Marie-Octobre (1959) - film review

Fifteen years after the Liberation, ten former members of the French Resistance are invited to the home of Marie-Hélène Dumoufin, code-named Marie-Octobre.   The latter reveals she has discovered that, in 1944, one of their group betrayed them to the Nazis, resulting in the break up of the group and the death of its leader, Castille.  The purpose of the reunion is to identify the traitor and to ensure he – or she – is punished...

Although the latter part of his career was blighted by some notable misfires and unfair comparison with the work of his younger contemporaries (New Wave directors such as François Truffaut), Julien Duvivier was one of great creative forces in French cinema in the Twentieth Century.   Many of his films of the 1930s and 1940s – such as La Belle équipe (1936), Pépé le Moko (1937) and Panique (1946) – have become classics which show not just a great technical flair but also a very definite touch of the auteur.   Marie-Octobre was one of Duviver’s later, more experimental films, which demonstrated both his talent for filmmaking and his readiness to take risks.   

The film, shot on a single stage set in just 23 days, was one of Duvivier’s last commercial successes, despite its extreme minimalist composition.  The film’s immense popularity was mainly down to its remarkable cast, which includes some of the biggest name French actors of the period – Danielle Darrieux, Bernard Blier, Paul Frankeur, Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse and Serge Reggiani.  It is the compelling performances from these high calibre actors, Henri Jeanson’s well-honed script and the alluring film noir-like cinematography which make Marie-Octobre such a thoroughly compelling and memorable psychological drama.

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