Fantômas contre Fantômas (1914) - film review

After his failed attempts to capture the ruthless crook and serial murderer Fantômas, Inspecteur Juve becomes the victim of a virulent press campaign which accuses him of being Fantômas himself.  Whilst Juve languishes in a prison cell, his friend, the journalist Fandor, attempts to clear his name by tracking the real Fantômas.  Meanwhile, the police are investigating the disappearance of a debt collector.  An American detective Tom Bob finds the body concealed in a newly built wall and offers to carry out his own investigation to find Fantômas. Lady Beltham, former lover and victim of Fantômas, receives a visit from Tom Bob, whom she instantly recognises as Fantômas.  The arch-criminal compels her to organise a charity ball, ostensibly to raise funds to bring Fantômas to justice.  Hearing about the ball, and suspecting that Fantômas will almost certainly be there, Fandor decides to attend, dressed as the infamous criminal…

The plot thickens with this, the fourth instalment in Feuillade’s epic Fantômas cycle, based on the popular novels of Souvestre et Allain.  Juve and Fantômas are suspected of being one in the same man (which is quite plausible given Juve’s clever subterfuge in the previous Fantômas film).  Later the real Fantômas (or is it Juve after all?) sets up a fund so that he can be captured!   As these bizarre chain of events unfold, the viewer is constantly challenged and surprised, an essential formula for a successful thriller, showing how well Feuillade and his writers understood the genre even when it was in its infancy.

Possibly the most convoluted of the five films, Fantômas contre Fantômas relies almost entirely on a single plot device, that of the mistaken identity, which it does almost to death in numerous subtle variations on the theme.  Although, as a result, this film appears more contrived than the others, it serves as an excellent example of the silent film.  What marks it out as a classic are some truly memorable set pieces.  These include the surreal “bleeding wall” scene and the slightly comical masked ball, where the viewer has to contend with no less than three identically-dressed Fantômases.

The film’s title was originally “Le Policier apache” (which translates as “The Crooked Policeman”), after the novel on which it was based.  It was re-titled to the far more enigmatic title Fantômas contre Fantômas to appease the censors.

© James Travers 2001

See also:
Fantômas
Juve contre Fantômas
Le Mort qui tue
Le Faux magistrat



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