 01:07:37,240
his gentleness.

1128
01:07:37,480 --> 01:07:42,040
There's no one like him in moments
of tenderness and vulnerability.

1129
01:07:42,440 --> 01:07:45,720
<i>That's Bolo, my teddy,
when I was little.</i>

1130
01:07:45,880 --> 01:07:47,280
<i>I've kept him.</i>

1131
01:07:47,440 --> 01:07:49,816
<i>He's missing an ear,
but he has a nice face.</i>

1132
01:07:49,840 --> 01:07:51,240
<i>He looks like you.</i>

1133
01:07:55,000 --> 01:07:57,000
<i>He does. A family resemblance.</i>

1134
01:07:57,320 --> 01:07:59,160
<i>You see, he's like you.</i>

1135
01:07:59,520 --> 01:08:02,840
<i>He has one cheerful eye,
the other is a bit sad.</i>

1136
01:08:08,560 --> 01:08:12,040
<i>The ever blue-eyed,
still childish gaze smiles.</i>

1137
01:08:12,200 --> 01:08:14,720
<i>The thin lips reveal life's trials.</i>

1138
01:08:15,440 --> 01:08:17,600
<i>Jacques Prevert</i>

1139
01:08:21,960 --> 01:08:23,696
In a spirit of provocation,

1140
01:08:23,720 --> 01:08:25,920
I chose the final scene

1141
01:08:26,080 --> 01:08:28,376
of one of Marcel Carne's last films:

1142
01:08:28,400 --> 01:08:30,934
an exchange between an examining judge

1143
01:08:31,080 --> 01:08:32,920
who tried in vain

1144
01:08:33,080 --> 01:08:37,640
to get a conviction for policemen
who killed a suspect in custody...

1145
01:08:37,800 --> 01:08:39,600
<i>A fine speech, counselor.</i>

1146
01:08:40,320 --> 01:08:42,360
...and the police attorney.

1147
01:08:43,600 --> 01:08:45,680
<i>You just forgot the conclusion.</i>

1148
01:08:45,880 --> 01:08:47,000
<i>Look...</i>

1149
01:08:48,080 --> 01:08:49,880
<i>you won a total victory.</i>

1150
01:08:50,360 --> 01:08:51,800
<i>Hatred is the victor.</i>

1151
01:08:52,000 --> 01:08:54,560
<i>You know, hate, love...</i>

1152
01:08:54,920 --> 01:08:57,800
<i>You can't stop windmills
from turning.</i>

1153
01:08:58,000 --> 01:09:02,360
<i>I too read Don Quixote as a child.
It was my favorite book.</i>

1154
01:09:02,520 --> 01:09:06,400
<i>- You never should have grown up.
- I hate lost causes.</i>

1155
01:09:06,560 --> 01:09:10,056
<i>No cause is ever lost.
The history of mankind proves it.</i>

1156
01:09:10,080 --> 01:09:12,814
<i>Yesterday's losers
are tomorrow's winners.</i>

1157
01:09:13,040 --> 01:09:14,960
<i>Only one thing matters.</i>

1158
01:09:15,200 --> 01:09:16,667
<i>Taking a step forward,</i>

1159
01:09:16,720 --> 01:09:18,600
<i>even if it's a tiny one.</i>

1160
01:09:22,760 --> 01:09:25,000
As Paul Vecchiali wrote...

1161
01:09:25,160 --> 01:09:27,227
"Carne had gone out of fashion.

1162
01:09:27,280 --> 01:09:30,040
This plea for the truth
was disregarded."

1163
01:09:30,760 --> 01:09:33,880
And he justly compared Carne's work,

1164
01:09:34,040 --> 01:09:36,000
dignified, unpretentious

1165
01:09:36,560 --> 01:09:37,520
and placid,

1166
01:09:37,680 --> 01:09:40,680
to that of his main actor...

1167
01:09:42,640 --> 01:09:43,707
...Jacques Brel.

1168
01:09:43,800 --> 01:09:45,400
<i>Don't budge.</i>

1169
01:09:45,800 --> 01:09:48,176
<i>You put together
an honest, clear case.</i>

1170
01:09:48,200 --> 01:09:50,067
<i>Nothing is left in the dark.</i>

1171
01:09:50,600 --> 01:09:51,720
<i>Pure Mozart.</i>

1172
01:09:51,920 --> 01:09:55,736
<i>It has the same easy movement,
but sadly, the same fragility.</i>

1173
01:09:55,760 --> 01:09:57,494
<i>You can't have everything.</i>

1174
01:09:57,600 --> 01:10:00,520
<i>Mozart, fragile? That's your opinion.</i>

1175
01:10:01,160 --> 01:10:05,600
<i>If you'll excuse me, Mr. Moulard
has the rest of the score.</i>

1176
01:10:05,760 --> 01:10:08,320
Whatever the film's qualities,

1177
01:10:08,680 --> 01:10:11,200
they seem somewhat fragile

1178
01:10:11,400 --> 01:10:14,534
<i>compared to certain scenes
from Le Jour se leve.</i>

1179
01:10:14,640 --> 01:10:18,640
<i>Here comes the animal tamer.
What's he doing here?</i>

1180
01:10:19,200 --> 01:10:20,920
<i>Can't be up to any good.</i>

1181
01:10:21,080 --> 01:10:22,960
<i>He must be here to see you.</i>

1182
01:10:23,120 --> 01:10:25,720
<i>Me?
He's here about the kid.</i>

1183
01:10:25,920 --> 01:10:28,080
<i>I don't want to hear about it.</i>

1184
01:10:28,240 --> 01:10:30,280
<i>That won't stop him.</i>

1185
01:10:33,120 --> 01:10:34,976
I can think of few filmmakers

1186
01:10:35,000 --> 01:10:39,240
who've been attacked
by their colleagues as much as Carne.

1187
01:10:39,400 --> 01:10:41,534
<i>He's taking his time to come up.</i>

1188
01:10:41,600 --> 01:10:42,960
<i>What's he up to?</i>

1189
01:10:53,520 --> 01:10:55,080
<i>Charming.</i>

1190
01:10:58,320 --> 01:10:59,280
<i>That's right.</i>

1191
01:11:00,680 --> 01:11:02,320
<i>I eavesdrop.</i>

1192
01:11:03,520 --> 01:11:07,440
Jeanson, returning from a discussion
with Carne,

1193
01:11:07,600 --> 01:11:10,320
flew into a rage:

1194
01:11:10,640 --> 01:11:14,640
"Every time I talk to him
about a feeling or an emotion

1195
01:11:14,800 --> 01:11:16,560
to emphasize, he says:

1196
01:11:16,720 --> 01:11:20,587
Do you have them cross a bridge
so the atmosphere is foggy?

1197
01:11:20,960 --> 01:11:24,480
Do you think of putting them
beside the canal?

1198
01:11:24,640 --> 01:11:27,480
Fog would be good
for the atmosphere."

1199
01:11:27,640 --> 01:11:31,520
So Jeanson sat down and wrote:

1200
01:11:31,680 --> 01:11:34,936
<i>I need a change of atmosphere,
and my atmosphere is you.</i>

1201
01:11:34,960 --> 01:11:37,536
<i>Nobody's ever called me
an atmosphere before!</i>

1202
01:11:37,560 --> 01:11:40,376
<i>If I'm an atmosphere,
you're an odd sort of burg.</i>

1203
01:11:40,400 --> 01:11:44,576
<i>Mobsters who aren't mobsters
and brag about what they once were!</i>

1204
01:11:44,600 --> 01:11:48,600
<i>Atmosphere, atmosphere!
Do I look like an atmosphere?</i>

1205
01:11:49,080 --> 01:11:53,120
<i>If that's the case,
happy fishing and happy atmosphere!</i>

1206
01:11:53,320 --> 01:11:56,160
That tirade is the result

1207
01:11:56,360 --> 01:11:59,920
of a writer's fit of rage
at his director.

1208
01:12:00,160 --> 01:12:02,080
It's almost too famous

1209
01:12:02,280 --> 01:12:06,120
because it has overshadowed other,
more striking moments.

1210
01:12:06,280 --> 01:12:09,280
<i>- What time is your train?
- 10:50 tonight.</i>

1211
01:12:09,920 --> 01:12:13,454
<i>Usually, at that hour,
I hit the turf under the metro.</i>

1212
01:12:13,760 --> 01:12:17,880
<i>A funny line of work,
when I think about it calmly.</i>

1213
01:12:18,040 --> 01:12:21,974
<i>Some nights, 20-25 trains go by
without finding me a client.</i>

1214
01:12:22,040 --> 01:12:25,240
<i>When I'm bored,
I count the trains that go by.</i>

1215
01:12:25,400 --> 01:12:27,760
<i>One day I broke my own record.</i>

1216
01:12:27,960 --> 01:12:32,600
<i>57 trains without seeing anyone.
Yet it's a station that hustles.</i>

1217
01:12:32,760 --> 01:12:34,616
<i>Mr. Edmond was up early today.</i>

1218
01:12:34,640 --> 01:12:36,160
<i>At 7, he was shaved.</i>

1219
01:12:36,320 --> 01:12:39,480
<i>He went to the station
to pick up our tickets.</i>

1220
01:12:39,640 --> 01:12:40,896
<i>He knows how to travel.</i>

1221
01:12:40,920 --> 01:12:43,096
<i>You should see how organized he is.</i>

1222
01:12:43,120 --> 01:12:47,187
<i>Traveling with him is a dream.
In a station, he's another man.</i>

1223
01:12:47,240 --> 01:12:49,240
<i>He waits on you hand and foot.</i>

1224
01:12:49,360 --> 01:12:52,200
<i>He buys you oranges and peels them.</i>

1225
01:12:52,360 --> 01:12:54,536
<i>He lights a cigarette
and gives it to you.</i>

1226
01:12:54,560 --> 01:12:56,760
<i>For kindness he can't be beat.</i>

1227
01:12:56,960 --> 01:12:59,200
<i>He explains places we go by.</i>

1228
01:12:59,360 --> 01:13:01,760
<i>"Here's where Charley's cathouse is.</i>

1229
01:13:01,800 --> 01:13:05,896
<i>This is where the ex-cons hang out.
This is Lyon, where Alphonse shot Dede."</i>

1230
01:13:05,920 --> 01:13:07,600
<i>A real geographer!</i>

1231
01:13:07,880 --> 01:13:11,680
<i>And the closer we get to the sea,
the more tender he is.</i>

1232
01:13:12,120 --> 01:13:14,256
<i>He knows how to behave on a train.</i>

1233
01:13:14,280 --> 01:13:17,000
<i>3rd class feels like 1st class
with him.</i>

1234
01:13:17,320 --> 01:13:19,054
<i>You travel with him a lot?</i>

1235
01:13:19,120 --> 01:13:20,454
<i>It's the first time.</i>

1236
01:13:20,600 --> 01:13:22,560
<i>I must admit, for this film,</i>

1237
01:13:22,720 --> 01:13:27,400
<i>I had the hardest time
imposing Jouvet and Arletty</i>

1238
01:13:27,560 --> 01:13:30,680
<i>on the producer
and on the director.</i>

1239
01:13:31,160 --> 01:13:32,760
<i>At the time</i>

1240
01:13:32,920 --> 01:13:36,920
<i>stage and film
were totally compartmentalized.</i>

1241
01:13:37,200 --> 01:13:40,000
<i>The producer had never seen Arletty</i>

1242
01:13:40,160 --> 01:13:42,427
<i>and he didn't know who Jouvet was.</i>

1243
01:13:42,480 --> 01:13:45,760
<i>Jouvet? Unknown to him,
as strange as it may seem.</i>

1244
01:13:46,360 --> 01:13:48,400
<i>As for the director...</i>

1245
01:13:48,560 --> 01:13:50,200
<i>Who was it?</i>

1246
01:13:51,600 --> 01:13:52,520
<i>Duvivier?</i>

1247
01:13:52,680 --> 01:13:57,320
<i>No, not Duvivier. He knows actors.
And knows how to direct them.</i>

1248
01:13:58,520 --> 01:13:59,440
<i>It was Carne.</i>

1249
01:13:59,600 --> 01:14:02,080
<i>One of Prevert's 1001 inventions.</i>

1250
01:14:03,760 --> 01:14:07,920
<i>And Carne did not want
to tackle actors he didn't know.</i>

1251
01:14:08,560 --> 01:14:10,280
<i>Look, down there.</i>

1252
01:14:10,600 --> 01:14:12,000
<i>The little lights.</i>

1253
01:14:12,160 --> 01:14:13,960
<i>The lights of Menilmontant.</i>

1254
01:14:14,000 --> 01:14:16,000
In his memoirs, Carne admitted

1255
01:14:16,040 --> 01:14:20,520
<i>his error, and Arletty,
who is marvelous in Hotel du Nord,</i>

1256
01:14:20,680 --> 01:14:23,880
<i>is extraordinary
in Children of Paradise.</i>

1257
01:14:24,280 --> 01:14:28,216
<i>I can't even recognize the room
where I lived with my mother.</i>

1258
01:14:28,240 --> 01:14:29,974
<i>You lived in Menilmontant?</i>

1259
01:14:30,040 --> 01:14:31,320
<i>I was born there.</i>

1260
01:14:31,600 --> 01:14:34,134
<i>I lived happily there.
For a long time.</i>

1261
01:14:34,200 --> 01:14:35,360
<i>Very happily.</i>

1262
01:14:35,680 --> 01:14:38,616
<i>Yet my mother was poor
and my father had left her.</i>

1263
01:14:38,640 --> 01:14:41,560
<i>She worked for others as a laundress.</i>

1264
01:14:41,720 --> 01:14:43,416
<i>She loved me, I loved her.</i>

1265
01:14:43,440 --> 01:14:45,640
<i>She was lovely, she was cheerful.</i>

1266
01:14:45,880 --> 01:14:48,360
<i>She taught me to laugh and sing.</i>

1267
01:14:49,360 --> 01:14:51,000
<i>And then she died.</i>

1268
01:14:52,040 --> 01:14:53,574
<i>And everything changed.</i>

1269
01:14:53,720 --> 01:14:55,400
<i>And you ended up alone?</i>

1270
01:14:55,600 --> 01:14:59,400
<i>At 15, around here
a girl who grows up too fast</i>

1271
01:15:00,400 --> 01:15:02,520
<i>isn't alone for long.</i>

1272
01:15:03,720 --> 01:15:06,920
As for Jouvet, Carne defended himself

1273
01:15:07,080 --> 01:15:10,680
by saying he didn't think
he'd be credible as a pimp.

1274
01:15:10,880 --> 01:15:12,480
And yet he is.

1275
01:15:12,800 --> 01:15:14,760
<i>You notified the landlady?</i>

1276
01:15:14,960 --> 01:15:17,160
<i>I even broke down the door.</i>

1277
01:15:17,480 --> 01:15:20,014
<i>I was in my room
when I heard the shot.</i>

1278
01:15:20,120 --> 01:15:22,080
<i>It was a 6.35 caliber.</i>

1279
01:15:22,360 --> 01:15:25,976
<i>It was a 6.35. I'm never wrong.
I have a musician's ear.</i>

1280
01:15:26,000 --> 01:15:28,934
Jacques Prevert
was even harsher than Jeanson

1281
01:15:29,040 --> 01:15:32,560
regarding Carne's relationship
with actors.

1282
01:15:32,720 --> 01:15:38,520
Prevert told me he personally did
all the casting.

1283
01:15:38,680 --> 01:15:40,560
They fell out

1284
01:15:40,760 --> 01:15:45,160
<i>over Les Portes de la nuit,
when Prevert suggested Simone Signoret.</i>

1285
01:15:46,040 --> 01:15:48,880
A brilliant idea that Carne stupidly

1286
01:15:49,040 --> 01:15:51,760
rejected, insisting on Nathalie Nattier,

1287
01:15:51,960 --> 01:15:53,960
who's a disaster in the film.

1288
01:15:55,920 --> 01:15:59,320
Prevert added that Carne
was the only filmmaker

1289
01:15:59,480 --> 01:16:02,480
who was incapable of writing a scene,

1290
01:16:02,640 --> 01:16:04,640
even a line.

1291
01:16:05,120 --> 01:16:06,776
A pretty damning portrait,

1292
01:16:06,800 --> 01:16:07,960
and yet,

1293
01:16:08,400 --> 01:16:09,720
the films exist.

1294
01:16:09,880 --> 01:16:12,040
Some of them are masterpieces.

1295
01:16:12,200 --> 01:16:13,667
Not only masterpieces,

1296
01:16:13,720 --> 01:16:17,400
but among the greatest masterpieces
of French cinema.

1297
01:16:17,560 --> 01:16:20,840
Carne must have had something
to do with it.

1298
01:16:21,240 --> 01:16:23,440
First, he was a workaholic.

1299
01:16:24,080 --> 01:16:26,800
And I think
he made Prevert produce,

1300
01:16:27,600 --> 01:16:30,520
Prevert, who may have been
a bit laid-back.

1301
01:16:31,080 --> 01:16:33,440
And when he'd assimilated a script

1302
01:16:33,600 --> 01:16:35,520
nothing could shake him.

1303
01:16:35,680 --> 01:16:37,480
Carne became a rock.

1304
01:16:37,760 --> 01:16:39,694
He could resist all pressure.

1305
01:16:39,800 --> 01:16:41,600
He yielded on nothing.

1306
01:16:41,800 --> 01:16:45,536
For instance when the producer
wanted to get rid of the fog,

1307
01:16:45,560 --> 01:16:47,560
because it "obscured the set."

1308
01:16:49,560 --> 01:16:52,120
He also had to stand firm to preserve

1309
01:16:52,320 --> 01:16:53,856
the audacity of the scripts.

1310
01:16:53,880 --> 01:16:55,080
It's not by chance

1311
01:16:55,480 --> 01:16:57,200
<i>if in Hotel du Nord</i>

1312
01:16:57,360 --> 01:16:59,920
there is one of the rare allusions

1313
01:17:00,120 --> 01:17:03,240
to the Spanish Civil War
made in a French film.

1314
01:17:07,160 --> 01:17:08,960
<i>What's the matter with him?</i>

1315
01:17:09,080 --> 01:17:11,216
<i>My little Manolo, don't be afraid.</i>

1316
01:17:11,240 --> 01:17:13,320
<i>Don't you all stare at him.</i>

1317
01:17:13,480 --> 01:17:15,547
<i>In my line I call it "spooked."</i>

1318
01:17:15,920 --> 01:17:18,080
<i>Sure he's spooked.</i>

1319
01:17:18,240 --> 01:17:21,216
<i>The kid spent two years in Barcelona.
He's seen worse.</i>

1320
01:17:21,240 --> 01:17:22,840
<i>What's his problem then?</i>

1321
01:17:22,880 --> 01:17:25,360
<i>It's not fear, it's memories.</i>

1322
01:17:25,520 --> 01:17:28,520
<i>Stay by me, Manolo dear.
No one will hurt you.</i>

1323
01:17:28,720 --> 01:17:30,120
<i>What a strange idea.</i>

1324
01:17:30,440 --> 01:17:31,400
<i>What is?</i>

1325
01:17:31,880 --> 01:17:35,760
<i>Adopting the kid.
Nobody knows a thing about him.</i>

1326
01:17:36,080 --> 01:17:38,320
<i>I know his whole family is dead.</i>

1327
01:17:39,720 --> 01:17:40,854
<i>He's a foreigner.</i>

1328
01:17:40,880 --> 01:17:43,760
<i>He's not a foreigner, he's an orphan.</i>

1329
01:17:44,240 --> 01:17:47,520
There's also
this homosexual character

1330
01:17:47,680 --> 01:17:51,520
filmed with warmth and empathy

1331
01:17:51,680 --> 01:17:54,014
that is unique in the French cinema

1332
01:17:54,160 --> 01:17:55,320
of the time.

1333
01:17:55,480 --> 01:17:56,880
<i>Hey, Fernand,</i>

1334
01:17:57,680 --> 01:17:59,240
<i>I was looking for you.</i>

1335
01:17:59,400 --> 01:18:01,000
<i>You didn't recognize me?</i>

1336
01:18:01,080 --> 01:18:04,614
<i>I didn't even look at you,
seeing you with the lady...</i>

1337
01:18:05,520 --> 01:18:08,321
<i>- I won't spoil your evening.
- Not at all.</i>

1338
01:18:08,360 --> 01:18:12,120
<i>I didn't dare say so, but I'm sleepy.
Thanks anyway.</i>

1339
01:18:12,280 --> 01:18:13,180
<i>Really,</i>

1340
01:18:13,320 --> 01:18:14,800
<i>don't worry about me.</i>

1341
01:18:20,400 --> 01:18:22,800
When Alexandre Trauner suggested

1342
01:18:23,000 --> 01:18:24,467
that Gabin's character

1343
01:18:24,600 --> 01:18:28,920
live on the top floor and not the 2nd,
as originally scripted,

1344
01:18:29,080 --> 01:18:31,520
Carne backed him instantly

1345
01:18:31,680 --> 01:18:34,160
and yet the idea was very costly.

1346
01:18:35,080 --> 01:18:38,480
<i>I sensed it couldn't be
on the 2nd floor.</i>

1347
01:18:38,640 --> 01:18:43,200
<i>First, he was too close.
Second, there was no danger.</i>

1348
01:18:43,360 --> 01:18:45,960
<i>It had to be on the top floor.</i>

1349
01:18:46,120 --> 01:18:48,160
<i>So we started developing.</i>

1350
01:18:48,320 --> 01:18:50,200
<i>I sketched out some ideas,</i>

1351
01:18:51,360 --> 01:18:55,240
<i>and everyone agreed
it was the solution. But naturally</i>

1352
01:18:55,400 --> 01:18:58,176
<i>when you count floors,
you count money too.</i>

1353
01:18:58,200 --> 01:18:59,267
<i>And the producer</i>

1354
01:19:00,000 --> 01:19:03,000
<i>tried every day to cut down a storey.</i>

1355
01:19:03,320 --> 01:19:05,320
Carne sensed

1356
01:19:05,480 --> 01:19:08,000
that this idea
would isolate Gabin

1357
01:19:08,160 --> 01:19:09,060
to have him

1358
01:19:09,480 --> 01:19:11,040
tower over the crowd.

1359
01:19:11,200 --> 01:19:13,867
It would prevent him
from hearing people,

1360
01:19:14,440 --> 01:19:16,440
even their encouragements

1361
01:19:16,640 --> 01:19:18,120
and their support.

1362
01:19:19,120 --> 01:19:20,240
<i>Leave me alone.</i>

1363
01:19:20,400 --> 01:19:21,960
<i>Alone, you hear!</i>

1364
01:19:22,520 --> 01:19:25,200
<i>I just want to be left in peace!</i>

1365
01:19:25,400 --> 01:19:26,680
<i>In peace!</i>

1366
01:19:27,960 --> 01:19:29,560
<i>He's shouting.</i>

1367
01:19:32,080 --> 01:19:33,280
<i>Francois!</i>

1368
01:19:34,760 --> 01:19:37,227
But the talent and power of his films

1369
01:19:37,280 --> 01:19:40,240
reside in his shot breakdowns.

1370
01:19:41,000 --> 01:19:44,667
He didn't do many takes.
He had little material to edit.

1371
01:19:44,760 --> 01:19:47,280
Principal photography was so short.

1372
01:19:48,240 --> 01:19:50,120
<i>Will you shut your trap!</i>

1373
01:19:52,240 --> 01:19:54,040
When you see, for instance,

1374
01:19:54,080 --> 01:19:57,800
how he managed to film
in very tight sets,

1375
01:19:58,000 --> 01:19:59,520
a hotel landing...

1376
01:20:00,240 --> 01:20:02,400
He mostly used a 32mm lens.

1377
01:20:02,560 --> 01:20:05,320
He was hooked on that focal length.

1378
01:20:05,640 --> 01:20:08,280
And in very narrow sets,

1379
01:20:08,440 --> 01:20:11,120
he gets the most out of them.

1380
01:20:21,000 --> 01:20:25,240
Every shot energizes the narrative.

1381
01:20:25,400 --> 01:20:28,360
No two are alike.

1382
01:20:31,800 --> 01:20:32,880
<i>What was that?</i>

1383
01:20:33,440 --> 01:20:34,640
<i>Did somebody fall?</i>

1384
01:20:35,200 --> 01:20:36,360
<i>Somebody...</i>

1385
01:20:41,720 --> 01:20:42,720
<i>Somebody...!</i>

1386
01:20:42,920 --> 01:20:44,000
<i>Somebody fell!</i>

1387
01:20:44,200 --> 01:20:45,360
<i>Listen,</i>

1388
01:20:47,400 --> 01:20:48,696
<i>listen to me good...</i>

1389
01:20:48,720 --> 01:20:50,560
And then, there are moments

1390
01:20:50,720 --> 01:20:53,120
when characters confront each other.

1391
01:20:53,600 --> 01:20:57,600
The reverse angle shots
in Carne's films written by Prevert

1392
01:20:57,760 --> 01:20:59,161
are really something.

1393
01:20:59,240 --> 01:21:01,376
Sautet talked about them constantly.

1394
01:21:01,400 --> 01:21:03,920
He said he'd rarely seen scenes

1395
01:21:04,120 --> 01:21:08,640
broken down into shots as well
as those with Gabin and Jules Berry.

1396
01:21:09,160 --> 01:21:10,960
<i>- Do you love her?
- Yes.</i>

1397
01:21:12,120 --> 01:21:13,160
<i>And her?</i>

1398
01:21:13,360 --> 01:21:14,627
<i>That your business?</i>

1399
01:21:14,960 --> 01:21:17,520
<i>My good man, think about it.</i>

1400
01:21:18,760 --> 01:21:21,760
<i>I've a right to know
what went on between you.</i>

1401
01:21:21,880 --> 01:21:23,214
<i>Understand, a right.</i>

1402
01:21:23,240 --> 01:21:24,360
<i>A right...</i>

1403
01:21:25,040 --> 01:21:26,960
<i>You wear me out.</i>

1404
01:21:27,120 --> 01:21:28,160
<i>You hear me?</i>

1405
01:21:28,320 --> 01:21:29,254
<i>What do you...</i>

1406
01:21:29,360 --> 01:21:30,960
<i>What do you plan to do?</i>

1407
01:21:31,120 --> 01:21:33,400
<i>Think about it.</i>

1408
01:21:34,120 --> 01:21:35,480
<i>It's a bit...</i>

1409
01:21:35,640 --> 01:21:37,000
<i>You don't plan to...</i>

1410
01:21:37,680 --> 01:21:38,580
<i>Francois...</i>

1411
01:21:38,640 --> 01:21:39,540
<i>What?</i>

1412
01:21:39,640 --> 01:21:41,240
<i>Ragman! Old clothes!</i>

1413
01:21:41,400 --> 01:21:43,680
<i>Old clothes for sale?</i>

1414
01:21:43,960 --> 01:21:46,560
<i>And in my dream,
I heard something else.</i>

1415
01:21:47,400 --> 01:21:49,200
<i>I heard: Rat-on-a-man!</i>

1416
01:21:49,360 --> 01:21:51,360
<i>Old friends for sale?</i>

1417
01:21:52,080 --> 01:21:55,080
<i>Is it true that
you have access to those gents</i>

1418
01:21:55,120 --> 01:21:57,120
<i>and you sell friends? Jericho?</i>

1419
01:22:03,480 --> 01:22:06,000
<i>Lies! As sure as they call me...</i>

1420
01:22:06,200 --> 01:22:08,240
<i>Snitch. Forked Tongue.</i>

1421
01:22:08,400 --> 01:22:09,600
<i>13th at Table.</i>

1422
01:22:11,080 --> 01:22:12,200
Carne,

1423
01:22:12,720 --> 01:22:14,536
it's obvious from his later films,

1424
01:22:14,560 --> 01:22:18,240
must have been a loner,
someone who had trouble

1425
01:22:18,600 --> 01:22:22,600
dealing with amicable,
humanist feelings.

1426
01:22:23,040 --> 01:22:27,040
<i>Traveling, for a painter,
must be a source of renewal.</i>

1427
01:22:27,560 --> 01:22:30,880
Prevert brought him generosity

1428
01:22:31,040 --> 01:22:33,240
in his view of characters...

1429
01:22:34,280 --> 01:22:35,180
Tenderness.

1430
01:22:35,320 --> 01:22:38,816
<i>Nothing keeps me here.
If the trip wasn't too costly...</i>

1431
01:22:38,840 --> 01:22:42,000
<i>Listen, we know artists aren't rich.</i>

1432
01:22:42,160 --> 01:22:43,760
<i>Come on, young man,</i>

1433
01:22:43,960 --> 01:22:47,456
<i>big decisions should be made
in front of small bottles.</i>

1434
01:22:47,480 --> 01:22:49,680
I'll conclude with a passage

1435
01:22:49,840 --> 01:22:53,296
<i>from an essay by Claude Sautet
about Le Jour se leve:</i>

1436
01:22:53,320 --> 01:22:55,600
<i>The film was shot in 1939,</i>

1437
01:22:55,800 --> 01:22:59,734
<i>between the Popular Front's collapse
and the horror of WWII,</i>

1438
01:22:59,960 --> 01:23:02,560
<i>in the fragile no-man's-land
of a studio</i>

1439
01:23:03,320 --> 01:23:05,040
<i>with Marcel Carne,</i>

1440
01:23:05,200 --> 01:23:07,400
<i>at his sharpest, his most mature,</i>

1441
01:23:07,440 --> 01:23:09,040
<i>the essential cement,</i>

1442
01:23:10,080 --> 01:23:12,920
<i>and Gabin, so handsome and melancholy.</i>

1443
01:23:14,000 --> 01:23:16,320
<i>Arletty, never more authentic.</i>

1444
01:23:16,520 --> 01:23:18,296
<i>And especially Jules Berry,</i>

1445
01:23:18,320 --> 01:23:21,640
<i>in Le Crime de Monsieur Lange,
his greatest role.</i>

1446
01:23:22,240 --> 01:23:24,974
<i>My memory can't shake
those first minutes,</i>

1447
01:23:25,120 --> 01:23:28,520
<i>the dawn light
on that vertical building,</i>

1448
01:23:28,720 --> 01:23:30,880
<i>that ordinary apartment door,</i>

1449
01:23:31,040 --> 01:23:32,960
<i>transformed and sinister,</i>

1450
01:23:33,120 --> 01:23:35,400
<i>beyond which a gunshot is heard.</i>

1451
01:23:37,200 --> 01:23:38,816
<i>Then Gabin's weary voice...</i>

1452
01:23:38,840 --> 01:23:40,640
<i>"Look where that got you."</i>

1453
01:23:42,360 --> 01:23:44,120
<i>...and the door opening</i>

1454
01:23:44,280 --> 01:23:47,614
<i>and Berry's body stumbling out
and down the stairs.</i>

1455
01:23:48,120 --> 01:23:49,020
<i>And soon,</i>

1456
01:23:49,120 --> 01:23:51,536
<i>on that famous image of Gabin
at the window,</i>

1457
01:23:51,560 --> 01:23:53,800
<i>that intimate and fatal voice:</i>

1458
01:23:54,440 --> 01:23:57,440
<i>"And yet, yesterday, remember..."</i>

1459
01:23:57,600 --> 01:24:00,200
<i>that begins
the extraordinary flashback.</i>

1460
01:24:01,200 --> 01:24:03,576
<i>Fads come and go,
and Le Jour se leve</i>

1461
01:24:03,600 --> 01:24:06,867
<i>remains a masterpiece
drowned in its obscure fame.</i>

1462
01:24:07,920 --> 01:24:09,960
<i>And so it goes.</i>

1463
01:24:30,120 --> 01:24:31,760
<i>The music was wonderful.</i>

1464
01:24:31,960 --> 01:24:33,760
<i>And there was that theme...</i>

1465
01:24:39,440 --> 01:24:41,107
<i>It's an old Breton theme.</i>

1466
01:24:41,640 --> 01:24:44,441
<i>- What film was that in?
- Port of Shadows.</i>

1467
01:24:45,160 --> 01:24:48,136
<i>I was walking in the streets
with that dog behind me.</i>

1468
01:24:48,160 --> 01:24:49,480
<i>It was that melody.</i>

1469
01:25:10,120 --> 01:25:12,120
Jaubert was probably

1470
01:25:12,320 --> 01:25:14,520
the greatest film score composer

1471
01:25:14,720 --> 01:25:15,800
of that time,

1472
01:25:16,000 --> 01:25:18,280
the most diverse, the boldest,

1473
01:25:18,440 --> 01:25:21,160
the one who best understood film

1474
01:25:21,320 --> 01:25:26,254
in a very intimate, powerful manner,
and who best understood mise en scene.

1475
01:25:26,800 --> 01:25:27,760
<i>Goodbye!</i>

1476
01:25:27,960 --> 01:25:30,120
<i>Showing excerpts from L'Atalante</i>

1477
01:25:30,280 --> 01:25:32,840
is a form of tribute to Jean Vigo.

1478
01:25:34,400 --> 01:25:37,840
Between the two
there is an innate comprehension

1479
01:25:38,040 --> 01:25:40,520
in their way of using music

1480
01:25:40,680 --> 01:25:44,320
and sounds to initiate a theme.

1481
01:26:08,640 --> 01:26:10,480
<i>The score of L'Atalante</i>

1482
01:26:10,680 --> 01:26:14,414
was one of the most lyrical
in French cinema of that era.

1483
01:26:27,720 --> 01:26:32,760
It's amazing
how he used orchestra instruments.

1484
01:26:32,920 --> 01:26:36,920
An accordion gets the music started...

1485
01:26:42,960 --> 01:26:46,000
...that yields to a saxophone

1486
01:26:46,160 --> 01:26:49,240
that carries the emotion in the film.

1487
01:27:21,680 --> 01:27:25,360
It's obvious
that Jaubert was in the same vein

1488
01:27:25,520 --> 01:27:28,120
as people like Kurt Weill.

1489
01:27:55,200 --> 01:27:58,440
Maurice Jaubert was 30
when the talkies arrived.

1490
01:27:58,600 --> 01:28:00,560
He was the first composer

1491
01:28:00,720 --> 01:28:03,680
to grasp what sound film could offer.

1492
01:28:04,400 --> 01:28:06,840
Unlike many of his colleagues,

1493
01:28:07,040 --> 01:28:10,360
he didn't see the soundtrack
or the actors' voices

1494
01:28:10,520 --> 01:28:13,080
as the composer's enemy.

1495
01:28:31,080 --> 01:28:33,400
<i>Laugh. I know more amazing things</i>

1496
01:28:33,560 --> 01:28:35,894
<i>than playing records with a finger.</i>

1497
01:29:04,720 --> 01:29:09,056
He despised the conception of music
that reigned in American studios.

1498
01:29:09,080 --> 01:29:13,080
He didn't think
you should arbitrarily stick

1499
01:29:13,240 --> 01:29:14,360
the same type

1500
01:29:14,560 --> 01:29:18,320
of orchestra, the same type
of musical color or language.

1501
01:29:18,640 --> 01:29:23,680
He believed music should find
the heart of a film.

1502
01:29:30,800 --> 01:29:32,840
It should come in

1503
01:29:33,040 --> 01:29:36,920
when words
can no longer translate emotions.

1504
01:29:37,080 --> 01:29:38,840
Music prolongs them.

1505
01:29:39,040 --> 01:29:41,640
And he pulled it off in all his films.

1506
01:29:41,800 --> 01:29:45,320
There's a moment
when Jaubert is especially striking.

1507
01:29:45,480 --> 01:29:47,040
It's the flashback

1508
01:29:47,200 --> 01:29:49,080
evoking the waltz

1509
01:29:49,280 --> 01:29:51,080
<i>in Un Carnet de bal.</i>

1510
01:30:30,560 --> 01:30:33,280
<i>There's no real theme
in Le Jour se leve.</i>

1511
01:30:34,800 --> 01:30:36,400
No melodic motif,

1512
01:30:36,560 --> 01:30:39,080
not an easily detectable one anyway.

1513
01:30:39,240 --> 01:30:40,840
There's a climate.

1514
01:30:47,520 --> 01:30:51,320
Each time, Jaubert would seek
the pulse of the film.

1515
01:30:51,720 --> 01:30:53,040
I say "pulse,"

1516
01:30:53,200 --> 01:30:56,616
<i>because that's what dictated
the score of Le Jour se leve,</i>

1517
01:30:56,640 --> 01:30:59,640
based on a beating heart.

1518
01:31:23,400 --> 01:31:24,960
Beneath it

1519
01:31:25,120 --> 01:31:29,120
can be heard a sort of Dies Irae,
but deconstructed.

1520
01:31:48,760 --> 01:31:52,240
It's a model score.

1521
01:31:53,280 --> 01:31:54,800
And Jaubert's death

1522
01:31:55,000 --> 01:31:56,760
was a tragic loss.

1523
01:31:56,920 --> 01:31:58,600
He died very young.

1524
01:32:03,600 --> 01:32:04,800
For years

1525
01:32:05,000 --> 01:32:06,880
I looked in vain

1526
01:32:07,040 --> 01:32:10,000
for recordings by Jaubert,

1527
01:32:10,200 --> 01:32:11,400
Kosma,

1528
01:32:12,160 --> 01:32:13,560
Auric and Honegger.

1529
01:32:14,080 --> 01:32:16,640
There was nothing to be found.

1530
01:32:16,840 --> 01:32:19,374
But in the United States,
a huge effort

1531
01:32:19,440 --> 01:32:21,960
had been made in film musicology.

1532
01:32:22,160 --> 01:32:23,094
Very early on,

1533
01:32:23,160 --> 01:32:26,960
there were a lot of records available.

1534
01:32:27,560 --> 01:32:30,080
It wasn't until Francois Truffaut

1535
01:32:30,240 --> 01:32:33,240
took a remarkable initiative,

1536
01:32:33,440 --> 01:32:35,480
by having re-recordings made

1537
01:32:36,080 --> 01:32:37,520
of Jaubert's music

1538
01:32:37,720 --> 01:32:40,176
<i>for the purposes of his film Adele H.</i>

1539
01:32:40,200 --> 01:32:42,760
He had re-recordings done,
thanks to

1540
01:32:42,960 --> 01:32:45,440
Francois Porcile and Patrice Mestral,

1541
01:32:45,640 --> 01:32:48,720
<i>of a series of works,
starting with L'Atalante.</i>

1542
01:32:53,440 --> 01:32:57,080
I still remember
when I first found this record.

1543
01:32:57,240 --> 01:33:01,520
Finally I could listen to the score,

1544
01:33:01,680 --> 01:33:05,560
which is among the most beautiful
of French 30s cinema,

1545
01:33:05,720 --> 01:33:07,600
and of cinema, period.

1546
01:33:28,880 --> 01:33:34,440
To this day, over half of Jaubert's work
still hasn't been recorded or performed.

1547
01:33:35,520 --> 01:33:39,400
Early on I had a keen interest
in certain film composers,

1548
01:33:39,560 --> 01:33:43,240
and I realized with what originality

1549
01:33:43,400 --> 01:33:45,800
some directors used them,

1550
01:33:46,000 --> 01:33:50,680
favoring the timbre
of one or more solo instruments

1551
01:33:50,840 --> 01:33:53,120
rather than a full orchestra

1552
01:33:53,320 --> 01:33:55,400
so dear to Hollywood.

1553
01:33:56,120 --> 01:33:57,600
Three strong memories:

1554
01:33:57,760 --> 01:33:59,656
<i>the guitar in Jeux Interdits,</i>

1555
01:33:59,680 --> 01:34:02,747
<i>the influence of the zither
in The Third Man...</i>

1556
01:34:09,120 --> 01:34:10,560
<i>Why did you scream?</i>

1557
01:34:11,720 --> 01:34:13,040
<i>Are you scared?</i>

1558
01:34:21,400 --> 01:34:23,960
<i>The harmonica in Grisbi.</i>

1559
01:34:37,600 --> 01:34:40,136
The incredible sound
of Miles Davis' trumpet

1560
01:34:40,160 --> 01:34:42,200
<i>in Elevator for the Gallows.</i>

1561
01:34:54,640 --> 01:34:58,680
I also discovered how some directors
used classical music,

1562
01:34:58,880 --> 01:35:01,480
<i>as in A Man Escaped.</i>

1563
01:35:38,400 --> 01:35:41,400
I can see nothing similar
in American movies.

1564
01:35:42,360 --> 01:35:45,800
Again, French composers
in the 1930s, '40s,

1565
01:35:46,000 --> 01:35:49,360
'50s and '60s
were some of the world's finest.

1566
01:35:49,520 --> 01:35:52,054
There are reasons for such excellence.

1567
01:36:01,920 --> 01:36:06,480
First, most Hollywood directors
had no say in the musical score

1568
01:36:06,840 --> 01:36:09,640
right up into the mid-1950s.

1569
01:36:10,120 --> 01:36:13,280
Conversely,
the big French directors worked

1570
01:36:13,480 --> 01:36:16,480
in harmony with
the composers of their choice.

1571
01:36:17,160 --> 01:36:20,840
The climate and music culture
was totally different.

1572
01:36:22,960 --> 01:36:23,960
<i>Louise...</i>

1573
01:36:25,720 --> 01:36:26,720
<i>Good luck.</i>

1574
01:36:26,920 --> 01:36:28,054
<i>Thank you, nanny.</i>

1575
01:36:34,120 --> 01:36:37,640
The Americans were deeply influenced
by romanticism,

1576
01:36:37,800 --> 01:36:40,334
as well as by Bruckner,
Mahler, Brahms,

1577
01:36:40,440 --> 01:36:41,920
and the Vienna school.

1578
01:36:42,080 --> 01:36:44,960
The French were influenced by Ravel,

1579
01:36:45,120 --> 01:36:46,600
Debussy, Poulenc,

1580
01:36:46,920 --> 01:36:49,080
and the new Berlin musicians:

1581
01:36:49,240 --> 01:36:51,080
Kurt Weill and Paul Dessau.

1582
01:36:53,920 --> 01:36:57,454
They were incredibly talented,
often novel and modern,

1583
01:36:57,480 --> 01:36:58,881
in tune to the films,

1584
01:36:59,040 --> 01:37:00,760
good at counterpoint.

1585
01:37:00,960 --> 01:37:02,427
Yet they were ignored.

1586
01:37:33,320 --> 01:37:34,840
<i>Do you know that tune?</i>

1587
01:37:37,440 --> 01:37:38,560
<i>Me neither.</i>

1588
01:37:39,320 --> 01:37:41,560
<i>And I know lots of songs.</i>

1589
01:37:42,520 --> 01:37:44,280
<i>I've heard it before.</i>

1590
01:37:45,400 --> 01:37:47,160
<i>But where and when?</i>

1591
01:37:48,320 --> 01:37:49,640
Joseph Kosma,

1592
01:37:49,800 --> 01:37:52,440
his whole life long,
fought hierarchies

1593
01:37:52,600 --> 01:37:54,720
and a set of values that put

1594
01:37:54,920 --> 01:37:57,360
academic music on one side

1595
01:37:57,560 --> 01:38:00,680
and popular music on the other.

1596
01:38:01,400 --> 01:38:04,880
And it's not by chance
that Prevert found in him

1597
01:38:05,040 --> 01:38:06,760
an exceptional composer

1598
01:38:07,680 --> 01:38:10,520
and that many Prevert-Kosma tunes

1599
01:38:10,680 --> 01:38:12,840
will remain evergreen classics.

1600
01:38:15,200 --> 01:38:20,800
<i>And the waves come and wash away</i>

1601
01:38:24,720 --> 01:38:31,160
<i>The footprints
of lovers gone separate ways</i>

1602
01:38:37,120 --> 01:38:38,280
<i>Music...</i>

1603
01:38:39,280 --> 01:38:44,120
Kosma would discover if not music,
at least the desire to write it

1604
01:38:44,320 --> 01:38:46,840
after spending 3-4 years in Berlin

1605
01:38:47,000 --> 01:38:48,401
where he was affected

1606
01:38:48,560 --> 01:38:52,200
by the incredible musical
effervescence there.

1607
01:38:52,360 --> 01:38:54,160
He discovered the works

1608
01:38:54,360 --> 01:38:56,160
of Brecht and Kurt Weill...

1609
01:38:56,200 --> 01:38:58,440
<i>Kosma had this first encounter</i>

1610
01:38:58,600 --> 01:39:00,616
<i>which was crucial and he wanted</i>

1611
01:39:00,640 --> 01:39:02,574
<i>at that moment to write music</i>

1612
01:39:02,680 --> 01:39:06,080
<i>directly accessible to the public,</i>

1613
01:39:06,800 --> 01:39:07,760
<i>to the people,</i>

1614
01:39:07,920 --> 01:39:10,654
<i>born of the people
to return to the people</i>

1615
01:39:10,760 --> 01:39:14,494
<i>and which at the same time
contained a political message.</i>

1616
01:39:31,960 --> 01:39:35,680
Right away he found filmmakers

1617
01:39:35,840 --> 01:39:38,400
who believed that movies

1618
01:39:38,560 --> 01:39:40,440
could change things a bit,

1619
01:39:40,600 --> 01:39:43,840
who believed,
as Renoir told me one day,

1620
01:39:44,000 --> 01:39:47,920
you have to make a film thinking
that you'll change

1621
01:39:48,120 --> 01:39:51,176
the course of history.
You need that arrogance.

1622
01:39:51,200 --> 01:39:55,734
But you also must be humble enough
to think, if you touch two people,

1623
01:39:55,840 --> 01:39:58,240
you've done something extraordinary.

1624
01:40:04,240 --> 01:40:05,960
<i>That's so typical,</i>

1625
01:40:06,160 --> 01:40:08,280
<i>that opening military march,</i>

1626
01:40:08,440 --> 01:40:10,080
<i>which belongs to a genre</i>

1627
01:40:10,240 --> 01:40:13,374
<i>that inspired the people
whom I spoke of before:</i>

1628
01:40:13,440 --> 01:40:15,800
<i>Schubert, Mahler, Kurt Weill...</i>

1629
01:40:15,960 --> 01:40:18,294
<i>The anti-militarist military march.</i>

1630
01:40:18,560 --> 01:40:21,480
<i>It's very representative.</i>

1631
01:40:21,640 --> 01:40:24,240
<i>With Schubert it's constant.</i>

1632
01:40:26,400 --> 01:40:28,640
<i>You use military music,</i>

1633
01:40:28,800 --> 01:40:31,960
<i>its rhythm and tempo,
and that aspect</i>

1634
01:40:32,960 --> 01:40:34,360
<i>of immutability,</i>

1635
01:40:34,680 --> 01:40:36,120
<i>which comes at you.</i>

1636
01:40:36,280 --> 01:40:38,400
<i>At the same time it speaks</i>

1637
01:40:38,560 --> 01:40:42,480
<i>not of mobilizing people
but the horror of war.</i>

1638
01:41:03,720 --> 01:41:06,720
The end music
left a lasting impression on me,

1639
01:41:06,800 --> 01:41:10,120
the way it suddenly bursts forth.

1640
01:41:10,680 --> 01:41:14,400
It's all the more powerful as Kosma,
like Jaubert,

1641
01:41:14,560 --> 01:41:17,560
doesn't try to put music
on the entire film.

1642
01:41:18,240 --> 01:41:20,507
Maybe it was Renoir's choice, too.

1643
01:41:20,640 --> 01:41:23,840
So when it begins, it has such power!

1644
01:42:02,360 --> 01:42:04,400
The music wells up here...

1645
01:42:04,560 --> 01:42:06,880
You get the feeling it penetrates

1646
01:42:07,040 --> 01:42:10,520
the very heart of Lantier's emotions.

1647
01:42:10,680 --> 01:42:12,680
This music isn't purely dark.

1648
01:42:12,840 --> 01:42:16,000
It tries to introduce
a glimmer of hope.

1649
01:42:20,800 --> 01:42:22,360
<i>Jacques, what's wrong?</i>

1650
01:42:43,040 --> 01:42:45,680
<i>Of course there's Children of Paradise.</i>

1651
01:42:46,880 --> 01:42:50,120
Kosma couldn't get credit
for the music in 1944.

1652
01:42:50,400 --> 01:42:54,080
He was Jewish, communist
and underground.

1653
01:42:54,560 --> 01:42:58,200
But we know Kosma scored
parts of the film:

1654
01:42:58,360 --> 01:42:59,960
all the pantomimes.

1655
01:43:16,520 --> 01:43:20,787
Barrault adapted them for the stage.
The show was a huge success.

1656
01:43:20,920 --> 01:43:22,280
And in a way,

1657
01:43:22,480 --> 01:43:23,760
Kosma's music, too,

1658
01:43:23,960 --> 01:43:25,480
stood out on its own

1659
01:43:26,360 --> 01:43:30,200
to illustrate a French masterpiece
admired the world over.

1660
01:43:38,080 --> 01:43:41,440
It's very moving to think
that this music,

1661
01:43:41,640 --> 01:43:45,200
with its very French accents and tone

1662
01:43:45,360 --> 01:43:49,400
was written by someone
who had not been French for very long.

1663
01:43:49,880 --> 01:43:52,576
<i>Kosma was completely immersed
in a typically</i>

1664
01:43:52,600 --> 01:43:54,200
<i>French, Parisian spirit.</i>

1665
01:43:54,320 --> 01:43:57,040
<i>The same pretty much goes
for Offenbach.</i>

1666
01:43:58,720 --> 01:44:01,280
Among the films Kosma scored,

1667
01:44:01,440 --> 01:44:04,400
<i>I want to mention
Henri Calef's Bagarres.</i>

1668
01:44:27,480 --> 01:44:30,520
Kosma wrote a beautiful,

1669
01:44:30,680 --> 01:44:32,480
very lyrical score.

1670
01:44:42,400 --> 01:44:43,400
<i>Carmelle!</i>

1671
01:44:43,960 --> 01:44:44,894
<i>Open the door.</i>

1672
01:44:47,680 --> 01:44:49,280
<i>Or I'll break it down.</i>

1673
01:44:52,360 --> 01:44:53,560
<i>Do you hear me?</i>

1674
01:44:54,200 --> 01:44:55,800
<i>I'll smash it to pieces.</i>

1675
01:44:56,800 --> 01:44:58,960
With ideas that are modern, too.

1676
01:44:59,520 --> 01:45:01,720
Meaning, the music stops.

1677
01:45:01,880 --> 01:45:05,480
There's no music over one
of the most dramatic moments.

1678
01:45:05,680 --> 01:45:07,040
<i>Go to bed.</i>

1679
01:45:09,240 --> 01:45:15,040
<i>Kosma and Renoir first met
during Le Crime de Monsieur Lange.</i>

1680
01:45:15,200 --> 01:45:18,800
<i>Yet Monsieur Lange
was scored by Jean Wiener.</i>

1681
01:45:19,000 --> 01:45:23,200
But Prevert, who wrote the screenplay,

1682
01:45:23,400 --> 01:45:25,160
also wrote a song,

1683
01:45:25,320 --> 01:45:28,280
and he wanted the song set to music

1684
01:45:28,440 --> 01:45:30,600
by his friend Joseph Kosma.

1685
01:45:35,520 --> 01:45:38,400
<i>Day by day</i>

1686
01:45:38,800 --> 01:45:41,240
<i>Night after night</i>

1687
01:45:41,840 --> 01:45:43,400
<i>Under the stars</i>

1688
01:45:44,240 --> 01:45:46,680
<i>That's the way I live</i>

1689
01:45:47,280 --> 01:45:49,200
<i>Where is that star</i>

1690
01:45:49,360 --> 01:45:51,600
<i>That I've never seen?</i>

1691
01:45:51,760 --> 01:45:53,080
"Under the Stars,"

1692
01:45:53,240 --> 01:45:56,480
the first Kosma-Prevert song

1693
01:45:56,640 --> 01:45:58,800
and yet one of the least cited.

1694
01:46:13,340 --> 01:46:16,620
I often found French crime movies
of the era

1695
01:46:16,780 --> 01:46:18,860
limp and unexciting.

1696
01:46:19,460 --> 01:46:21,540
Stories of pimps,

1697
01:46:22,060 --> 01:46:23,780
nightclubs,

1698
01:46:24,660 --> 01:46:26,127
rather sordid at that.

1699
01:46:27,900 --> 01:46:28,800
Luckily

1700
01:46:28,940 --> 01:46:31,316
there were Eddie Constantine's films,

1701
01:46:31,340 --> 01:46:33,900
that were a breath of fresh air

1702
01:46:34,060 --> 01:46:36,740
with their humor
and laid-back feeling.

1703
01:46:37,340 --> 01:46:39,660
I loved Eddie Constantine's films.

1704
01:46:39,820 --> 01:46:41,300
I never missed a one.

1705
01:46:43,300 --> 01:46:45,020
<i>Cet Homme est dangereux</i>

1706
01:46:45,220 --> 01:46:46,754
is one of my favorites.

1707
01:46:47,260 --> 01:46:49,940
<i>You can come out now.
The coast is clear.</i>

1708
01:46:52,300 --> 01:46:54,516
<i>Speak French. People hate subtitles.</i>

1709
01:46:54,540 --> 01:46:56,916
<i>I said, I love the thrill of danger.</i>

1710
01:46:56,940 --> 01:46:59,420
Marvelous dialogue
by Marcel Duhamel.

1711
01:46:59,660 --> 01:47:03,300
<i>Cet Homme est dangereux
was directed by Jean Sacha,</i>

1712
01:47:03,620 --> 01:47:06,420
whom I knew well and was fond of.

1713
01:47:06,620 --> 01:47:09,740
Jean Sacha was a cinephile

1714
01:47:09,900 --> 01:47:12,020
turned director,

1715
01:47:12,380 --> 01:47:15,340
like Pierre Chenal
and Edmond T. Greville.

1716
01:47:15,580 --> 01:47:19,780
<i>In the 1930s he started a magazine
called L'Ami du Film.</i>

1717
01:47:20,260 --> 01:47:23,660
He was also a poster designer
and talented artist

1718
01:47:24,100 --> 01:47:26,460
as these drawings show:

1719
01:47:26,820 --> 01:47:28,420
Joan Crawford,

1720
01:47:29,020 --> 01:47:30,140
Garbo...

1721
01:47:30,620 --> 01:47:32,460
Just a few lines.

1722
01:47:33,740 --> 01:47:36,540
A lovely drawing of Veronica Lake.

1723
01:47:38,300 --> 01:47:41,780
He served as editor to Max Ophuls
and Orson Welles.

1724
01:47:42,340 --> 01:47:44,356
And you sense Welles' influence

1725
01:47:44,380 --> 01:47:46,647
<i>throughout
Cet Homme est dangereux,</i>

1726
01:47:47,060 --> 01:47:48,980
shot with short focal lens

1727
01:47:49,140 --> 01:47:52,060
not often used
in French cinema at the time.

1728
01:47:53,660 --> 01:47:56,060
With a rather
expressionistic use

1729
01:47:56,260 --> 01:47:57,580
of light

1730
01:47:57,740 --> 01:47:59,660
and startling angles.

1731
01:48:04,940 --> 01:48:07,860
Jean Sacha worked very closely

1732
01:48:08,020 --> 01:48:11,260
with a remarkable
yet underrated cameraman,

1733
01:48:11,420 --> 01:48:13,020
Marcel Weiss.

1734
01:48:15,140 --> 01:48:18,260
Sacha didn't like to shoot
with live sound.

1735
01:48:18,420 --> 01:48:21,556
He wanted to recreate the soundtrack
while editing.

1736
01:48:21,580 --> 01:48:24,620
Here, he cut all the sound ambiance,

1737
01:48:24,780 --> 01:48:26,500
keeping only the music...

1738
01:48:26,660 --> 01:48:30,180
The music coming from the boat
that fades in and out

1739
01:48:30,420 --> 01:48:34,500
depending on how close he gets
to its source.

1740
01:48:50,260 --> 01:48:51,160
<i>Zero.</i>

1741
01:48:51,260 --> 01:48:52,327
<i>Nothing on zero.</i>

1742
01:48:54,300 --> 01:48:57,460
The tone here is less parodic.

1743
01:48:57,620 --> 01:49:01,420
Lemmy Caution doesn't always
have a grip on the situation.

1744
01:49:03,460 --> 01:49:05,180
<i>Hey, fellas, nice work.</i>

1745
01:49:05,380 --> 01:49:07,500
<i>Solid, undemanding.</i>

1746
01:49:07,660 --> 01:49:11,300
<i>But they all disappeared
when the check came.</i>

1747
01:49:11,620 --> 01:49:13,540
<i>And you paid cash.</i>

1748
01:49:13,740 --> 01:49:16,380
Many times,
he's heard thinking aloud,

1749
01:49:16,540 --> 01:49:18,940
making delightful voiceover quips...

1750
01:49:19,020 --> 01:49:20,354
<i>What are they doing?</i>

1751
01:49:20,740 --> 01:49:23,700
<i>Have they started reading
Gone with the Wind?</i>

1752
01:49:24,660 --> 01:49:26,900
<i>Just when I'm in a huge hurry.</i>

1753
01:49:27,460 --> 01:49:31,780
...that enable Sacha
to do some subjective camerawork

1754
01:49:31,940 --> 01:49:34,140
that was a direct tribute

1755
01:49:34,340 --> 01:49:36,236
<i>to Delmer Daves' Dark Passage.</i>

1756
01:49:36,260 --> 01:49:37,927
<i>Make up your mind, Lemmy.</i>

1757
01:49:40,860 --> 01:49:42,140
<i>Courage, Lemmy.</i>

1758
01:49:42,740 --> 01:49:44,860
<i>Thanks, Lemmy, I'll need it.</i>

1759
01:49:45,660 --> 01:49:47,740
What's striking here

1760
01:49:47,900 --> 01:49:50,700
is how Sacha films violence.

1761
01:49:50,860 --> 01:49:53,260
<i>How could I know, Lemmy?
I thought...</i>

1762
01:49:53,340 --> 01:49:58,276
<i>Look... You saw Van Zelten's daughter.
The mines, the railroads, the planes...</i>

1763
01:49:58,300 --> 01:49:59,200
<i>The guns.</i>

1764
01:49:59,340 --> 01:50:01,474
<i>One for MacFee.
You owed him one.</i>

1765
01:50:01,540 --> 01:50:03,460
<i>One for me, from a friend.</i>

1766
01:50:06,740 --> 01:50:09,180
The violence is brisk, brutal,

1767
01:50:09,780 --> 01:50:11,114
and straightforward.

1768
01:50:19,540 --> 01:50:20,820
<i>Loosen up.</i>

1769
01:50:21,380 --> 01:50:23,180
<i>Think about something else.</i>

1770
01:50:26,420 --> 01:50:27,660
Like Jean Sacha,

1771
01:50:27,820 --> 01:50:31,676
John Berry also worked with
Orson Welles at the Mercury Theater

1772
01:50:31,700 --> 01:50:32,700
as an actor.

1773
01:50:32,860 --> 01:50:35,180
After a fabulous crime film,

1774
01:50:35,620 --> 01:50:36,900
<i>He Ran All the Way,</i>

1775
01:50:37,060 --> 01:50:39,327
suspected of communist sympathies,

1776
01:50:39,380 --> 01:50:41,580
he was blacklisted.

1777
01:50:41,740 --> 01:50:44,020
Unable to work in the US,

1778
01:50:44,180 --> 01:50:49,100
he went into self-exile in Europe
like Dassin, Losey and Cy Enfield.

1779
01:50:49,300 --> 01:50:51,740
<i>There he shot Ca Va Barder.</i>

1780
01:50:57,540 --> 01:50:59,740
<i>You piece of shit!</i>

1781
01:51:03,740 --> 01:51:07,007
Thanks to Constantine,
he got credit for the film,

1782
01:51:07,140 --> 01:51:10,260
the first film to defy the blacklist,

1783
01:51:10,420 --> 01:51:12,900
<i>one year before Rififi.</i>

1784
01:51:13,180 --> 01:51:14,260
<i>Police.</i>

1785
01:51:14,580 --> 01:51:16,436
<i>What were you doing outside?</i>

1786
01:51:16,460 --> 01:51:18,516
<i>- We had an appointment.
- Here?</i>

1787
01:51:18,540 --> 01:51:21,580
<i>No, at the Paradise at 11.
He stood me up.</i>

1788
01:51:21,740 --> 01:51:23,700
<i>He had an excuse.
He was dead.</i>

1789
01:51:24,740 --> 01:51:27,756
<i>- So you were at the Paradise at 11?
- At 11:30.</i>

1790
01:51:27,780 --> 01:51:28,860
<i>And before that?</i>

1791
01:51:29,020 --> 01:51:32,580
<i>You must be kidding.
You gonna pin that me?</i>

1792
01:51:32,740 --> 01:51:34,141
<i>Where were you at 11?</i>

1793
01:51:34,260 --> 01:51:35,580
<i>In a foot race.</i>

1794
01:51:35,740 --> 01:51:38,940
<i>- Alone, naturally?
- No, behind the bar hostess.</i>

1795
01:51:39,460 --> 01:51:40,540
<i>A comic.</i>

1796
01:51:41,180 --> 01:51:42,140
<i>A comic!</i>

1797
01:51:44,580 --> 01:51:48,236
The hilarious dialogue was written
by Jacques-Laurent Bost,

1798
01:51:48,260 --> 01:51:51,527
<i>Pierre's brother,
cofounder of Les Temps Modernes,</i>

1799
01:51:51,580 --> 01:51:53,636
and Simone de Beauvoir's lover,

1800
01:51:53,660 --> 01:51:56,060
who became his regular collaborator.

1801
01:51:58,780 --> 01:52:00,060
<i>Come in, my man.</i>

1802
01:52:00,260 --> 01:52:03,594
<i>You're not shocked, are you?
Ever seen a naked man?</i>

1803
01:52:03,740 --> 01:52:05,300
<i>Once. In a museum.</i>

1804
01:52:05,460 --> 01:52:08,116
<i>Nothing like a hot bath
for losing weight.</i>

1805
01:52:08,140 --> 01:52:10,260
<i>Your cure's just starting.</i>

1806
01:52:10,460 --> 01:52:12,980
Berry had a way of using sets

1807
01:52:13,140 --> 01:52:15,140
and filming that was American,

1808
01:52:15,180 --> 01:52:19,060
aided by the fine photography
of Jacques Lemare,

1809
01:52:19,260 --> 01:52:21,940
another underestimated cameraman.

1810
01:52:27,220 --> 01:52:31,020
Many supporting role actors,
often seen in French films,

1811
01:52:31,180 --> 01:52:34,380
were transfigured here,
cast against type.

1812
01:52:34,540 --> 01:52:37,580
It lent them
splendid color and presence.

1813
01:52:37,740 --> 01:52:38,740
Jean Carmet,

1814
01:52:40,700 --> 01:52:42,180
Andre Versini,

1815
01:52:43,660 --> 01:52:45,180
Clement Harari...

1816
01:52:46,900 --> 01:52:48,660
<i>4th floor... Linens,</i>

1817
01:52:48,860 --> 01:52:50,194
<i>upholstery fabric...</i>

1818
01:52:51,420 --> 01:52:53,860
Jean Danet as the nasty scarface...

1819
01:52:57,540 --> 01:52:58,780
And Berry,

1820
01:52:58,980 --> 01:53:01,220
in one of the best fight scenes

1821
01:53:01,420 --> 01:53:03,087
of Constantine's films...

1822
01:53:16,180 --> 01:53:18,020
And especially Roger Saget.

1823
01:53:19,860 --> 01:53:22,236
<i>In jail, can we order out for meals?</i>

1824
01:53:22,260 --> 01:53:23,740
<i>- Sure.
- Swell.</i>

1825
01:53:25,340 --> 01:53:28,020
Constantine continued an uneven career

1826
01:53:28,180 --> 01:53:30,580
that included some insipid pulp

1827
01:53:30,740 --> 01:53:32,956
by Guy Lefranc and Bernard Borderie.

1828
01:53:32,980 --> 01:53:35,780
Luckily there were
more interesting pics,

1829
01:53:35,940 --> 01:53:38,516
<i>such as John Berry's
Je Suis un Sentimental,</i>

1830
01:53:38,540 --> 01:53:41,180
<i>Vittorio Cottafavi's Avanzi di galera</i>

1831
01:53:41,620 --> 01:53:44,300
and the very fine, very unusual,

1832
01:53:44,460 --> 01:53:46,100
<i>very touching Lucky Jo.</i>

1833
01:53:46,900 --> 01:53:48,060
<i>What is it, Jo?</i>

1834
01:53:48,260 --> 01:53:49,700
<i>One thing I'd like,</i>

1835
01:53:49,860 --> 01:53:53,260
<i>is to sink my teeth
into a juicy green apple.</i>

1836
01:53:53,420 --> 01:53:55,020
<i>Got any in your fridge?</i>

1837
01:53:56,500 --> 01:53:58,420
<i>I've got better.
Come on.</i>

1838
01:54:06,180 --> 01:54:08,580
<i>How about cherries
off a cherry tree?</i>

1839
01:54:08,740 --> 01:54:09,756
<i>That'd be swell.</i>

1840
01:54:09,780 --> 01:54:11,647
<i>There's a ladder over there.</i>

1841
01:54:11,940 --> 01:54:14,274
<i>Careful, don't step on the lettuce.</i>

1842
01:54:16,740 --> 01:54:18,540
<i>What else do you grow?</i>

1843
01:54:18,700 --> 01:54:20,140
<i>A bit of everything.</i>

1844
01:54:20,340 --> 01:54:24,020
<i>Grass, herbs, bay leaf, all that.</i>

1845
01:54:24,180 --> 01:54:26,500
<i>So that's what smells so good.</i>

1846
01:54:29,660 --> 01:54:32,340
<i>Now take your pick of cherries.</i>

1847
01:54:32,540 --> 01:54:35,476
<i>I didn't want it to be
a Constantine-style movie.</i>

1848
01:54:35,500 --> 01:54:38,660
<i>He was delighted.
He was sick of brawls.</i>

1849
01:54:38,860 --> 01:54:42,276
<i>But then the distributers said:
OK, you have Constantine</i>

1850
01:54:42,300 --> 01:54:45,716
<i>but we want lots of brawls
or it's not a "Constantine."</i>

1851
01:54:45,740 --> 01:54:48,356
<i>That amused me,
I'd never done fight scenes.</i>

1852
01:54:48,380 --> 01:54:51,876
<i>But he was crushed.
He took the film because no fights.</i>

1853
01:54:51,900 --> 01:54:55,636
<i>But we got along well.
I was very fond of him. A sweet guy.</i>

1854
01:54:55,660 --> 01:54:58,100
<i>We can't forget Alphaville,</i>

1855
01:54:58,300 --> 01:55:01,260
which took him to Fassbinder's films.

1856
01:55:02,460 --> 01:55:05,820
<i>Increasingly I see the human form</i>

1857
01:55:06,500 --> 01:55:08,580
<i>as a lovers' dialogue</i>

1858
01:55:08,740 --> 01:55:10,900
<i>The heart has but one mouth</i>

1859
01:55:12,180 --> 01:55:14,260
<i>Everything by chance</i>

1860
01:55:14,900 --> 01:55:17,900
<i>All words without thought</i>

1861
01:55:18,660 --> 01:55:21,140
<i>Feelings adrift</i>

1862
01:55:21,700 --> 01:55:24,580
<i>Men roam the city</i>

1863
01:55:29,820 --> 01:55:32,140
When I left boarding school

1864
01:55:32,340 --> 01:55:35,007
I could finally
go to the movies at will,

1865
01:55:36,300 --> 01:55:39,916
even if I had to skip class
and failed my baccalaureate,

1866
01:55:39,940 --> 01:55:42,540
unlike my friend Volker Schlondorff.

1867
01:55:43,300 --> 01:55:47,180
I often wrote to Francois Truffaut,
sometimes to disagree,

1868
01:55:47,380 --> 01:55:50,780
<i>especially about The Searchers,
which he demolished.</i>

1869
01:55:51,180 --> 01:55:55,260
And I expressed the wish
to see him shoot his first feature.

1870
01:55:55,500 --> 01:55:59,260
He answered right away,
a fine show of courtesy,

1871
01:55:59,420 --> 01:56:01,300
and invited me to the set

1872
01:56:01,540 --> 01:56:03,060
on Rue Vaugirard.

1873
01:56:07,100 --> 01:56:10,316
He was shooting a classroom scene
with Guy Decomble.

1874
01:56:10,340 --> 01:56:12,420
<i>We have a new Juvenal in class.</i>

1875
01:56:12,580 --> 01:56:16,036
<i>But he can't tell an alexandrine
from a decasyllable.</i>

1876
01:56:16,060 --> 01:56:18,540
<i>Doinel, conjugate for tomorrow</i>

1877
01:56:18,700 --> 01:56:20,860
<i>- in your seat to take it down -</i>

1878
01:56:22,860 --> 01:56:24,927
<i>in the indicative, conditional,</i>

1879
01:56:24,980 --> 01:56:27,756
<i>and subjunctive...
The rest of you, your notebooks.</i>

1880
01:56:27,780 --> 01:56:29,780
He was gentle and calm,

1881
01:56:30,340 --> 01:56:33,340
a great contrast with Melville.

1882
01:56:33,500 --> 01:56:35,900
<i>"I deface the classroom walls,</i>

1883
01:56:36,860 --> 01:56:39,660
<i>and I mangle French prosody."</i>

1884
01:56:41,260 --> 01:56:43,316
I went to see the film right off.

1885
01:56:43,340 --> 01:56:45,820
It was so moving and powerful.

1886
01:56:46,020 --> 01:56:48,487
I was there
on the first day at 2 p.m.

1887
01:56:48,820 --> 01:56:50,596
<i>for Shoot the Piano Player.</i>

1888
01:56:50,620 --> 01:56:55,340
Its comical, moving
and original tone delighted me.

1889
01:56:55,500 --> 01:56:58,340
<i>It's done like this in the movies.</i>

1890
01:57:00,500 --> 01:57:03,756
<i>I went to the movies today.
I saw Torpedoes in Alaska.</i>

1891
01:57:03,780 --> 01:57:04,780
<i>How was it?</i>

1892
01:57:04,940 --> 01:57:07,674
<i>John Wayne
shows the Americans want peace.</i>

1893
01:57:07,780 --> 01:57:09,780
<i>Then Yanks are just like me.</i>

1894
01:57:09,940 --> 01:57:11,074
<i>Making fun of me?</i>

1895
01:57:11,180 --> 01:57:13,460
<i>I'm not making fun, pet.</i>

1896
01:57:14,580 --> 01:57:16,996
I had to put up with the crowd booing,

1897
01:57:17,020 --> 01:57:20,620
outraged by Raoul Coutard's
bold photography.

1898
01:57:20,780 --> 01:57:24,260
It's the only film I saw booed
on the Champs Elysees

1899
01:57:24,420 --> 01:57:27,087
<i>with Night of the Hunter
at the Marboeuf.</i>

1900
01:57:51,620 --> 01:57:55,340
I spent most evenings
at the Cinematheque on Rue d'Ulm

1901
01:57:55,500 --> 01:57:59,900
where Henri Langlois' programming
was at once brilliant, erratic,

1902
01:58:00,260 --> 01:58:01,540
almost Dadaist.

1903
01:58:01,700 --> 01:58:06,020
<i>Here's where he piles up the treasures
for a future film museum.</i>

1904
01:58:06,180 --> 01:58:11,020
<i>Here's where he decides
which film from 1908 or 1924</i>

1905
01:58:11,180 --> 01:58:15,100
<i>you see on Rue d'Ulm
or Avenue Albert de Mun.</i>

1906
01:58:15,300 --> 01:58:17,620
<i>I saw a print of Macao</i>

1907
01:58:17,820 --> 01:58:20,540
by Joseph von Sternberg with Mitchum

1908
01:58:20,700 --> 01:58:23,260
dubbed in Vietnamese.

1909
01:58:26,780 --> 01:58:29,900
A few years later
I'd get clubbed by the police

1910
01:58:30,060 --> 01:58:32,340
trying to defend Henri Langlois

1911
01:58:32,500 --> 01:58:36,740
and watched a riot police officer
slowly crush my glasses

1912
01:58:36,900 --> 01:58:39,420
as I tried to get up.

1913
01:58:45,940 --> 01:58:47,796
At the Cinematheque I discovered

1914
01:58:47,820 --> 01:58:49,460
<i>Malraux's Espoir</i>

1915
01:59:00,820 --> 01:59:03,316
as well as a surprising,
unknown Duvivier

1916
01:59:03,340 --> 01:59:05,100
which didn't correspond

1917
01:59:05,300 --> 01:59:08,234
to the image I'd been given
of that director.

1918
01:59:08,740 --> 01:59:10,380
<i>The Eiffel Tower...</i>

1919
01:59:24,900 --> 01:59:28,967
It was at the Cinematheque
during a Louis Daquin retrospective

1920
01:59:29,140 --> 01:59:30,940
that I met Yves Martin,

1921
01:59:31,100 --> 01:59:32,460
a remarkable poet

1922
01:59:32,620 --> 01:59:35,996
<i>who wrote Le Partisan
and Poeme Court suivi d'un Long,</i>

1923
01:59:36,020 --> 01:59:37,500
and Bernard Martinand

1924
01:59:37,660 --> 01:59:40,420
who ended up working with Langlois.

1925
01:59:40,940 --> 01:59:43,820
We founded the Nickel Odeon film club,

1926
01:59:43,980 --> 01:59:45,780
devoted to American movies.

1927
01:59:45,860 --> 01:59:47,916
We wanted to decide for ourselves,

1928
01:59:47,940 --> 01:59:51,420
not settle for judgments
made 10-15 years prior,

1929
01:59:51,580 --> 01:59:54,180
or films dismissed
for partisan reasons.

1930
01:59:54,580 --> 01:59:56,100
We'd also discover

1931
01:59:56,300 --> 01:59:57,900
a wide variety of films,

1932
01:59:58,020 --> 02:00:00,380
<i>from Jean Rouch's I, a Negro</i>

1933
02:00:00,540 --> 02:00:03,540
to shorts by Jacques Demy and Resnais,

1934
02:00:03,820 --> 02:00:07,354
<i>or Le Garcon Sauvage
by the often criticized director,</i>

1935
02:00:07,460 --> 02:00:10,060
sometimes rightly, Jean Delannoy.

1936
02:00:10,260 --> 02:00:12,194
As Jacques Lourcelles writes,

1937
02:00:12,340 --> 02:00:15,260
"Delannoy describes
with tranquil audacity

1938
02:00:15,420 --> 02:00:18,060
the green paradise
of childhood loves,

1939
02:00:18,260 --> 02:00:19,340
where the mother

1940
02:00:19,500 --> 02:00:21,900
is the love object
of a demanding son

1941
02:00:22,100 --> 02:00:23,700
of a frustrated mother."

1942
02:00:24,740 --> 02:00:27,116
<i>- We'll always be together?
- Always.</i>

1943
02:00:27,140 --> 02:00:28,620
<i>Just the two of us?</i>

1944
02:00:29,020 --> 02:00:30,900
An extraordinary actor trio

1945
02:00:31,060 --> 02:00:33,460
and a great role
for Franck Villard.

1946
02:00:33,620 --> 02:00:36,100
<i>But you know
your mother was pained.</i>

1947
02:00:36,420 --> 02:00:39,180
<i>It didn't bother you
to see she suffered?</i>

1948
02:00:39,380 --> 02:00:41,740
<i>To see she was unhappy?</i>

1949
02:00:42,500 --> 02:00:44,180
<i>A swell son you have.</i>

1950
02:00:46,300 --> 02:00:48,860
<i>You raised him well. What a disgrace!</i>

1951
02:00:49,020 --> 02:00:51,154
<i>He hardly even deserves parents.</i>

1952
02:00:51,340 --> 02:00:53,500
<i>I'm not an interesting mother.</i>

1953
02:00:53,940 --> 02:00:55,820
<i>But I swear, I care for him.</i>

1954
02:00:55,980 --> 02:00:58,740
<i>I believe you, but as for him,</i>

1955
02:00:59,180 --> 02:01:01,500
<i>you're the only person he loves.</i>

1956
02:01:02,820 --> 02:01:06,540
<i>He told you he fell in the water
one night, by accident.</i>

1957
02:01:07,580 --> 02:01:09,140
<i>It's not true.</i>

1958
02:01:09,980 --> 02:01:12,820
<i>He told me the truth,
just an hour ago.</i>

1959
02:01:13,540 --> 02:01:14,740
<i>My little boy...</i>

1960
02:01:14,900 --> 02:01:18,260
<i>That's what love is when you're 11.</i>

1961
02:01:19,340 --> 02:01:20,340
<i>My darling.</i>

1962
02:01:27,740 --> 02:01:30,674
<i>There are children
you have to make into men.</i>

1963
02:01:30,740 --> 02:01:33,060
<i>He's rather the opposite:</i>

1964
02:01:33,340 --> 02:01:35,900
<i>a man you have to make into a kid.</i>

1965
02:01:36,740 --> 02:01:38,874
<i>The door closes on the Algerian.</i>

1966
02:01:38,980 --> 02:01:42,260
<i>Don't go away.
October 17 continues.</i>

1967
02:01:42,500 --> 02:01:45,396
After many incidents,
we finally managed to see

1968
02:01:45,420 --> 02:01:50,220
<i>Octobre a Paris about the crackdown
on the Algerian demonstration in 1961</i>

1969
02:01:50,380 --> 02:01:52,660
that they tried to ban.

1970
02:01:53,660 --> 02:01:55,500
<i>But on February 8,</i>

1971
02:01:55,700 --> 02:01:59,034
<i>I witnessed a policeman
who had voluntarily killed.</i>

1972
02:01:59,220 --> 02:02:03,900
For we were into politics,
contrary to the myth about cinephiles.

1973
02:02:04,060 --> 02:02:05,500
That night,

1974
02:02:05,700 --> 02:02:08,167
the police closed theaters showing it

1975
02:02:08,300 --> 02:02:10,340
and cordoned off the area.

1976
02:02:11,060 --> 02:02:13,980
We finally saw the film at a film club

1977
02:02:14,180 --> 02:02:16,180
specialized in Chinese cinema.

1978
02:02:17,300 --> 02:02:19,900
There Bernard Martinand
took us to sheds

1979
02:02:19,940 --> 02:02:23,580
filled with thousands of cans of film.

1980
02:02:23,780 --> 02:02:27,300
A small distributor, E. G. Muller,
collected them

1981
02:02:27,460 --> 02:02:30,260
to destroy them
and turn them into combs.

1982
02:02:30,700 --> 02:02:32,620
He readily agreed

1983
02:02:32,780 --> 02:02:35,620
to sell us the titles we wanted.

1984
02:02:35,780 --> 02:02:39,380
That's how we bought
the French version

1985
02:02:39,540 --> 02:02:42,900
<i>of Samuel Fuller's first film,
I Shot Jesse James,</i>

1986
02:02:43,060 --> 02:02:45,420
a totally zany Ulmer

1987
02:02:45,620 --> 02:02:49,300
<i>shot in Super-Cinecolor:
Babes in Bagdad,</i>

1988
02:02:49,460 --> 02:02:51,940
and two nitrate prints,

1989
02:02:52,100 --> 02:02:54,260
- in other words, inflammable -

1990
02:02:54,420 --> 02:02:57,180
of two major Edmond T. Greville films:

1991
02:02:57,380 --> 02:03:00,314
<i>Pour une Nuit d'Amour,
and Le Diable Souffle.</i>

1992
02:03:00,460 --> 02:03:02,620
Very early on - I was 19 -

1993
02:03:02,780 --> 02:03:06,940
I was attuned to the problem
of film survival and preservation.

1994
02:03:07,660 --> 02:03:09,980
The subject was never broached

1995
02:03:10,180 --> 02:03:12,180
in the movie magazines I read.

1996
02:03:12,300 --> 02:03:15,620
It was those 2 films, that we saved,

1997
02:03:16,460 --> 02:03:19,594
that introduced me
to Edmond T. Greville's work.

1998
02:03:26,260 --> 02:03:28,436
<i>As she leaves,
grab her by the arm...</i>

1999
02:03:28,460 --> 02:03:30,940
The prince of fringe directors.

2000
02:03:31,100 --> 02:03:34,940
This pastor's son spent his career
shuttling between

2001
02:03:35,140 --> 02:03:36,380
France and England

2002
02:03:36,740 --> 02:03:39,820
and shooting films the world over.

2003
02:03:40,060 --> 02:03:42,740
When I met him with a few friends

2004
02:03:42,900 --> 02:03:45,967
he had trouble completing
his personal projects

2005
02:03:46,060 --> 02:03:47,980
<i>like La Dame de Monsoreau.</i>

2006
02:03:48,180 --> 02:03:49,540
He was broke.

2007
02:03:49,780 --> 02:03:53,714
Sometimes I had to lend him money,
and I was just a student.

2008
02:03:55,900 --> 02:03:58,380
<i>How sad to leave
all this already.</i>

2009
02:03:58,540 --> 02:04:02,860
Greville's best films
are full of ideas.

2010
02:04:09,940 --> 02:04:12,100
<i>Remous is staggeringly bold.</i>

2011
02:04:12,300 --> 02:04:14,860
The subject: sexual impotence.

2012
02:04:15,020 --> 02:04:19,820
The hero played by Jean Galland
becomes impotent after a car crash.

2013
02:04:23,620 --> 02:04:24,860
The film analyzes

2014
02:04:25,060 --> 02:04:27,660
the consequences of such impotence.

2015
02:04:27,820 --> 02:04:29,940
And it does so with compassion

2016
02:04:30,100 --> 02:04:32,620
and care for the characters.

2017
02:04:32,780 --> 02:04:35,300
Both for the character of the wife,

2018
02:04:35,780 --> 02:04:39,180
a sexually frustrated woman
played by Jeanne Boitel,

2019
02:04:39,260 --> 02:04:40,594
and for the husband.

2020
02:04:41,060 --> 02:04:44,700
In fact, desire and sexual frustration

2021
02:04:44,860 --> 02:04:46,780
as well as voyeurism

2022
02:04:46,940 --> 02:04:50,674
are the driving themes
of nearly all of Greville's films.

2023
02:04:51,740 --> 02:04:53,820
<i>Let's go home.</i>

2024
02:04:58,020 --> 02:05:02,500
His directing style
blends a deep love for silent films

2025
02:05:02,660 --> 02:05:06,927
with very modern ideas for shots,
moments of searing intensity...

2026
02:05:20,260 --> 02:05:23,260
"Image play"
as you might say word play.

2027
02:05:23,620 --> 02:05:27,580
This lends them an absolutely
inimitable tone.

2028
02:05:31,100 --> 02:05:32,540
<i>I love you.</i>

2029
02:05:34,260 --> 02:05:36,540
<i>You're the only one I ever loved.</i>

2030
02:05:37,740 --> 02:05:39,900
<i>I'll never love anyone but you.</i>

2031
02:05:42,980 --> 02:05:45,260
<i>I've never doubted it, Jeanne.</i>

2032
02:05:46,740 --> 02:05:48,020
<i>You hear me?</i>

2033
02:05:49,740 --> 02:05:50,980
<i>Never.</i>

2034
02:06:28,420 --> 02:06:29,740
<i>Henri!</i>

2035
02:06:36,660 --> 02:06:39,540
<i>One mustn't overlook Menaces...</i>

2036
02:06:39,700 --> 02:06:42,500
which remains
one of his most personal,

2037
02:06:42,660 --> 02:06:44,180
successful films.

2038
02:06:52,420 --> 02:06:54,436
Hitler's speeches heard throughout

2039
02:06:54,460 --> 02:06:56,994
are all contemporaneous with the film.

2040
02:07:05,740 --> 02:07:09,796
<i>You have foreign lodgers,
but decent folk. Elsewhere, look out.</i>

2041
02:07:09,820 --> 02:07:11,756
<i>- Why's that?
- Because of events.</i>

2042
02:07:11,780 --> 02:07:13,380
<i>The tensions in Europe.</i>

2043
02:07:13,540 --> 02:07:16,740
<i>Here, French and foreigners
form one big family.</i>

2044
02:07:18,460 --> 02:07:19,756
<i>Why, Mademoiselle Denise...</i>

2045
02:07:19,780 --> 02:07:24,140
<i>Menaces... tells the story
of refugees stuck in a hotel.</i>

2046
02:07:25,060 --> 02:07:27,594
There are Italians,
French and British,

2047
02:07:28,020 --> 02:07:31,300
and Dr. Hoffman
played by Eric von Stroheim.

2048
02:07:32,020 --> 02:07:33,154
<i>To say the least,</i>

2049
02:07:33,340 --> 02:07:36,836
<i>especially in Mr. Hoffman's case,
without family or country,</i>

2050
02:07:36,860 --> 02:07:38,940
<i>an exile with a mutilated face.</i>

2051
02:07:39,140 --> 02:07:41,620
Stroheim was Greville's god.

2052
02:07:41,780 --> 02:07:45,580
<i>He'd wanted him to play the director
in Marchand d'Amour.</i>

2053
02:07:45,740 --> 02:07:48,860
So he was thrilled
to be able to work with him.

2054
02:07:49,020 --> 02:07:51,420
Stroheim arrived and declared,

2055
02:07:51,580 --> 02:07:54,647
"I'd like the character
to be a legless cripple

2056
02:07:54,780 --> 02:07:58,380
that kids hoist up to the 7th floor."

2057
02:07:58,700 --> 02:08:00,076
Greville was appalled.

2058
02:08:00,100 --> 02:08:03,167
He couldn't deal with
a cripple the whole film.

2059
02:08:03,620 --> 02:08:05,860
He had a flash of inspiration.

2060
02:08:06,340 --> 02:08:08,260
He said to Stroheim,

2061
02:08:08,420 --> 02:08:10,380
"I've got a better idea.

2062
02:08:10,540 --> 02:08:12,820
Your face has been damaged,

2063
02:08:12,980 --> 02:08:15,540
half of it destroyed in WWI,

2064
02:08:15,700 --> 02:08:20,660
and you wear a mask
to cover that part of your face.

2065
02:08:20,820 --> 02:08:23,740
It's a little like a Janus mask:

2066
02:08:23,900 --> 02:08:27,300
one side is war, the other is peace."

2067
02:08:27,460 --> 02:08:31,060
Stroheim loved the idea
and forgot about the cripple.

2068
02:08:31,500 --> 02:08:32,700
<i>Tomorrow,</i>

2069
02:08:34,020 --> 02:08:37,940
<i>the sky will be rent
by airplanes, bombs,</i>

2070
02:08:38,100 --> 02:08:40,980
<i>attacks, explosions of shrapnel.</i>

2071
02:08:42,820 --> 02:08:45,900
<i>A sky full of steel, fire,</i>

2072
02:08:46,740 --> 02:08:48,460
<i>and poison gas.</i>

2073
02:08:48,620 --> 02:08:49,887
<i>But I want to live!</i>

2074
02:08:51,940 --> 02:08:53,620
<i>To live,</i>

2075
02:08:54,820 --> 02:08:57,100
<i>you must be able to love.</i>

2076
02:08:57,300 --> 02:09:01,460
<i>Menaces... is the only French film
openly against Munich.</i>

2077
02:09:01,620 --> 02:09:03,700
The negative was saved

2078
02:09:03,900 --> 02:09:06,620
by LTC lab employees who buried it

2079
02:09:06,780 --> 02:09:09,356
and prevented the Nazis
from destroying it.

2080
02:09:09,380 --> 02:09:11,514
At Liberation, Greville figured,

2081
02:09:11,660 --> 02:09:15,260
since he was the last
to make a movie before the war,

2082
02:09:15,420 --> 02:09:18,116
he'd make the first movie
after Liberation,

2083
02:09:18,140 --> 02:09:19,596
and he shot an epilogue.

2084
02:09:19,620 --> 02:09:22,900
But all the actors who played
resistance fighters,

2085
02:09:23,060 --> 02:09:24,900
the antifascists,

2086
02:09:25,100 --> 02:09:27,500
were in jail or banned from working

2087
02:09:27,700 --> 02:09:29,716
for collaboration. All of them!

2088
02:09:29,740 --> 02:09:32,220
Ginette Leclerc, Jean Galland...

2089
02:09:32,420 --> 02:09:34,260
So he chose

2090
02:09:34,460 --> 02:09:37,660
the daughter of a concierge
who looked like

2091
02:09:37,860 --> 02:09:39,740
Ginette Leclerc

2092
02:09:39,940 --> 02:09:41,020
and used her.

2093
02:09:45,860 --> 02:09:49,380
At Liberation, he undertook
a very personal work,

2094
02:09:49,540 --> 02:09:50,740
<i>Le Diable Souffle.</i>

2095
02:09:50,780 --> 02:09:51,860
<i>The wind,</i>

2096
02:09:52,620 --> 02:09:55,500
<i>this cold wind from the Pyrenees,</i>

2097
02:09:55,700 --> 02:09:58,700
<i>which churns up the sky
and reeds as it blows,</i>

2098
02:09:59,420 --> 02:10:02,860
<i>this is the main character
of our story.</i>

2099
02:10:03,380 --> 02:10:04,836
<i>But there are others...</i>

2100
02:10:04,860 --> 02:10:07,076
Another story of sexual frustration,

2101
02:10:07,100 --> 02:10:09,540
between two men and a woman,

2102
02:10:09,700 --> 02:10:13,156
confined to an isolated place,
another Greville obsession.

2103
02:10:13,180 --> 02:10:15,780
Here it's an island threatened
by flood.

2104
02:10:15,820 --> 02:10:18,780
As the proverb Greville made up goes,

2105
02:10:18,940 --> 02:10:22,900
"Woman is fire, man is oakum,
and the devil blows."

2106
02:10:23,100 --> 02:10:25,660
It was a very low-budget production.

2107
02:10:25,820 --> 02:10:28,100
The Rhone wasn't running high.

2108
02:10:28,780 --> 02:10:32,100
Greville and Alekan
came up with some tricks

2109
02:10:32,300 --> 02:10:34,036
to make us believe a flood.

2110
02:10:34,060 --> 02:10:36,300
They planted trees,

2111
02:10:36,500 --> 02:10:39,301
and as the shoot progressed,
they cut them.

2112
02:10:39,500 --> 02:10:43,460
The water wasn't rising,
the trees were shrinking.

2113
02:10:55,060 --> 02:10:57,140
<i>I did what I could.</i>

2114
02:10:59,380 --> 02:11:00,500
<i>She's dead.</i>

2115
02:11:08,140 --> 02:11:09,500
<i>Dead...</i>

2116
02:11:09,980 --> 02:11:11,740
<i>The Devil has blown.</i>

2117
02:11:13,140 --> 02:11:14,420
<i>She's gone.</i>

2118
02:11:16,420 --> 02:11:17,620
<i>Murderer!</i>

2119
02:11:44,020 --> 02:11:45,860
Paradoxically, it's easier

2120
02:11:46,060 --> 02:11:48,194
to see the films
shot in England,

2121
02:11:48,300 --> 02:11:51,340
some of which are excellent.

2122
02:11:51,500 --> 02:11:52,956
<i>For instance, Brief Ecstasy,</i>

2123
02:11:52,980 --> 02:11:54,956
that Graham Greene championed,

2124
02:11:54,980 --> 02:11:57,420
<i>Secret Lives and especially Noose,</i>

2125
02:11:57,580 --> 02:11:58,700
a film noir

2126
02:11:58,860 --> 02:12:02,540
that's incredibly inventive
visually speaking.

2127
02:12:10,340 --> 02:12:12,940
Talking with
passionate young cinephiles

2128
02:12:12,980 --> 02:12:14,500
and seeing his films,

2129
02:12:14,660 --> 02:12:16,540
boosted Greville

2130
02:12:16,700 --> 02:12:18,980
and gave him new energy.

2131
02:12:19,940 --> 02:12:22,900
He undertook 2 new films,

2132
02:12:23,060 --> 02:12:25,516
<i>Les Menteurs, not bad,
and L'Accident,</i>

2133
02:12:25,540 --> 02:12:28,020
wrote an original screenplay,

2134
02:12:28,180 --> 02:12:30,116
and started writing his memoirs,

2135
02:12:30,140 --> 02:12:33,100
his fascinating, comical memoirs.

2136
02:12:33,300 --> 02:12:34,580
But unfortunately,

2137
02:12:34,740 --> 02:12:37,540
he died prematurely.

2138
02:12:38,060 --> 02:12:41,780
My friends from the Nickel Odeon
all had to chip in

2139
02:12:41,940 --> 02:12:43,700
to pay for his funeral.

2140
02:12:44,780 --> 02:12:46,860
And when the news came out,

2141
02:12:47,020 --> 02:12:49,940
we got a very moving letter
from Rene Clair

2142
02:12:50,740 --> 02:12:54,100
who spoke very highly of Greville,

2143
02:12:54,300 --> 02:12:56,260
expressed his admiration,

2144
02:12:56,420 --> 02:12:59,996
<i>reminded us that he'd directed him
in Sous les Toits de Paris,</i>

2145
02:13:00,020 --> 02:13:01,820
and sent us a check.

2146
02:13:02,980 --> 02:13:05,020
Decades later

2147
02:13:05,180 --> 02:13:08,340
I was finally able
to publish his memoirs,

2148
02:13:08,500 --> 02:13:10,036
unfortunately incomplete,

2149
02:13:10,060 --> 02:13:13,260
and the first novel
he wrote at age 19,

2150
02:13:13,420 --> 02:13:15,580
<i>Supprime par I'Ascenseur.</i>

2151
02:13:22,540 --> 02:13:25,020
<i>Here, as they tell it in Montmartre,</i>

2152
02:13:25,340 --> 02:13:27,074
<i>is the strange story of...</i>

2153
02:13:34,140 --> 02:13:38,020
In Lyon,
there was a theater called Le Club

2154
02:13:38,180 --> 02:13:40,396
<i>where I discovered Bob le Flambeur.</i>

2155
02:13:40,420 --> 02:13:42,460
The theater was particular

2156
02:13:42,620 --> 02:13:45,836
in that it had a strip tease number
at intermission.

2157
02:13:45,860 --> 02:13:48,020
I went back 3 times that week,

2158
02:13:48,220 --> 02:13:51,476
not just for the strip tease,
which was pretty basic.

2159
02:13:51,500 --> 02:13:56,380
A girl took off her clothes
on a shabby little stage.

2160
02:13:56,540 --> 02:13:58,474
She was sitting on a chair...

2161
02:13:58,940 --> 02:14:01,516
But the film made
a big impression on me.

2162
02:14:01,540 --> 02:14:06,260
The voiceover narration by Melville
had me hooked from the start.

2163
02:14:06,420 --> 02:14:10,087
<i>The story begins in those minutes
between night and day,</i>

2164
02:14:10,460 --> 02:14:12,380
<i>by the dawn's early light.</i>

2165
02:14:12,900 --> 02:14:15,580
<i>Montmartre is both Heaven and...</i>

2166
02:14:21,940 --> 02:14:26,220
The shots of daybreak over Pigalle
had me hooked.

2167
02:14:26,380 --> 02:14:27,660
<i>...Hell.</i>

2168
02:14:33,300 --> 02:14:35,420
<i>The neons are about to go out.</i>

2169
02:14:41,180 --> 02:14:43,756
<i>People pass one another,
forever strangers.</i>

2170
02:14:43,780 --> 02:14:47,620
<i>Working people, like
this cleaning lady, who's very late.</i>

2171
02:14:47,860 --> 02:14:50,660
<i>And idlers, like this young girl</i>

2172
02:14:50,820 --> 02:14:53,300
<i>way ahead of her years.</i>

2173
02:14:57,220 --> 02:15:01,660
<i>With time, I came to think
Bob le Flambeur was overrated.</i>

2174
02:15:03,940 --> 02:15:08,007
A few unusual scenes, like the casing
of the Deauville casino,

2175
02:15:08,060 --> 02:15:10,927
filmed in real time
without back projection,

2176
02:15:12,820 --> 02:15:17,340
the casual feeling created by
the offhand tone of the narration,

2177
02:15:17,660 --> 02:15:22,300
that made up for
Auguste Le Breton's mediocre dialogue,

2178
02:15:22,740 --> 02:15:25,420
and a rather conventional screenplay.

2179
02:15:26,620 --> 02:15:28,756
There was the charm
of Roger Duchene

2180
02:15:28,780 --> 02:15:31,900
whose life resembled Bob's,

2181
02:15:32,060 --> 02:15:34,916
and the stunning presence
of Isabelle Corey,

2182
02:15:34,940 --> 02:15:36,980
sexy and innocent...

2183
02:15:37,180 --> 02:15:38,676
<i>I don't need a guardian.</i>

2184
02:15:38,700 --> 02:15:40,260
<i>Just a spanking.</i>

2185
02:15:40,420 --> 02:15:41,396
...and perverse.

2186
02:15:41,420 --> 02:15:44,354
<i>It's dangerous to listen
to a sidewalk Romeo.</i>

2187
02:15:44,420 --> 02:15:46,354
<i>Defending widows and orphans?</i>

2188
02:15:46,380 --> 02:15:48,996
<i>One more crack
and you'll get your spanking.</i>

2189
02:15:49,020 --> 02:15:50,220
<i>Dare you!</i>

2190
02:15:56,180 --> 02:15:59,716
<i>Deux hommes dans Manhattan
sent us into even greater raptures.</i>

2191
02:15:59,740 --> 02:16:03,460
Again, the charm and beauty
of a few nighttime shots,

2192
02:16:03,620 --> 02:16:06,754
a couple of them filmed
by Francois Reichenbach,

2193
02:16:07,380 --> 02:16:11,900
the tracking shot highlighting
Christian Chevalier's lovely song,

2194
02:16:12,060 --> 02:16:15,127
shot on the main sound stage
of Jenner Studios,

2195
02:16:15,260 --> 02:16:17,594
were disserved by a mediocre script

2196
02:16:17,740 --> 02:16:20,860
with a string of red herrings.

2197
02:16:38,580 --> 02:16:42,314
Narrative freedom was confused
with the lack of a script.

2198
02:16:42,740 --> 02:16:46,420
The performance by Melville,
a dubious actor...

2199
02:16:48,060 --> 02:16:50,594
...made the film even more amateurish.

2200
02:16:50,740 --> 02:16:53,274
Three-quarters of it was shot
in Paris.

2201
02:16:58,420 --> 02:17:01,996
<i>I wrote an outrageous piece
about Deux hommes dans Manhattan</i>

2202
02:17:02,020 --> 02:17:04,821
in the magazine we started
at the Sorbonne:

2203
02:17:04,980 --> 02:17:06,220
<i>L'Etrave.</i>

2204
02:17:06,500 --> 02:17:09,180
Other contributors included

2205
02:17:09,380 --> 02:17:11,380
Frederic Vitoux, who joined

2206
02:17:11,580 --> 02:17:12,916
the Academie Francaise,

2207
02:17:12,940 --> 02:17:17,740
<i>and Rene Cleitman, who would produce
Life and Nothing But and Fresh Bait.</i>

2208
02:17:18,980 --> 02:17:21,900
I used the article
to contact Melville,

2209
02:17:22,060 --> 02:17:24,380
who greeted me in his studios

2210
02:17:24,540 --> 02:17:26,780
at 25B rue Jenner.

2211
02:17:26,980 --> 02:17:30,300
An extraordinarily powerful moment.

2212
02:17:32,700 --> 02:17:35,700
He was the first director I'd met.

2213
02:17:35,860 --> 02:17:38,180
And he had his own studios.

2214
02:17:38,540 --> 02:17:40,396
I'd spend many months there,

2215
02:17:40,420 --> 02:17:44,420
waiting hours in the small offices
to the right as you enter.

2216
02:17:44,580 --> 02:17:47,647
Through this window,
I'd see Melville arriving,

2217
02:17:47,780 --> 02:17:49,700
3 or 4 hours late,

2218
02:17:49,980 --> 02:17:54,514
broken up by reassuring phone calls.
"I'm coming, buddy, don't move."

2219
02:17:59,220 --> 02:18:03,540
To make up for it, he'd drive me
around Paris in his American car

2220
02:18:03,700 --> 02:18:06,780
raising and lowering
the electric windows.

2221
02:18:07,700 --> 02:18:09,620
We'd go see a movie or two,

2222
02:18:09,780 --> 02:18:13,140
then after dinner
he'd take me up to Montmartre

2223
02:18:13,340 --> 02:18:14,240
or Pigalle,

2224
02:18:14,300 --> 02:18:16,596
<i>like the cops in Le Doulos,
showing me</i>

2225
02:18:16,620 --> 02:18:18,887
high spots of crime or Resistance.

2226
02:18:18,980 --> 02:18:21,180
He was a great storyteller.

2227
02:18:29,060 --> 02:18:30,620
He was an insomniac

2228
02:18:30,820 --> 02:18:34,220
and never got me home
before 3 or 4 in the morning.

2229
02:18:34,940 --> 02:18:37,860
He wanted to form my film education.

2230
02:18:38,020 --> 02:18:40,660
He'd impress me or rebuff me.

2231
02:18:41,300 --> 02:18:45,434
<i>"Raoul Walsh is crap, except
Strawberry Blonde, a masterpiece."</i>

2232
02:18:45,540 --> 02:18:48,380
He had 2 categories of films,

2233
02:18:48,540 --> 02:18:50,420
crap and masterpieces.

2234
02:18:50,900 --> 02:18:54,100
He seemed to enjoy
having young cinephiles

2235
02:18:54,260 --> 02:18:56,300
at his disposal night and day.

2236
02:18:58,620 --> 02:19:01,620
Jean-Pierre Melville
went to see my parents

2237
02:19:01,780 --> 02:19:04,447
to talk them
into letting me make movies.

2238
02:19:04,620 --> 02:19:06,620
Claude Sautet did the same.

2239
02:19:06,860 --> 02:19:09,036
They were my two movie godfathers.

2240
02:19:09,060 --> 02:19:11,900
And Melville even gave me
my first job:

2241
02:19:12,060 --> 02:19:14,820
<i>intern on Leon Morin, Priest.</i>

2242
02:19:16,940 --> 02:19:19,740
I became
Volker Schlondorff's assistant

2243
02:19:19,900 --> 02:19:23,316
as he'd been promoted
to first assistant on the film,

2244
02:19:23,340 --> 02:19:27,340
and Melville even asked him
to play a bit part,

2245
02:19:27,500 --> 02:19:29,316
like here, a German soldier.

2246
02:19:29,340 --> 02:19:30,540
<i>I didn't see...</i>

2247
02:19:33,220 --> 02:19:35,620
It was a thrilling experience

2248
02:19:36,180 --> 02:19:38,300
but often a nightmare.

2249
02:19:43,140 --> 02:19:46,700
He'd humiliate members of the crew
in public,

2250
02:19:46,940 --> 02:19:50,620
like the set designer
in front of everyone,

2251
02:19:50,780 --> 02:19:53,620
by slashing wallpaper he didn't like.

2252
02:19:54,300 --> 02:19:58,380
<i>He chewed me out
for recommending Moonfleet to him.</i>

2253
02:19:58,860 --> 02:20:00,820
Henri Decae whispered to me,

2254
02:20:00,980 --> 02:20:02,300
"You're right."

2255
02:20:04,540 --> 02:20:06,780
He'd often fall out with actors

2256
02:20:07,020 --> 02:20:09,676
<i>he'd adored. With Belmondo,
during L'Aine des Ferchaux.</i>

2257
02:20:09,700 --> 02:20:10,980
<i>It's 12:45 now.</i>

2258
02:20:11,180 --> 02:20:14,380
<i>He's right. Having us come
when nothing is ready!</i>

2259
02:20:14,420 --> 02:20:16,554
<i>Waste of time.
We're not stooges!</i>

2260
02:20:16,740 --> 02:20:18,476
<i>I'm fed up too, Mr. Melville.</i>

2261
02:20:18,500 --> 02:20:20,620
<i>I've had it. Up to here!</i>

2262
02:20:20,980 --> 02:20:22,780
<i>- I'm no stooge.
- And I am?</i>

2263
02:20:22,820 --> 02:20:25,396
<i>I'm kept waiting.
Yesterday it was 8 to 11.</i>

2264
02:20:25,420 --> 02:20:26,580
<i>Think I enjoy it?</i>

2265
02:20:26,740 --> 02:20:29,407
<i>You were in your bathtub.
I'm not stupid.</i>

2266
02:20:29,500 --> 02:20:30,756
<i>- When?
- Yesterday.</i>

2267
02:20:30,780 --> 02:20:34,340
<i>I wait while Mr. Melville
looks for his cufflinks!</i>

2268
02:20:34,860 --> 02:20:37,060
<i>I've had it with big shots!</i>

2269
02:20:37,620 --> 02:20:40,140
<i>With Lino Ventura
in Army of Shadows,</i>

2270
02:20:40,300 --> 02:20:43,380
they only spoke
through the assistant.

2271
02:20:43,580 --> 02:20:47,340
I was present
at a number of scenes like this...

2272
02:20:47,500 --> 02:20:50,300
Melville: "Mr. Pellegrin,

2273
02:20:50,500 --> 02:20:54,500
please ask Mr. Ventura to enter
and hang his hat on the peg."

2274
02:20:55,300 --> 02:20:57,556
Georges Pellegrin would take 2 steps

2275
02:20:57,580 --> 02:21:00,780
and repeat what Ventura
had just heard.

2276
02:21:01,020 --> 02:21:04,220
"Mr. Pellegrin,
please ask Mr. Melville

2277
02:21:04,380 --> 02:21:08,500
if I should hang up my coat
as well as my hat."

2278
02:21:08,660 --> 02:21:12,396
<i>They arrived during the night.
There was no one when I went by.</i>

2279
02:21:12,420 --> 02:21:16,060
It's a miracle
the film didn't suffer for a second.

2280
02:21:16,260 --> 02:21:18,156
I'd almost say, on the contrary.

2281
02:21:18,180 --> 02:21:20,596
<i>Everything is ready
for the interrogation.</i>

2282
02:21:20,620 --> 02:21:23,260
<i>I set out a table and chairs.</i>

2283
02:21:23,420 --> 02:21:25,156
<i>We're not here for a trial.</i>

2284
02:21:25,180 --> 02:21:26,660
<i>We're here for this.</i>

2285
02:21:26,900 --> 02:21:29,196
Still, he had a huge influence
on me.

2286
02:21:29,220 --> 02:21:32,876
It was fascinating
to watch him plan reverse angle shots

2287
02:21:32,900 --> 02:21:34,580
with maniacal precision.

2288
02:21:34,740 --> 02:21:37,074
<i>For instance in Leon Morin, Priest.</i>

2289
02:21:37,580 --> 02:21:40,114
<i>Your hands are still pure,
aren't they?</i>

2290
02:21:44,980 --> 02:21:46,180
<i>No, Father.</i>

2291
02:21:46,500 --> 02:21:49,234
<i>Your body is the temple
of the Holy Ghost.</i>

2292
02:21:49,580 --> 02:21:51,620
<i>You owe it the utmost respect.</i>

2293
02:21:53,740 --> 02:21:55,740
<i>Isn't the human body wondrous?</i>

2294
02:21:55,860 --> 02:21:56,760
<i>Yes.</i>

2295
02:21:57,020 --> 02:21:58,754
<i>Then you mustn't abuse it.</i>

2296
02:21:59,300 --> 02:22:01,196
<i>You will cease your depravity?</i>

2297
02:22:01,220 --> 02:22:02,180
<i>I will.</i>

2298
02:22:03,420 --> 02:22:05,300
<i>Are you kind at the office?</i>

2299
02:22:06,180 --> 02:22:08,860
<i>The girls hate me for converting.</i>

2300
02:22:09,100 --> 02:22:12,020
<i>Melville used the shot-reverse shot.</i>

2301
02:22:12,260 --> 02:22:16,060
<i>He said, "It may not be modern,
but it sure does the job."</i>

2302
02:22:16,180 --> 02:22:18,860
<i>And he wasn't sloppy about it,</i>

2303
02:22:19,020 --> 02:22:24,020
<i>he used it with a precision
unseen with any other director.</i>

2304
02:22:24,620 --> 02:22:27,460
<i>If he were to do
a shot-reverse shot on us,</i>

2305
02:22:27,620 --> 02:22:32,020
<i>he'd measure the distance
between the lens and your eye.</i>

2306
02:22:32,220 --> 02:22:33,780
<i>58 cm.</i>

2307
02:22:33,980 --> 02:22:35,780
<i>For the reverse shot,</i>

2308
02:22:35,940 --> 02:22:40,020
<i>I'd have to be exactly 58 cm away:</i>

2309
02:22:40,220 --> 02:22:42,554
<i>the eye in the center
of the camera,</i>

2310
02:22:42,620 --> 02:22:45,660
<i>so that our looks could really meet.</i>

2311
02:22:45,820 --> 02:22:48,980
<i>And then there was the width
of the shots,</i>

2312
02:22:49,700 --> 02:22:52,740
<i>which he carefully chose.</i>

2313
02:22:52,940 --> 02:22:57,020
<i>And suddenly
taking this shot-reverse shot cliche,</i>

2314
02:22:57,220 --> 02:23:00,700
<i>the dumbest way to work out a scene,</i>

2315
02:23:00,860 --> 02:23:02,420
<i>he made it into an art.</i>

2316
02:23:02,700 --> 02:23:05,780
<i>From the Avenue Mozart job.
You were behind it.</i>

2317
02:23:09,060 --> 02:23:12,036
<i>You're misinformed.
I had nothing to do with it.</i>

2318
02:23:12,060 --> 02:23:13,500
<i>I make enough money.</i>

2319
02:23:13,660 --> 02:23:14,740
<i>I don't care.</i>

2320
02:23:15,540 --> 02:23:19,340
<i>I have the jewels.
I need a certain sum of money.</i>

2321
02:23:20,620 --> 02:23:22,940
<i>I'd gladly help you out.</i>

2322
02:23:24,180 --> 02:23:25,980
<i>You don't even have to...</i>

2323
02:23:29,620 --> 02:23:31,660
<i>Who did you phone just now?</i>

2324
02:23:32,660 --> 02:23:33,900
<i>The cemetery.</i>

2325
02:23:34,060 --> 02:23:36,927
<i>To reserve a plot,
in case you don't behave.</i>

2326
02:23:42,300 --> 02:23:46,660
He used his studio masterfully,
aside from the stages.

2327
02:23:46,820 --> 02:23:50,796
There wasn't a single space that
wasn't filmed at least 3, 4 times.

2328
02:23:50,820 --> 02:23:53,580
This corridor along the bar

2329
02:23:53,780 --> 02:23:57,700
is transformed
into an American hospital.

2330
02:24:05,660 --> 02:24:06,940
The studio door

2331
02:24:07,140 --> 02:24:11,340
<i>serves as building entrance
again in Deux hommes dans Manhattan,</i>

2332
02:24:12,900 --> 02:24:15,020
as the entrance to nightclubs

2333
02:24:15,300 --> 02:24:16,700
<i>in Le Doulos,</i>

2334
02:24:19,060 --> 02:24:20,660
<i>Le Samourai.</i>

2335
02:24:22,780 --> 02:24:24,676
He'd always ask his assistants

2336
02:24:24,700 --> 02:24:27,540
to integrate the studio's back stairs

2337
02:24:27,700 --> 02:24:29,940
leading to the second floor.

2338
02:24:33,060 --> 02:24:36,100
<i>The staircase figures in Le Doulos.</i>

2339
02:24:48,420 --> 02:24:50,620
<i>And in Le Samourai.</i>

2340
02:24:52,740 --> 02:24:56,300
As does the garage entrance
behind the studios

2341
02:24:56,460 --> 02:24:58,100
on a side street.

2342
02:25:00,380 --> 02:25:01,420
<i>The tank full?</i>

2343
02:25:01,580 --> 02:25:02,980
<i>All set, Mr. Bob.</i>

2344
02:25:06,060 --> 02:25:09,380
Usually cars go in and out

2345
02:25:09,580 --> 02:25:11,780
to the sound of a dog barking.

2346
02:25:14,780 --> 02:25:18,076
I don't think he was good at writing
original screenplays.

2347
02:25:18,100 --> 02:25:19,300
I'm not convinced

2348
02:25:19,500 --> 02:25:21,940
<i>by Deux hommes
or by Le Cercle Rouge</i>

2349
02:25:22,140 --> 02:25:23,220
<i>or by Un Flic.</i>

2350
02:25:32,500 --> 02:25:34,420
<i>Le Samourai, far better,</i>

2351
02:25:34,580 --> 02:25:36,980
<i>still copies This Gun for Hire,</i>

2352
02:25:37,180 --> 02:25:39,580
replacing the cat by a bird.

2353
02:25:42,380 --> 02:25:45,380
But he was a fabulous adapter,

2354
02:25:45,540 --> 02:25:47,620
a fantastic reader.

2355
02:25:47,780 --> 02:25:51,300
He knew immediately
what to take from a book,

2356
02:25:51,780 --> 02:25:54,180
<i>whether it was Le Silence de la Mer,</i>

2357
02:25:54,740 --> 02:25:56,180
<i>or Le Doulos.</i>

2358
02:25:56,340 --> 02:25:57,474
<i>He had the novel.</i>

2359
02:25:57,540 --> 02:26:00,420
<i>He would buy two copies</i>

2360
02:26:00,580 --> 02:26:04,100
<i>to have the front
and back of each page.</i>

2361
02:26:04,820 --> 02:26:09,420
<i>He'd note the passages
he wanted to use.</i>

2362
02:26:09,580 --> 02:26:11,260
<i>I had to cut them out</i>

2363
02:26:11,420 --> 02:26:14,540
<i>and paste them onto blank sheets
of paper.</i>

2364
02:26:14,700 --> 02:26:15,620
<i>Then,</i>

2365
02:26:15,980 --> 02:26:20,100
<i>between the cut-out passages
of the book,</i>

2366
02:26:20,300 --> 02:26:24,100
<i>he'd write his script in:</i>

2367
02:26:24,300 --> 02:26:27,140
<i>continuity shots,
additional dialogue, etc.</i>

2368
02:26:27,660 --> 02:26:29,556
He came up with the great idea

2369
02:26:29,580 --> 02:26:33,100
<i>of having Cocteau narrate
Les Enfants Terribles.</i>

2370
02:26:33,300 --> 02:26:35,980
He also came up with the idea
of using

2371
02:26:36,180 --> 02:26:39,220
Bach and Vivaldi, when Cocteau

2372
02:26:39,420 --> 02:26:42,500
wanted two pianists:
Wiener and Doucet.

2373
02:26:44,980 --> 02:26:46,780
<i>I remember a day</i>

2374
02:26:46,940 --> 02:26:50,356
<i>when I had Cocteau rush over
to stand in front of a microphone</i>

2375
02:26:50,380 --> 02:26:52,420
<i>to record his heartbeat,</i>

2376
02:26:52,660 --> 02:26:56,396
<i>which we hear at one point,
beating in Edouard Dermit's breast</i>

2377
02:26:56,420 --> 02:26:58,087
<i>in Les Enfants Terribles.</i>

2378
02:27:01,300 --> 02:27:04,420
He could be incredibly daring,

2379
02:27:04,580 --> 02:27:09,220
managing to keep Beatrice Beck's
very literary dialogue,

2380
02:27:09,380 --> 02:27:12,500
which Belmondo
and Emmanuelle Riva transcended.

2381
02:27:13,180 --> 02:27:16,647
<i>Why shouldn't the Lord
perform miracles for heretics?</i>

2382
02:27:17,180 --> 02:27:18,980
<i>Does He love them less?</i>

2383
02:27:20,420 --> 02:27:24,900
<i>Under your influence, I came
to imagine that God was Catholic.</i>

2384
02:27:25,940 --> 02:27:28,980
<i>Let's call Him the universal Catholic</i>

2385
02:27:29,180 --> 02:27:31,060
<i>in our profane language.</i>

2386
02:27:31,660 --> 02:27:34,300
<i>Still, He can be
many other things, too.</i>

2387
02:27:35,100 --> 02:27:36,876
<i>You know what our Lord said?</i>

2388
02:27:36,900 --> 02:27:39,620
<i>"In my father's house are many rooms."</i>

2389
02:27:40,180 --> 02:27:42,460
<i>Contradictory rooms?</i>

2390
02:27:43,220 --> 02:27:44,460
<i>Perhaps.</i>

2391
02:27:44,940 --> 02:27:49,007
<i>But the contradictions are mainly
in our mind, Monsignor Mole.</i>

2392
02:27:50,020 --> 02:27:54,700
<i>Melville also transcended
Kessel's book, Army of Shadows.</i>

2393
02:27:56,980 --> 02:27:58,714
<i>We could have saved Felix.</i>

2394
02:27:58,740 --> 02:28:00,060
<i>No we couldn't.</i>

2395
02:28:01,180 --> 02:28:02,420
<i>Nothing, nobody.</i>

2396
02:28:04,540 --> 02:28:06,020
<i>Not even you.</i>

2397
02:28:12,100 --> 02:28:14,740
<i>Besides, the police are after you.</i>

2398
02:28:15,180 --> 02:28:18,060
<i>Lie low for a while, then come back.</i>

2399
02:28:19,300 --> 02:28:21,100
<i>The first plane is for you.</i>

2400
02:28:21,780 --> 02:28:23,300
<i>Forget it.</i>

2401
02:28:23,820 --> 02:28:26,620
<i>With these maquis popping up all over,</i>

2402
02:28:27,700 --> 02:28:29,900
<i>someone has to unify the command,</i>

2403
02:28:30,100 --> 02:28:31,620
<i>train them,</i>

2404
02:28:31,780 --> 02:28:33,380
<i>provision them.</i>

2405
02:28:34,460 --> 02:28:36,780
<i>There's no one now to replace me.</i>

2406
02:28:39,220 --> 02:28:42,620
<i>If they nab you,
we'll have to replace you.</i>

2407
02:28:49,660 --> 02:28:52,900
Working with him,
I discovered his obsessions,

2408
02:28:53,060 --> 02:28:54,180
his bars,

2409
02:28:54,340 --> 02:28:58,060
where dancers danced,
usually up on the counter.

2410
02:29:02,820 --> 02:29:04,260
His mirrors.

2411
02:29:22,260 --> 02:29:24,727
He was influenced by American movies.

2412
02:29:24,820 --> 02:29:27,660
His police stations weren't French.

2413
02:29:27,820 --> 02:29:30,180
<i>Yet you ran away like a wretch.</i>

2414
02:29:32,060 --> 02:29:33,461
<i>I'm surprised at you.</i>

2415
02:29:34,860 --> 02:29:39,940
Police station offices
weren't set up that way then.

2416
02:29:40,100 --> 02:29:42,380
Windows had venetian blinds.

2417
02:29:42,780 --> 02:29:44,714
<i>The police knew more than me.</i>

2418
02:29:44,820 --> 02:29:46,916
The wallpaper and the backgrounds

2419
02:29:46,940 --> 02:29:50,260
<i>were right out of
Wise's Odds against Tomorrow,</i>

2420
02:29:50,420 --> 02:29:53,380
a film Melville made us watch
every night,

2421
02:29:53,540 --> 02:29:56,180
<i>along with Godard's Le Petit Soldat.</i>

2422
02:29:56,980 --> 02:29:59,676
<i>They all saw something
from their windows.</i>

2423
02:29:59,700 --> 02:30:01,756
<i>But that doesn't get us anywhere.</i>

2424
02:30:01,780 --> 02:30:05,047
<i>Some say they saw someone
behind the wheel, alone.</i>

2425
02:30:05,100 --> 02:30:08,676
<i>Others that there were two guys.
No one mentioned a woman.</i>

2426
02:30:08,700 --> 02:30:11,660
During the shoots, I noted

2427
02:30:11,820 --> 02:30:16,020
moments he borrowed from
American movies we'd watched together

2428
02:30:16,220 --> 02:30:17,980
and that he'd loved.

2429
02:30:18,180 --> 02:30:20,780
Desailly's toothpick in this scene,

2430
02:30:20,940 --> 02:30:24,380
this absolutely fabulous
sequence shot...

2431
02:30:24,540 --> 02:30:29,060
<i>That toothpick comes
from Andre de Toth's Crime Wave.</i>

2432
02:30:29,260 --> 02:30:32,700
Sterling Hayden chews on it
throughout the film.

2433
02:30:32,860 --> 02:30:34,260
<i>Everybody saw it.</i>

2434
02:30:35,860 --> 02:30:37,540
<i>Some days are no good.</i>

2435
02:30:37,700 --> 02:30:41,660
<i>And I can see what influenced
Tarantino in Le Doulos.</i>

2436
02:30:42,260 --> 02:30:46,460
The confrontation between
Rene Lefevre and Serge Reggiani,

2437
02:30:46,620 --> 02:30:49,580
this banal exchange
that takes a tragic turn,

2438
02:30:49,740 --> 02:30:51,140
contains the matrix

2439
02:30:51,340 --> 02:30:54,340
<i>of the first scene
of Inglourious Basterds.</i>

2440
02:30:55,660 --> 02:30:57,460
<i>Between 15 and 20 thousand.</i>

2441
02:30:57,500 --> 02:31:00,967
<i>A far cry from the 11 million
reported in the papers.</i>

2442
02:31:03,660 --> 02:31:05,594
<i>Speak to Remi about that job?</i>

2443
02:31:07,900 --> 02:31:09,900
<i>- What do you think?
- You did.</i>

2444
02:31:11,420 --> 02:31:13,420
<i>Then what are you waiting for?</i>

2445
02:31:13,660 --> 02:31:17,620
<i>You cry poverty.
There's work just waiting for you.</i>

2446
02:31:18,220 --> 02:31:19,621
<i>Okay, there's a safe.</i>

2447
02:31:19,740 --> 02:31:21,620
<i>But you'll have all night.</i>

2448
02:31:21,780 --> 02:31:23,340
<i>The house is isolated.</i>

2449
02:31:23,500 --> 02:31:25,834
<i>That's just it.
It looks too simple.</i>

2450
02:31:26,860 --> 02:31:28,860
<i>I don't like simple things.</i>

2451
02:31:30,260 --> 02:31:31,527
<i>Like six years ago.</i>

2452
02:31:35,260 --> 02:31:37,756
<i>Melville's influence
is still enormous.</i>

2453
02:31:37,780 --> 02:31:40,860
<i>Not only on Tarantino.
I was astonished.</i>

2454
02:31:41,020 --> 02:31:45,060
<i>It was before Tarantino's first film.
I met him at Sundance.</i>

2455
02:31:45,260 --> 02:31:48,394
<i>He said to me:
"Le Doulos is my favorite movie."</i>

2456
02:31:48,420 --> 02:31:52,154
<i>I said: "How is that?
Is there even a print in the U.S.?"</i>

2457
02:31:52,660 --> 02:31:54,180
<i>Thanks, old pal.</i>

2458
02:31:54,380 --> 02:31:55,860
<i>It'll tide me over.</i>

2459
02:31:57,700 --> 02:31:59,220
<i>Don't you worry.</i>

2460
02:31:59,740 --> 02:32:01,860
<i>Take the money if you need it.</i>

2461
02:32:02,580 --> 02:32:03,620
<i>Okay.</i>

2462
02:32:03,980 --> 02:32:06,980
<i>And don't forget your cigarettes
on the table.</i>

2463
02:32:17,980 --> 02:32:21,060
He created a stylized,
fantasized world,

2464
02:32:21,260 --> 02:32:23,700
remote from French reality.

2465
02:32:23,860 --> 02:32:25,500
No historical markers,

2466
02:32:25,660 --> 02:32:28,180
yet without copying his model.

2467
02:32:28,380 --> 02:32:29,940
A nocturnal universe,

2468
02:32:30,100 --> 02:32:32,540
more desolate, more melancholic,

2469
02:32:32,700 --> 02:32:35,900
devoid of that tonic or ironic energy,

2470
02:32:36,340 --> 02:32:38,874
right down to the description of evil.

2471
02:32:40,300 --> 02:32:44,220
He dreamed of being William Wyler,
wanted to film like him.

2472
02:32:45,260 --> 02:32:48,540
But his shots
are always longer than Wyler's,

2473
02:32:48,740 --> 02:32:50,460
stripped down,

2474
02:32:50,860 --> 02:32:55,460
and length is handled
in a totally different manner.

2475
02:32:58,580 --> 02:33:01,380
Virtually no music.

2476
02:33:18,300 --> 02:33:20,900
Out-of-frame action is more frequent.

2477
02:33:30,460 --> 02:33:32,860
Unthinkable in an American thriller.

2478
02:33:35,820 --> 02:33:38,660
The spareness is more extreme.

2479
02:33:39,660 --> 02:33:43,820
The waiting and the silences
are more emphasized.

2480
02:33:44,700 --> 02:33:45,980
Finally,

2481
02:33:46,260 --> 02:33:49,060
he's closer to Bresson than Wyler.

2482
02:33:56,180 --> 02:33:58,020
The oppressive apartments

2483
02:33:58,220 --> 02:34:01,780
without windows,
or shaded by heavy drapes,

2484
02:34:01,940 --> 02:34:04,700
are the reverse
of American crime movies,

2485
02:34:04,860 --> 02:34:08,060
which play with windows
and sources of light,

2486
02:34:08,260 --> 02:34:09,620
depth of field,

2487
02:34:09,820 --> 02:34:11,620
an opening on the city.

2488
02:34:11,780 --> 02:34:15,220
In fact, very autobiographically,

2489
02:34:15,380 --> 02:34:18,100
he recreated the atmosphere
of his office

2490
02:34:18,300 --> 02:34:19,900
and bedroom.

2491
02:34:20,180 --> 02:34:22,476
<i>Sure you're not doing
something stupid?</i>

2492
02:34:22,500 --> 02:34:24,767
<i>I wanted to be sure about the job.</i>

2493
02:34:24,860 --> 02:34:27,740
<i>I'm tired of mooching off Therese.</i>

2494
02:34:27,940 --> 02:34:31,436
<i>But I admit to having a soft spot
for Leon Morin, Priest.</i>

2495
02:34:31,460 --> 02:34:34,940
It evokes the Occupation
mainly through women's eyes.

2496
02:34:35,100 --> 02:34:37,567
<i>Rather be shot
than make eyes at them.</i>

2497
02:34:38,260 --> 02:34:40,060
It was incredibly daring

2498
02:34:40,260 --> 02:34:43,500
to focus a film on theological debates

2499
02:34:43,660 --> 02:34:46,580
between a communist atheist
and a priest.

2500
02:34:46,740 --> 02:34:47,660
<i>Here.</i>

2501
02:34:48,500 --> 02:34:49,820
<i>Look.</i>

2502
02:34:51,060 --> 02:34:52,340
<i>Lord,</i>

2503
02:34:53,620 --> 02:34:55,780
<i>fulfill my wish just once.</i>

2504
02:34:58,220 --> 02:34:59,900
<i>Just this once.</i>

2505
02:35:01,820 --> 02:35:04,420
<i>Then, blessed be the eternal torment.</i>

2506
02:35:11,500 --> 02:35:12,700
<i>Come!</i>

2507
02:35:16,180 --> 02:35:17,420
<i>Au revoir.</i>

2508
02:35:17,980 --> 02:35:19,900
<i>That's a figure of speech.</i>

2509
02:35:20,060 --> 02:35:21,660
<i>Sure, we'll meet again.</i>

2510
02:35:22,380 --> 02:35:23,820
<i>Not in this life.</i>

2511
02:35:24,660 --> 02:35:25,900
<i>In the next.</i>

2512
02:35:26,620 --> 02:35:28,487
The ambiguity of conversion,

2513
02:35:28,740 --> 02:35:31,860
but also the frustration
of repressed love...

2514
02:35:32,020 --> 02:35:36,420
That's what Melville dramatized
in this devastating masterpiece.

2515
02:35:36,580 --> 02:35:38,380
The portrait of this priest

2516
02:35:38,540 --> 02:35:41,780
out of the ordinary, out of time.

2517
02:35:41,940 --> 02:35:43,341
A resistance fighter.

2518
02:35:56,500 --> 02:35:58,634
<i>Like Gerbier in Army of Shadows,</i>

2519
02:35:59,660 --> 02:36:02,260
a film about repressed desire.

2520
02:36:02,420 --> 02:36:04,860
Look at this ending.
So economical,

2521
02:36:05,060 --> 02:36:06,460
so blunt...

2522
02:36:10,060 --> 02:36:10,960
<i>Go!</i>

2523
02:36:11,020 --> 02:36:13,100
Melville masterfully transposes

2524
02:36:13,300 --> 02:36:16,420
the aesthetic codes
of his crime films.

2525
02:36:19,060 --> 02:36:21,756
<i>Films like Le Doulos
and Le Deuxieme Souffle</i>

2526
02:36:21,780 --> 02:36:24,060
have become cult for directors

2527
02:36:24,260 --> 02:36:26,180
from Tarantino to John Woo,

2528
02:36:26,780 --> 02:36:30,860
to the detriment of a more personal
segment of his work,

2529
02:36:31,020 --> 02:36:34,340
where I find
the more private Melville.

2530
02:36:34,820 --> 02:36:37,860
He virtually never talked about it.

2531
02:36:38,020 --> 02:36:40,260
The Melville in the Resistance

2532
02:36:40,420 --> 02:36:44,820
under various pseudonyms:
Cartier, Nono,

2533
02:36:45,420 --> 02:36:47,196
who made it to England from Spain

2534
02:36:47,220 --> 02:36:51,260
after an exhausting odyssey
in which he lost his brother.

2535
02:36:51,820 --> 02:36:55,180
He never spoke to us about his pain.

2536
02:36:55,420 --> 02:36:57,900
He told me that he went to England

2537
02:36:58,060 --> 02:36:59,780
finally to be able to see

2538
02:36:59,980 --> 02:37:03,036
<i>Michael Powell's
Life and Death of Colonel Blimp.</i>

2539
02:37:03,060 --> 02:37:05,860
Melville, who fought
in Italy and France,

2540
02:37:06,020 --> 02:37:08,500
then combated the communist union

2541
02:37:08,660 --> 02:37:12,860
to impose his own crew,
his way of shooting,

2542
02:37:13,300 --> 02:37:14,620
his vision.

2543
02:37:20,220 --> 02:37:22,740
<i>When we finished Leon Morin, Priest,</i>

2544
02:37:22,900 --> 02:37:26,380
Melville made it clear
I was a lousy assistant.

2545
02:37:26,540 --> 02:37:28,300
He was right.

2546
02:37:28,460 --> 02:37:33,020
He added, "I think you'll be good
at defending films,

2547
02:37:33,180 --> 02:37:35,447
so you'd make a good press agent."

2548
02:37:35,500 --> 02:37:38,996
He introduced me
to Georges de Beauregard, his producer,

2549
02:37:39,020 --> 02:37:43,580
<i>still reeling from
the unexpected success of Breathless.</i>

2550
02:37:43,900 --> 02:37:45,301
Georges de Beauregard

2551
02:37:45,340 --> 02:37:48,874
hired me right off as press agent
at Rome-Paris Films,

2552
02:37:48,900 --> 02:37:53,500
the company he'd just founded
together with Carlo Ponti.

2553
02:37:53,660 --> 02:37:54,700
And so,

2554
02:37:54,940 --> 02:37:57,820
in 15 minutes, I'd lost my job

2555
02:37:58,020 --> 02:37:59,580
and found another.

2556
02:38:01,740 --> 02:38:04,900
I started by working
on films being completed,

2557
02:38:05,060 --> 02:38:07,594
<i>such as the wonderful
Adieu Philippine.</i>

2558
02:38:17,060 --> 02:38:20,316
<i>- I was with Michel until 2 a.m.
- Is he a good kisser?</i>

2559
02:38:20,340 --> 02:38:24,300
I have dazzling memories
of certain scenes:

2560
02:38:24,540 --> 02:38:28,676
the two girls walking in the street,
that Rozier filmed fabulously,

2561
02:38:28,700 --> 02:38:31,020
the scenes shot in the TV studio

2562
02:38:31,180 --> 02:38:33,620
and all the hilarious moments

2563
02:38:33,860 --> 02:38:37,527
with Vittorio Caprioli
as a crooked, penniless producer.

2564
02:38:37,580 --> 02:38:39,380
<i>I come to your office?</i>

2565
02:38:40,420 --> 02:38:42,180
<i>You mean, here?</i>

2566
02:38:42,380 --> 02:38:45,996
<i>I'd rather we meet somewhere else.
Know La Maison du Cafe?</i>

2567
02:38:46,020 --> 02:38:47,916
<i>Young people have it easy now.</i>

2568
02:38:47,940 --> 02:38:51,196
<i>When I started working in '23,
there were no vacations.</i>

2569
02:38:51,220 --> 02:38:53,060
The editing took forever.

2570
02:38:53,340 --> 02:38:55,874
Beauregard,
maybe influenced by Godard,

2571
02:38:56,020 --> 02:38:59,154
annoyed by cost overruns,
finally sold the film,

2572
02:38:59,900 --> 02:39:03,260
which was polished for another year

2573
02:39:03,420 --> 02:39:04,740
before its release.

2574
02:39:04,940 --> 02:39:06,900
<i>So what's up, Dede?</i>

2575
02:39:07,580 --> 02:39:09,140
<i>Oh, nothing.</i>

2576
02:39:10,980 --> 02:39:15,180
For a young man wild about cinema,
Rome-Paris Films was magical.

2577
02:39:16,540 --> 02:39:18,474
We rubbed elbows with Godard,

2578
02:39:18,540 --> 02:39:20,780
talked to him about John Ford,

2579
02:39:21,340 --> 02:39:23,636
with Claude Chabrol, always the joker.

2580
02:39:23,660 --> 02:39:25,636
<i>I don't take myself seriously.</i>

2581
02:39:25,660 --> 02:39:27,940
<i>We're always someone else's fool.</i>

2582
02:39:28,140 --> 02:39:31,100
<i>I'd rather be someone's fool
than his prig.</i>

2583
02:39:31,940 --> 02:39:32,874
Agnes Varda...

2584
02:39:36,460 --> 02:39:40,020
<i>The release of Cleo from 5 to 7
is a wonderful memory.</i>

2585
02:39:40,220 --> 02:39:41,687
As is the film itself.

2586
02:39:41,780 --> 02:39:43,980
A chronicle of an hour and a half

2587
02:39:44,140 --> 02:39:46,540
in the life of a woman afraid to die

2588
02:39:46,620 --> 02:39:48,700
and who recovers her soul.

2589
02:39:48,900 --> 02:39:50,940
<i>Hold your horses.</i>

2590
02:39:51,100 --> 02:39:53,380
<i>Being ugly is death.</i>

2591
02:39:53,580 --> 02:39:56,980
<i>I'm beautiful and 10 times more alive
than others.</i>

2592
02:40:01,540 --> 02:40:04,940
I'd invited my friend Roger Tailleur
to a screening.

2593
02:40:05,100 --> 02:40:07,380
He wrote a magnificent piece.

2594
02:40:09,140 --> 02:40:13,356
<i>Nothing is more admirable than
intelligence imbued with sensibility,</i>

2595
02:40:13,380 --> 02:40:16,620
<i>unless it is sensibility
guided by intelligence.</i>

2596
02:40:16,780 --> 02:40:20,847
<i>Nothing rarer than a mind enamored
of rigor no less than fancy</i>

2597
02:40:21,020 --> 02:40:25,300
<i>if not a temperament at once
hyper-instinctive and extra-lucid.</i>

2598
02:40:25,620 --> 02:40:28,940
<i>Agnes Varda is the harmony
of these opposites.</i>

2599
02:40:30,020 --> 02:40:31,980
<i>My favors, his voice.</i>

2600
02:40:32,140 --> 02:40:35,900
<i>The flavor of my heart-shaped mouth.</i>

2601
02:40:39,180 --> 02:40:43,380
Rome-Paris Films was a small-scale,
casual operation.

2602
02:40:43,540 --> 02:40:46,274
<i>I remember the release
of L'Oeil du Malin.</i>

2603
02:40:46,380 --> 02:40:50,380
Not a single entry at the Plaza cinema
on the first day,

2604
02:40:50,540 --> 02:40:52,807
which delighted Chabrol to no end.

2605
02:40:53,020 --> 02:40:56,140
<i>We made the film
for half the estimated budget.</i>

2606
02:40:57,500 --> 02:40:59,060
<i>Right, Georges?</i>

2607
02:41:00,220 --> 02:41:02,100
<i>Georges had found...</i>

2608
02:41:02,660 --> 02:41:06,794
<i>a German coproducer whose name
I won't mention out of kindness.</i>

2609
02:41:07,100 --> 02:41:10,740
<i>He was thrown in jail
two days before shooting.</i>

2610
02:41:11,580 --> 02:41:14,060
<i>He had a 50% coproduction share.</i>

2611
02:41:14,220 --> 02:41:18,516
<i>But Georges, fearless, asked me
to do the film on half the budget.</i>

2612
02:41:18,540 --> 02:41:20,660
<i>I said we'd try.</i>

2613
02:41:20,820 --> 02:41:22,020
<i>And we did it.</i>

2614
02:41:22,220 --> 02:41:24,420
Beauregard was a gambler.

2615
02:41:24,580 --> 02:41:28,500
An extrovert, a warm man,
who went by instinct.

2616
02:41:28,660 --> 02:41:30,676
<i>After the success of Breathless,</i>

2617
02:41:30,700 --> 02:41:33,634
he asked Godard
to bring him others like him.

2618
02:41:33,780 --> 02:41:35,940
That's how people like

2619
02:41:36,100 --> 02:41:39,700
Rozier, Demy, Varda
and Chabrol came in.

2620
02:41:39,900 --> 02:41:42,156
All did movies for Rome-Paris Films.

2621
02:41:42,180 --> 02:41:45,060
Michel Cournot did a portrait
of Beauregard

2622
02:41:45,220 --> 02:41:48,780
that's at once fantasized, made up,

2623
02:41:48,980 --> 02:41:51,900
and oddly enough, quite accurate.

2624
02:41:52,700 --> 02:41:55,180
<i>The fun part is reading a screenplay,</i>

2625
02:41:55,340 --> 02:41:57,540
<i>and then, later, seeing the film.</i>

2626
02:41:57,620 --> 02:41:59,287
<i>And vanishing in-between.</i>

2627
02:41:59,380 --> 02:42:01,514
<i>Otherwise, where's the surprise?</i>

2628
02:42:02,900 --> 02:42:04,900
<i>Chabrol's films are beyond me.</i>

2629
02:42:05,180 --> 02:42:08,900
<i>They're only understood
by himself and pharmacists.</i>

2630
02:42:09,300 --> 02:42:11,700
<i>I love Chabrol. He's an anarchist.</i>

2631
02:42:12,220 --> 02:42:13,700
<i>He doesn't age.</i>

2632
02:42:14,580 --> 02:42:17,740
<i>I'd like some chocolate.</i>

2633
02:42:20,900 --> 02:42:22,620
<i>"45 years old.</i>

2634
02:42:23,460 --> 02:42:24,700
<i>"Alone.</i>

2635
02:42:25,340 --> 02:42:26,820
<i>No family."</i>

2636
02:42:29,620 --> 02:42:31,420
<i>You must tell me.</i>

2637
02:42:32,700 --> 02:42:35,060
<i>You have nothing to lose now.</i>

2638
02:42:36,700 --> 02:42:38,500
<i>Did you kill them?</i>

2639
02:42:42,260 --> 02:42:44,780
<i>That, counselor, I can't tell you.</i>

2640
02:42:46,740 --> 02:42:48,700
<i>That's my little baggage.</i>

2641
02:42:58,260 --> 02:42:59,620
<i>I go to my death,</i>

2642
02:42:59,780 --> 02:43:03,060
<i>my soul innocent and at peace.</i>

2643
02:43:03,900 --> 02:43:06,540
<i>- Did he carve them up?
- We don't know.</i>

2644
02:43:06,700 --> 02:43:09,180
<i>I think he chopped them up, rather.</i>

2645
02:43:11,300 --> 02:43:14,796
<i>We don't know if people want to see
Landru chop them up.</i>

2646
02:43:14,820 --> 02:43:18,420
<i>True, we accept a certain horror</i>

2647
02:43:18,580 --> 02:43:20,740
<i>and beyond that, you hesitate.</i>

2648
02:43:20,940 --> 02:43:23,700
<i>When in doubt,
it's best to do neither.</i>

2649
02:43:24,100 --> 02:43:26,620
<i>I worked with Godard on Contempt,</i>

2650
02:43:26,780 --> 02:43:29,420
<i>Pierrot le Fou and Les Carabiniers.</i>

2651
02:43:29,580 --> 02:43:31,580
Each time Beauregard wanted me

2652
02:43:31,820 --> 02:43:34,356
to explain that this time
Godard was making

2653
02:43:34,380 --> 02:43:35,580
a real movie,

2654
02:43:36,300 --> 02:43:38,900
with a real script,
written beforehand.

2655
02:43:39,100 --> 02:43:41,060
It was totally untrue.

2656
02:43:41,260 --> 02:43:45,140
So I had to show the books
that supposedly inspired him.

2657
02:43:46,020 --> 02:43:48,596
And each time the result
was a dazzling work,

2658
02:43:48,620 --> 02:43:51,500
innovative, visually sublime,

2659
02:43:51,980 --> 02:43:54,620
but totally unlike the original plan.

2660
02:43:56,620 --> 02:44:00,276
<i>The more I make films,
the less I know. I think I make films</i>

2661
02:44:00,300 --> 02:44:02,540
<i>to find out what the cinema is.</i>

2662
02:44:02,700 --> 02:44:05,780
<i>Like, to cite a great example,</i>

2663
02:44:05,980 --> 02:44:09,714
<i>Mallarme wrote poetry
to find out what poetry really was.</i>

2664
02:44:10,380 --> 02:44:14,980
<i>The only thing of interest</i>

2665
02:44:15,140 --> 02:44:18,900
<i>is the path people take.</i>

2666
02:44:19,060 --> 02:44:20,820
I saw him shoot his films.

2667
02:44:21,020 --> 02:44:23,180
I heard Raoul Coutard struggle

2668
02:44:23,340 --> 02:44:26,540
with the erratic definition
of Techniscope.

2669
02:44:27,140 --> 02:44:31,407
He claimed it'd make the film resemble
an impressionist painting.

2670
02:44:33,100 --> 02:44:36,620
And I'm the one
who brought Samuel Fuller on the set.

2671
02:44:58,540 --> 02:45:01,540
Godard didn't want me
to bring him journalists

2672
02:45:01,700 --> 02:45:03,900
who had praised him.

2673
02:45:04,220 --> 02:45:07,340
He much preferred to meet critics

2674
02:45:07,580 --> 02:45:08,796
who'd slammed his films.

2675
02:45:08,820 --> 02:45:11,621
<i>For instance,
Robert Benayoun from Positif,</i>

2676
02:45:12,060 --> 02:45:14,927
<i>who I brought to the set
of Les Carabiniers.</i>

2677
02:45:20,460 --> 02:45:23,500
I was also very impressed by the way

2678
02:45:23,660 --> 02:45:26,927
he integrated into his narrative,
into his vision,

2679
02:45:27,060 --> 02:45:29,660
Antoine Duhamel's incredible music.

2680
02:45:29,820 --> 02:45:33,300
He'd written long phrases
that had no precise timing.

2681
02:46:00,260 --> 02:46:02,060
Godard stopped them

2682
02:46:04,540 --> 02:46:07,300
and picked them up again,
adding silences.

2683
02:46:17,820 --> 02:46:19,356
<i>- A complicated...
- ...story.</i>

2684
02:46:19,380 --> 02:46:20,514
<i>Leave in a hurry.</i>

2685
02:46:20,660 --> 02:46:24,540
He did the same with
Delerue's equally brilliant scores.

2686
02:46:24,980 --> 02:46:26,980
<i>I have to see that American.</i>

2687
02:46:27,140 --> 02:46:30,220
I was there
when Carlo Ponti demanded

2688
02:46:30,380 --> 02:46:34,380
that a scene with Bardot
in the nude be added.

2689
02:46:35,300 --> 02:46:37,300
<i>See my feet in the mirror?</i>

2690
02:46:41,900 --> 02:46:43,567
<i>You think they're pretty?</i>

2691
02:46:43,660 --> 02:46:45,700
<i>Yes, very.</i>

2692
02:46:47,140 --> 02:46:51,220
What is rather paradoxical
is that in the Italian version,

2693
02:46:51,380 --> 02:46:55,180
the scene requested
by the Italian coproducer isn't there.

2694
02:46:55,220 --> 02:46:56,260
It was cut,

2695
02:46:56,420 --> 02:46:59,980
and Delerue's music
was entirely redone

2696
02:47:00,140 --> 02:47:02,820
by the very talented Pierrot Piccioni.

2697
02:47:03,020 --> 02:47:04,476
I find it rather amusing

2698
02:47:04,500 --> 02:47:07,700
that an Italian coproducer's request
ends up

2699
02:47:07,900 --> 02:47:11,140
with a film
that doesn't contain the scene

2700
02:47:11,300 --> 02:47:15,380
he'd imposed on the director
during shooting.

2701
02:47:16,340 --> 02:47:19,276
<i>- This is my wife, Camille.
- Pleased to meet you.</i>

2702
02:47:19,300 --> 02:47:20,700
<i>Fritz Lang.</i>

2703
02:47:22,100 --> 02:47:25,180
<i>He made that western
with Marlene Dietrich.</i>

2704
02:47:25,340 --> 02:47:26,780
<i>It was terrific.</i>

2705
02:47:26,980 --> 02:47:28,380
<i>I prefer M.</i>

2706
02:47:28,540 --> 02:47:32,620
<i>Your M? We just saw it on TV.
I really enjoyed it.</i>

2707
02:47:32,780 --> 02:47:35,060
<i>Thank you. That's kind.</i>

2708
02:47:35,820 --> 02:47:37,900
<i>But in Rancho Notorious,</i>

2709
02:47:38,060 --> 02:47:40,756
<i>I love the scene
with Mel Ferrer and the scale.</i>

2710
02:47:40,780 --> 02:47:43,940
<i>Thank you.
When I finish The Odyssey...</i>

2711
02:47:55,780 --> 02:47:58,700
<i>When Pierrot le Fou came out
I had an idea:</i>

2712
02:47:58,900 --> 02:48:01,180
Since Godard often quoted Aragon,

2713
02:48:01,340 --> 02:48:04,540
I called the weekly he edited
and said,

2714
02:48:04,740 --> 02:48:07,020
"I'm the son of Rene Tavernier,

2715
02:48:07,180 --> 02:48:10,300
"the man who hid you in Monchat
during the war.

2716
02:48:10,460 --> 02:48:13,527
I want to show you a film
that might move you."

2717
02:48:13,740 --> 02:48:15,060
The next morning,

2718
02:48:15,220 --> 02:48:19,700
he was in the Publicis screening room
with Elsa Triolet.

2719
02:48:19,900 --> 02:48:23,460
Both of them greeted me
with a warm hug.

2720
02:48:23,620 --> 02:48:25,260
The screening began,

2721
02:48:25,420 --> 02:48:28,900
and out of it came
a historic 4-page piece.

2722
02:48:33,220 --> 02:48:36,180
<i>Attending the screening of
Pierrot le Fou</i>

2723
02:48:36,340 --> 02:48:39,956
<i>I'd forgotten what one was supposed
to say and think about Godard.</i>

2724
02:48:39,980 --> 02:48:42,940
<i>That he has mannerisms,
quotes such and such,</i>

2725
02:48:43,100 --> 02:48:45,500
<i>lectures us,
believes this and that.</i>

2726
02:48:45,660 --> 02:48:49,620
<i>In short, that he was insufferable,
longwinded, sententious.</i>

2727
02:48:50,180 --> 02:48:52,820
<i>I saw one thing, one thing only:</i>

2728
02:48:53,180 --> 02:48:55,060
<i>that it was beautiful,</i>

2729
02:48:55,220 --> 02:48:57,554
<i>superhumanly, physically beautiful,</i>

2730
02:48:57,580 --> 02:48:59,820
<i>in its soul and imagination.</i>

2731
02:49:00,020 --> 02:49:01,820
<i>What we watch for two hours</i>

2732
02:49:01,940 --> 02:49:06,140
<i>and this beauty, which the word beauty
cannot adequately define,</i>

2733
02:49:06,260 --> 02:49:09,300
<i>it must be said
that this parade of images</i>

2734
02:49:09,460 --> 02:49:11,780
<i>is simply sublime.</i>

2735
02:49:45,020 --> 02:49:47,316
There was also
Pierre Schoendoerffer,

2736
02:49:47,340 --> 02:49:50,407
one of the first directors
Beauregard produced.

2737
02:49:50,540 --> 02:49:53,380
<i>War is a fact. It has existed forever.</i>

2738
02:49:54,740 --> 02:49:57,260
Schoendoerffer returned exhausted,

2739
02:49:57,420 --> 02:49:59,580
sick, wiped out from malaria,

2740
02:49:59,740 --> 02:50:02,660
<i>after shooting La 317e Section.</i>

2741
02:50:03,020 --> 02:50:04,140
It was the start

2742
02:50:04,340 --> 02:50:08,340
of a long friendship in which
even our differences united us.

2743
02:50:08,620 --> 02:50:12,140
It was also my first job as director:

2744
02:50:12,300 --> 02:50:15,220
I wrote and directed the trailer.

2745
02:50:15,380 --> 02:50:18,716
The script was spoken
by the film's editor, Armand Psenny,

2746
02:50:18,740 --> 02:50:21,820
who edited all my early films.

2747
02:50:25,420 --> 02:50:27,020
<i>May 4, 1954,</i>

2748
02:50:27,180 --> 02:50:30,847
<i>during the Geneva conference
to end the Indochinese war,</i>

2749
02:50:31,060 --> 02:50:33,436
<i>4 French
and 41 Cambodian back-up troops</i>

2750
02:50:33,460 --> 02:50:36,876
<i>evacuate the post at Luang Ba
to fall back on Tao Tsai.</i>

2751
02:50:36,900 --> 02:50:38,500
<i>White splits.</i>

2752
02:50:41,180 --> 02:50:42,540
<i>Yellow stays.</i>

2753
02:50:42,940 --> 02:50:46,020
<i>I still find La 317e Section</i>

2754
02:50:46,220 --> 02:50:49,980
one of France's, even the world's,
greatest war films.

2755
02:50:50,140 --> 02:50:53,207
No one described it better
than Michel Cournot:

2756
02:50:53,900 --> 02:50:56,940
<i>Everything we see here
was lived and recorded</i>

2757
02:50:57,140 --> 02:51:00,674
<i>by Pierre Schoendoerffer
while he fought in Indochina.</i>

2758
02:51:00,820 --> 02:51:04,500
<i>His light and camera movement
restored every detail.</i>

2759
02:51:05,380 --> 02:51:08,420
<i>Memory is not a faculty
given to everyone.</i>

2760
02:51:08,620 --> 02:51:12,220
<i>One man was able
to look war in the face, listen to it.</i>

2761
02:51:13,580 --> 02:51:16,460
<i>Here, war is not depicted,
highlighted.</i>

2762
02:51:16,740 --> 02:51:19,116
<i>Nor is it spied upon,
seen from behind,</i>

2763
02:51:19,140 --> 02:51:20,940
<i>as in war newsreels.</i>

2764
02:51:21,460 --> 02:51:24,300
<i>With this film,
we're not at a show.</i>

2765
02:51:24,460 --> 02:51:26,060
<i>We change skins.</i>

2766
02:51:26,220 --> 02:51:27,420
<i>Tonight,</i>

2767
02:51:28,500 --> 02:51:29,820
<i>the animals...</i>

2768
02:51:31,340 --> 02:51:34,260
<i>I'm scared of wild animals.</i>

2769
02:51:47,140 --> 02:51:48,140
<i>Let's move out.</i>

2770
02:51:57,020 --> 02:52:00,220
As for Melville,
it was a burst of admiration

2771
02:52:00,380 --> 02:52:03,220
that made me
want to meet Claude Sautet

2772
02:52:03,420 --> 02:52:04,356
the first time.

2773
02:52:04,380 --> 02:52:07,036
<i>It was just after seeing
Classe tous Risques.</i>

2774
02:52:07,060 --> 02:52:08,980
I'd been incredibly touched

2775
02:52:09,180 --> 02:52:11,714
by the film's tone
from the very start.

2776
02:52:16,740 --> 02:52:22,060
And how out of step it was
with French crime movies.

2777
02:52:22,220 --> 02:52:25,940
<i>Pierrot, once we're in France,
we won't travel anymore.</i>

2778
02:52:26,100 --> 02:52:28,220
<i>We'll always be together, okay?</i>

2779
02:52:32,620 --> 02:52:35,287
<i>Who knows,
we might arrive before you do.</i>

2780
02:52:37,540 --> 02:52:38,820
<i>Buy us some shirts.</i>

2781
02:52:39,380 --> 02:52:40,280
<i>I will.</i>

2782
02:52:40,460 --> 02:52:42,660
<i>Don't worry. It'll be okay.</i>

2783
02:52:43,220 --> 02:52:46,620
There were 27 versions
of the first voiceover.

2784
02:52:47,380 --> 02:52:49,900
<i>She wanted to warn him to be careful.</i>

2785
02:52:50,700 --> 02:52:52,380
<i>But what was the point?</i>

2786
02:52:53,380 --> 02:52:57,236
<i>Since she'd been packing
and unpacking, she'd stop talking.</i>

2787
02:52:57,260 --> 02:52:58,660
<i>Or almost.</i>

2788
02:53:03,620 --> 02:53:06,900
<i>The children followed.
They lacked for nothing,</i>

2789
02:53:07,340 --> 02:53:08,740
<i>except a school.</i>

2790
02:53:10,060 --> 02:53:13,396
<i>For this last trip,
she'd packed only the essentials.</i>

2791
02:53:13,420 --> 02:53:16,420
<i>Her handbag contained
the last of their money.</i>

2792
02:53:20,820 --> 02:53:21,756
After the voiceover,

2793
02:53:21,780 --> 02:53:25,580
comes the holdup in Milan,
shot with a hidden camera.

2794
02:53:26,420 --> 02:53:29,660
The scene hasn't aged a bit.

2795
02:53:45,540 --> 02:53:49,660
The way Claude avoided
all the genre cliches

2796
02:53:49,820 --> 02:53:52,620
left me full of admiration.

2797
02:53:53,180 --> 02:53:56,047
That's why I wanted to see him
and meet him.

2798
02:53:56,140 --> 02:54:01,260
My first interview, my first review.
It had to be short.

2799
02:54:01,540 --> 02:54:05,140
The film didn't have
official critical approval.

2800
02:54:05,340 --> 02:54:07,996
At the end I wrote,
"They say it's a B movie,

2801
02:54:08,020 --> 02:54:11,156
but better B as in Boetticher
than A as in Allegret."

2802
02:54:11,180 --> 02:54:14,660
I regret the pique against Allegret,
pointless.

2803
02:54:15,540 --> 02:54:18,460
But it was a way of trying
to defend Sautet.

2804
02:54:18,620 --> 02:54:20,287
<i>The Cahiers weren't kind.</i>

2805
02:54:20,420 --> 02:54:24,180
<i>Cahiers du Cinema
always shot me down.</i>

2806
02:54:24,820 --> 02:54:28,100
<i>But that's okay. It vaccinated me.
No, I was glad.</i>

2807
02:54:28,260 --> 02:54:31,676
<i>It hurt, at first. Then I thought,
that's all right. Good.</i>

2808
02:54:31,700 --> 02:54:35,500
Claude had another career
besides directing.

2809
02:54:35,660 --> 02:54:37,260
He was a script doctor,

2810
02:54:37,420 --> 02:54:40,620
rescuing films that lay fallow,

2811
02:54:40,780 --> 02:54:43,447
pulling them together.
Everyone used him.

2812
02:54:43,580 --> 02:54:45,580
Among those Claude worked with

2813
02:54:45,700 --> 02:54:47,380
was Jean-Paul Rappeneau.

2814
02:54:48,460 --> 02:54:50,740
He was co-screenwriter

2815
02:54:51,020 --> 02:54:52,396
<i>on La Vie de Chateau.</i>

2816
02:54:52,420 --> 02:54:53,554
Rappeneau himself

2817
02:54:53,620 --> 02:54:56,676
said it was Claude
who found the film's final tone.

2818
02:54:56,700 --> 02:55:00,180
It was Claude
who recommended Noiret.

2819
02:55:00,380 --> 02:55:04,356
Rappeneau wanted Louis Jourdan.
Claude couldn't see him in the country.

2820
02:55:04,380 --> 02:55:06,714
"Louis Jourdan
in an apple orchard!"

2821
02:55:08,380 --> 02:55:10,114
He told him to take Noiret

2822
02:55:10,140 --> 02:55:12,540
and to quicken the pace even more.

2823
02:55:13,900 --> 02:55:16,476
<i>Crying to Daddy?
"My man doesn't love me."</i>

2824
02:55:16,500 --> 02:55:18,660
He was assistant director.

2825
02:55:18,900 --> 02:55:21,580
It became essential for him

2826
02:55:21,740 --> 02:55:24,260
to try to improve the film.

2827
02:55:24,420 --> 02:55:27,036
Proposing if only a single shot,
an idea,

2828
02:55:27,060 --> 02:55:29,980
that would make the film a jot better.

2829
02:55:31,260 --> 02:55:34,900
And that's how
he ended up working on the script.

2830
02:55:35,060 --> 02:55:39,740
He actually co-scripted films
he was an assistant on,

2831
02:55:39,940 --> 02:55:42,207
<i>like Franju's Eyes Without a Face.</i>

2832
02:55:42,660 --> 02:55:44,460
<i>And Le Fauve est Lache.</i>

2833
02:55:44,620 --> 02:55:46,300
That's a terrific story.

2834
02:55:46,460 --> 02:55:47,360
The director,

2835
02:55:47,500 --> 02:55:51,116
Maurice Labro, resented
having Lino Ventura imposed on him.

2836
02:55:51,140 --> 02:55:54,260
When his contract expired,
he took off.

2837
02:55:54,420 --> 02:55:56,087
The producer asked Sautet

2838
02:55:56,380 --> 02:55:57,660
to finish the film.

2839
02:55:57,820 --> 02:56:01,140
Sautet took over
for the last few weeks.

2840
02:56:01,340 --> 02:56:04,356
All the chase scenes
around the cliffs at Etretat.

2841
02:56:04,380 --> 02:56:06,020
The film's tone changed.

2842
02:56:06,180 --> 02:56:09,260
The shots are sharp, precise.

2843
02:56:21,780 --> 02:56:24,996
<i>Sautet came into his own
during Le Fauve est Lache,</i>

2844
02:56:25,020 --> 02:56:26,660
a minor programmer.

2845
02:56:26,820 --> 02:56:29,420
And that's when Lino
took notice of him.

2846
02:56:32,380 --> 02:56:35,300
<i>Claude and I have a kind</i>

2847
02:56:35,700 --> 02:56:37,820
<i>of innate complicity</i>

2848
02:56:38,980 --> 02:56:43,114
<i>which existed from when I first
knew him as assistant director.</i>

2849
02:56:43,300 --> 02:56:46,700
<i>I'd already been under his spell
and I thought,</i>

2850
02:56:46,900 --> 02:56:51,060
<i>I want to make a film with that guy
when I get a chance.</i>

2851
02:56:51,260 --> 02:56:53,860
Lino went to see Jose Giovanni
and said,

2852
02:56:53,940 --> 02:56:57,500
"There's a guy
I just made a film with.

2853
02:56:57,740 --> 02:57:00,156
I think he'd be right for your film."

2854
02:57:00,180 --> 02:57:02,716
Claude read the book
and Giovanni asked,

2855
02:57:02,740 --> 02:57:04,474
"How do you see the film?"

2856
02:57:05,380 --> 02:57:09,260
<i>He said, "I see Lino walking,
holding his kids by the hand.</i>

2857
02:57:09,420 --> 02:57:10,940
<i>"Then, later,</i>

2858
02:57:11,100 --> 02:57:14,396
<i>I see him with his kids
walking 50 yards behind him."</i>

2859
02:57:14,420 --> 02:57:17,820
<i>I knew he had the story in his gut
as much as I did.</i>

2860
02:57:17,860 --> 02:57:19,060
<i>We did the film.</i>

2861
02:57:19,220 --> 02:57:23,220
<i>I had just worked at length
with Jacques Becker on Le Trou</i>

2862
02:57:23,380 --> 02:57:25,420
<i>and I realized that Sautet</i>

2863
02:57:25,580 --> 02:57:27,916
<i>had many points in common with Becker.</i>

2864
02:57:27,940 --> 02:57:32,220
<i>The same rigor,
the same authenticity of feelings,</i>

2865
02:57:32,380 --> 02:57:35,900
<i>without being bombastic
or shrilly melodramatic</i>

2866
02:57:36,060 --> 02:57:38,180
<i>or pandering.</i>

2867
02:57:38,380 --> 02:57:42,260
And the Giovanni-Sautet friendship
was born there.

2868
02:57:42,420 --> 02:57:44,540
But then the nightmare began.

2869
02:57:44,740 --> 02:57:46,607
Sautet had noticed Belmondo.

2870
02:57:46,820 --> 02:57:49,340
The producer had said, "No way.

2871
02:57:49,580 --> 02:57:50,660
"If we cast him,

2872
02:57:50,900 --> 02:57:53,567
audiences will ask
for their money back."

2873
02:57:54,540 --> 02:57:56,074
Let me give you a name.

2874
02:57:56,260 --> 02:57:59,276
I don't want you to react.
It will surprise you.

2875
02:57:59,300 --> 02:58:01,580
The guy was Dario Moreno.

2876
02:58:02,420 --> 02:58:04,716
<i>Now when you see Classe tous Risques,</i>

2877
02:58:04,740 --> 02:58:07,516
you can imagine him pulling up
in an ambulance.

2878
02:58:07,540 --> 02:58:10,100
<i>She took my rifle</i>

2879
02:58:10,940 --> 02:58:13,607
<i>And gave me
an old feather duster instead</i>

2880
02:58:14,740 --> 02:58:16,020
<i>Hey, you!</i>

2881
02:58:20,140 --> 02:58:22,340
He said, "I want a western hero."

2882
02:58:25,820 --> 02:58:27,380
<i>The best thing about me</i>

2883
02:58:27,940 --> 02:58:29,100
<i>is my left hook.</i>

2884
02:58:29,380 --> 02:58:32,300
There's an amazing scene
in the post office.

2885
02:58:32,460 --> 02:58:36,060
Sautet plays on the two physiques,

2886
02:58:36,260 --> 02:58:37,740
the two attitudes,

2887
02:58:37,940 --> 02:58:40,220
the way the two actors perform

2888
02:58:40,380 --> 02:58:42,796
very differently,
but respectful of one another.

2889
02:58:42,820 --> 02:58:47,260
Lino immediately championed him
and loved working with him.

2890
02:58:47,420 --> 02:58:49,796
Yet they didn't have the same
acting style.

2891
02:58:49,820 --> 02:58:51,396
And Sautet played on that.

2892
02:58:51,420 --> 02:58:52,820
<i>Fargier sent me.</i>

2893
02:58:56,660 --> 02:58:59,220
Sautet's obsession throughout the film

2894
02:58:59,380 --> 02:59:02,636
was to keep Lino from gaining weight.
It was a story about decline.

2895
02:59:02,660 --> 02:59:06,300
A character on the decline
can't be getting fatter.

2896
02:59:06,460 --> 02:59:08,500
He was with him at meals

2897
02:59:08,660 --> 02:59:10,260
to make sure Ventura,

2898
02:59:10,460 --> 02:59:12,380
who loved to eat,

2899
02:59:12,700 --> 02:59:16,567
didn't eat too much and weaken
the character's credibility.

2900
02:59:16,660 --> 02:59:20,900
Directing the actors
was often done at meals.

2901
02:59:24,260 --> 02:59:28,380
The end of the film
is totally elliptical.

2902
02:59:28,540 --> 02:59:31,436
It doesn't try for sentimentality
or lyricism.

2903
02:59:31,460 --> 02:59:33,460
It's amazingly modern.

2904
02:59:33,620 --> 02:59:37,020
<i>A few days later,
Abel Davos was arrested.</i>

2905
02:59:38,620 --> 02:59:42,380
<i>He was tried, sentenced and executed.</i>

2906
02:59:44,460 --> 02:59:47,780
After this encounter,
we stayed in close touch.

2907
02:59:47,980 --> 02:59:51,220
Our friendship never ceased.

2908
02:59:53,500 --> 02:59:57,300
I showed him all my films.
From screenplay to first cut.

2909
02:59:57,540 --> 03:00:01,236
He gave me some incredible ideas.
Cuts to make. Restructuring.

2910
03:00:01,260 --> 03:00:04,180
<i>Until the day, after Captain Conan,</i>

2911
03:00:04,340 --> 03:00:06,940
he said, "Pal, don't touch a thing."

2912
03:00:07,100 --> 03:00:09,436
One of the biggest compliments
I ever had.

2913
03:00:09,460 --> 03:00:11,927
"Touch one frame and we're finished."

2914
03:00:29,980 --> 03:00:33,100
He was very, very tense
during screenings.

2915
03:00:33,260 --> 03:00:36,300
<i>I remember a screening of
The Things of Life</i>

2916
03:00:36,460 --> 03:00:39,116
and a critic's reaction
when talking to Sautet

2917
03:00:39,140 --> 03:00:41,380
at the bar of the Studiorama.

2918
03:00:41,620 --> 03:00:45,340
He was full of praise for the film.
But he said,

2919
03:00:47,460 --> 03:00:52,060
"If Piccoli had swung to the left,
there'd have been no accident."

2920
03:00:53,980 --> 03:00:56,380
Then and there,
all hell broke loose.

2921
03:00:56,420 --> 03:01:00,100
Sautet began to holler.

2922
03:01:01,340 --> 03:01:04,116
"I didn't make a film
about the highway code.

2923
03:01:04,140 --> 03:01:07,020
"I didn't make a film
about road safety.

2924
03:01:07,180 --> 03:01:08,636
That's not the subject."

2925
03:01:08,660 --> 03:01:11,260
He yelled, "You jerk,

2926
03:01:11,420 --> 03:01:12,740
"I made a film

2927
03:01:12,940 --> 03:01:14,796
"about a guy who's glad to die

2928
03:01:14,820 --> 03:01:17,621
because it saves him
from making a choice."

2929
03:01:37,900 --> 03:01:39,434
It's a very dark story.

2930
03:01:40,180 --> 03:01:42,580
But far from being a sort

2931
03:01:42,820 --> 03:01:45,140
of apology of Pompidou's France,

2932
03:01:45,300 --> 03:01:47,900
on the contrary it's a seismograph

2933
03:01:48,060 --> 03:01:50,927
of what was dramatically changing
in France.

2934
03:02:00,420 --> 03:02:01,900
<i>I don't believe it.</i>

2935
03:02:02,220 --> 03:02:04,700
<i>You must be kidding.
It's all decided.</i>

2936
03:02:05,380 --> 03:02:06,740
<i>Decided by whom?</i>

2937
03:02:07,580 --> 03:02:09,514
<i>By the company, by everybody.</i>

2938
03:02:10,020 --> 03:02:11,420
<i>Not by us.</i>

2939
03:02:11,820 --> 03:02:13,100
<i>Not by me.</i>

2940
03:02:13,700 --> 03:02:18,034
<i>People will look out the window
and see gardens, not parking lots.</i>

2941
03:02:18,140 --> 03:02:21,580
<i>Re-read your contract,
and you'll see there's...</i>

2942
03:02:22,220 --> 03:02:24,100
<i>Stuff your contract!</i>

2943
03:02:26,060 --> 03:02:29,876
<i>If I see a rabbit hutch go up
out there, I'll tear it down.</i>

2944
03:02:29,900 --> 03:02:32,260
<i>Would you live here? No!</i>

2945
03:02:32,420 --> 03:02:35,820
<i>I'll come build sewers
under your noses. You'll see.</i>

2946
03:02:36,340 --> 03:02:40,500
<i>Advertise first,
think later if you like.</i>

2947
03:02:40,660 --> 03:02:44,980
In several films, Piccoli
flies into rages inspired by Sautet.

2948
03:02:45,180 --> 03:02:48,140
<i>The main thing is to stay calm.
Obviously.</i>

2949
03:02:48,300 --> 03:02:50,716
<i>Sautet is always very calm
on the set.</i>

2950
03:02:50,740 --> 03:02:54,274
<i>Yesterday, for instance,
my script was "Hello, ma'am."</i>

2951
03:02:54,340 --> 03:02:57,740
<i>You told me to say "Ma'am, hello."
How am I to know?</i>

2952
03:03:06,020 --> 03:03:09,300
A curious thing
about his decade...

2953
03:03:09,540 --> 03:03:12,556
<i>It starts with Classe tous Risques
and ends with Things of Life.</i>

2954
03:03:12,580 --> 03:03:13,981
Very different films.

2955
03:03:14,060 --> 03:03:16,420
<i>But after Things of Life</i>

2956
03:03:16,580 --> 03:03:21,180
<i>there are films that use bits
and pieces of Classe tous Risques.</i>

2957
03:03:21,660 --> 03:03:23,460
<i>I'm not complaining.</i>

2958
03:03:23,620 --> 03:03:25,500
<i>But it doesn't come free.</i>

2959
03:03:25,660 --> 03:03:28,380
There are the same precise gestures,

2960
03:03:29,380 --> 03:03:31,660
the same sharp
yet sympathetic gaze

2961
03:03:31,900 --> 03:03:35,660
for certain characters,
Romy Schneider or the junk men

2962
03:03:35,900 --> 03:03:37,740
<i>in Max and the Junkmen.</i>

2963
03:03:38,260 --> 03:03:40,740
<i>Gotta admit, we're not aces.</i>

2964
03:03:41,100 --> 03:03:43,420
<i>That's life, pal. Whaddya expect?</i>

2965
03:03:43,580 --> 03:03:45,060
<i>I'm like Abel.</i>

2966
03:03:45,740 --> 03:03:49,300
<i>I'd like to do a big job,
cash in and run.</i>

2967
03:03:49,900 --> 03:03:52,116
<i>I can't see them pulling a big job.</i>

2968
03:03:52,140 --> 03:03:53,674
<i>Not the Bank of France.</i>

2969
03:03:53,740 --> 03:03:56,420
<i>But a little amateur holdup.</i>

2970
03:03:57,060 --> 03:03:58,940
<i>They're small fry.</i>

2971
03:03:59,380 --> 03:04:01,500
<i>But they can become big fry.</i>

2972
03:04:02,660 --> 03:04:05,594
<i>With all the unpunished crime
you read about,</i>

2973
03:04:05,620 --> 03:04:09,954
<i>that penniless riffraff is bound
to wake up and say, "Why not us?"</i>

2974
03:04:11,060 --> 03:04:12,340
<i>Obviously.</i>

2975
03:04:12,540 --> 03:04:15,596
Sautet is the opposite
of a Parisian filmmaker.

2976
03:04:15,620 --> 03:04:19,396
His films are set in the outskirts
of the city, the fringes.

2977
03:04:19,420 --> 03:04:21,780
<i>In Max, look at those losers,</i>

2978
03:04:22,340 --> 03:04:26,396
who will fall into a Machiavellian trap
laid by the policeman,

2979
03:04:26,420 --> 03:04:28,540
masterfully played by Piccoli.

2980
03:04:30,980 --> 03:04:34,914
To think he was called
an optimistic Pompidoulian filmmaker!

2981
03:04:34,980 --> 03:04:37,500
<i>Max, optimistic?</i>

2982
03:04:37,740 --> 03:04:43,100
It's perhaps the film
closest to Fritz Lang ever made.

2983
03:04:48,060 --> 03:04:51,460
Sautet knew
how to give form visually

2984
03:04:51,620 --> 03:04:54,420
to a community, a world, a milieu.

2985
03:04:54,580 --> 03:04:56,580
He renders that in the script

2986
03:04:56,740 --> 03:05:00,020
but also in the way
he directs his actors,

2987
03:05:00,220 --> 03:05:04,180
in the way he alternates group scenes

2988
03:05:04,340 --> 03:05:05,340
and wanderings.

2989
03:05:05,580 --> 03:05:08,516
Pierre Rissient, one of the first
to champion Sautet with me,

2990
03:05:08,540 --> 03:05:11,780
pointed out this fluid mise en scene.

2991
03:05:19,380 --> 03:05:21,556
Another thing about Sautet: music.

2992
03:05:21,580 --> 03:05:25,500
I don't know a filmmaker
with such knowledge of music,

2993
03:05:25,660 --> 03:05:28,660
at once intellectual,

2994
03:05:28,900 --> 03:05:31,940
passionate and visceral.

2995
03:05:32,380 --> 03:05:34,420
To hear him talk about Bach

2996
03:05:35,100 --> 03:05:38,100
was fabulous,
to hear him talk about jazz too.

2997
03:05:38,260 --> 03:05:41,500
We had long discussions
about Art Tatum.

2998
03:05:41,660 --> 03:05:43,396
Too many notes, he thought.

2999
03:05:43,420 --> 03:05:47,260
You see that in the construction
and scoring of his films.

3000
03:05:47,420 --> 03:05:51,100
<i>Even in the theme music of Max.</i>

3001
03:05:52,340 --> 03:05:56,380
<i>Theme music:
Philippe Sarde - Claude Sautet</i>

3002
03:06:10,940 --> 03:06:14,900
For a long time
Sautet was able to coat

3003
03:06:15,660 --> 03:06:18,194
that darkness
running through his work.

3004
03:06:18,260 --> 03:06:20,660
Still, people would notice it

3005
03:06:20,900 --> 03:06:23,516
<i>in A Heart in Winter
and Nelly and Mr. Arnaud.</i>

3006
03:06:23,540 --> 03:06:26,140
Suddenly, the chill of winter

3007
03:06:26,340 --> 03:06:27,780
started gaining hold.

3008
03:06:27,980 --> 03:06:30,247
But we find it in his other films.

3009
03:06:58,620 --> 03:07:02,540
For Jacques Becker and Claude Sautet

3010
03:07:25,060 --> 03:07:27,100
And coming soon...

3011
03:07:37,420 --> 03:07:40,420
What did Louis Lumiere say

3012
03:07:40,580 --> 03:07:44,980
to bring out his workers?

3013
03:07:45,140 --> 03:07:47,260
What was his first order?

3014
03:07:47,420 --> 03:07:50,636
The first order in the first film
in cinema history?

3015
03:07:50,660 --> 03:07:54,356
We'll have to imagine it.
We have no archives. We know nothing.

3016
03:07:54,380 --> 03:07:57,340
He didn't say, "Action!"

3017
03:07:57,500 --> 03:07:59,580
"Go..." What did he say?

3018
03:08:00,380 --> 03:08:02,514
Did he call them by first names?

3019
03:08:02,540 --> 03:08:05,420
Knowing he had 55 seconds.