La Lune dans le caniveau (1983)

La Lune dans le caniveau is a French film first released in 1983, directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix.  The film is based on a novel by David Goodis and stars Gérard Depardieu, Nastassja Kinski, Victoria Abril, Bertice Reading and Gabriel Monnet.  It has also been released under the title: The Moon in the Gutter.  Our overall rating for this film is: very good.


In Marseilles, a young woman commits suicide one evening after being the victim of a vicious rape attack.  The incident torments her brother, Gerard, a dockworker, who resolves to avenge her death.   Whilst moping around the streets where his sister died, Gerard meets a beautiful young woman Loretta, who cruises the port in a red sports car.   Just as Gerard is on the verge of uncovering the identity of his sister’s rapist he finds himself torn between his vindictive girlfriend Bella and the mysterious Loretta.

After Jean-Jacques Beineix made such a stunning directoral debut with his stylish post-modern thriller Diva, it was inevitable then his next film would be pilloried if it failed to maintain the same high standards.  La Lune dans le caniveau certainly makes a strong contrast with Beineix’s first film.  Compared with Diva, it is a moody, slow-moving affair, more realistic, and with a much greater emphasis on characterisation.  Unfortunately, many critics were expecting a Diva II and the film was widely trashed, instantly putting the breaks on Beineix’s career.

Not all critics shared the view that La Lune dans le caniveau was a bad film, and since its release the standing of the film has generally improved.  Although it is by no means as innovative and as compelling as Diva, the film does succeed in giving a tired B-movie subject a slick, artistically inspired interpretation.  The film’s main fault is that it is just too long to sustain such a threadbare plot, even with an actor as talented and charismatic as Gérard Depardieu in the lead role.

© James Travers 2003

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