Film Review
Buried amidst a rich cornucopia of 1930s French film classics that
includes
La Grande illusion (1937),
Pépé le Moko
(1937) and
La Bête humaine (1938),
Le Messager has long remained an
all-but-forgotten minor entry in the dazzling filmography of France's
most iconic actor, Jean Gabin. A conventional melodrama based on
a totally predictable stage play by Henri Bernstein, the film has not
withstood the test of time as well as the masterpieces around it to
which Gabin leant his services, but that does not mean that it is not
without interest. Raymond Rouleau may never have attained
the directorial brilliance of Jean Renoir, Marcel Carné or
Julien Duvivier, but he was more than capable of turning out a decent
crowd-pleaser, and it is no small feat that he was able to make
something of Bernstein's hopelessly banal play.
Le Messager's main asset is of
course Gabin himself, once again cast as the tragic romantic hero, one
who is somewhat less sympathetic, a little more rugged than audiences
had come to expect at this time (the character that Gabin plays
presages his later, more grimly introspective roles). At the
height of his pre-WWII popularity, Gabin turns in another captivating
and nuanced performance, outshining both of his capable co-stars - Gaby
Morlay (the undisputed queen of French melodrama in the 30s and 40s)
and Jean-Pierre Aumont (possibly the most good-looking French actor of
his generation). Gabin and Aumont make a fascinating contrast,
two actors used to playing doomed romantic leads but with very
different personalities, the one earthy and demotic, the other
sensitive and idealistic. There is a curious echo of Truffaut's
Jules et Jim (1962) in this
film, not least because it offers a similar take on the classic love
triangle, with two friends becoming fatally attracted to the same
enigmatic woman.
Henri Bernstein's play had only just been written before its film
adaptation went into production and Marcel Achard, one of France's
leading playwrights, does a fine job of transposing it to the big
screen, adding depth to the characters and making good use of the
colonial setting to give the film a modern, exotic feel. Raymond
Rouleau had directed just three films prior to this (he was far better
known, and far more capable, as an actor) but his mise-en-scène
exhibits sufficient flair to disguise the film's theatrical
origins. Jules Kruger's brooding cinematography, helped by an
ominous score from Georges Auric, heightens the intensity of the
performances and introduces a hint of film noir foreboding into the
proceedings. An unpretentious low-key drama,
Le Messager was never going to
shine as brightly as those other great films that Jean Gabin inhabited
with such panache in the late 1930s, but that doesn't mean it should be
forgotten. A film that pairs Gabin with Jean-Pierre Aumont and
eerily anticipates later films by Truffaut and Kurosawa is a
serendipitous find for anyone who should chance to come across it.
© James Travers 2014
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Next Raymond Rouleau film:
Rose (1936)
Film Synopsis
It is in a blaze of impetuosity that Nick Dange divorces his rich
English wife Florence so that he can marry another woman, Marie.
Florence is not slow to take her revenge and to escape financial ruin
Nick has no choice but to accept a post overseeing a mining operation
in colonial Africa. The work proves to be monotonous and Nick
whiles away the lonely evenings by drinking heavily and sharing his
confidences with his young second-in-command, Gilbert Rollin. The
image of his wife that Nick conjures up is one that fascinates his new
friend, and when he returns to France to convalesce after an illness
Gilbert wastes no time in looking Marie up. Marie is at first
shocked by Gilbert's protestations of love for her but her own
loneliness and attraction for the younger man lead her to begin an
intense love affair with him. When Dange returns to Paris, he
soon discovers his wife's infidelity and he is tempted to murder both
Marie and the man he thought was his friend...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.