Nuits de feu (1937) - film review

19th Century Russia.   State prosecutor Fedor Andreiev is presiding over the trial of a man who murdered his wife’s lover.  Despite a robust defence from the brilliant young lawyer Serge Rostoff, the accused man is found guilty and will be deported to Siberia.   Having spoken to the condemned man, Fedor Andreiev sees a disturbing parallel with his own life.  Convinced that his wife is having an affair with Rostoff, he stages his own suicide and disappears…

This dry historical melodrama is a world apart from the silent masterpieces that earned Marcel L’Herbier his reputation as one of finest filmmakers of his generation.  Lacking the scale, visual appeal and dramatic impact of L’Herbier’s earlier films, Nuits de feu is a comparatively low-key work, which would be easy to overlook were it not for some fine acting performances.  Victor Francen and Gaby Morlay bring an emotional depth and commitment which is clearly lacking in other departments.  L’Herbier’s half-hearted direction and a lacklustre script fail to convey the power and humanity of the Tolstoi stories on which the storyline is based, although the film is beautifully shot, in the manner of the French poetic realists, with an oppressive sense of dark foreboding and cruel irony.

© James Travers 2007

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