Film Review
Despite being almost completely overlooked today,
Le Trust, ou les batailles de l'argent
represents an important milestone in both the history of Gaumont and
the career of the young company's most valuable asset, Louis
Feuillade. A fast-moving criminal intrigue, it anticipates the
hugely popular thriller serials that Feuillade would go on to make for
Gaumont over the next decade -
Fantômas (1913),
Les
Vampires (1915),
Judex (1916),
Tih
Minh (1918) and
Barrabas
(1919). René Navarre plays the principal villain, a
tenebrous, cross-dressing private detective who bears more than a
passing resemblance to his most famous screen creation, the criminal
mastermind Fantômas.
With the art of film narrative still very much in its infancy,
Le Trust, ou les batailles de l'argent
can hardly help appearing pedestrian and contrived by today's
standards, but Feuillade's slick direction, with its use of strong
visuals, together with Navarre's magnetic presence, makes it an
absorbing piece, and in it we can readily discern the origins of the
modern crime thriller. The characters are convincingly played by
members of Feullade's familiar repertory company and, even if the plot
is ridiculous, we are hooked by the performances. Navarre's
Julien Kieffer isn't only a prototype Fantômas, he is also the
template for just about every movie villain there ever was, and
watching him in this film, exuding menace from every pore, you can
convince yourself he is easily one of the most sinister of crime fiends.
© James Travers 2015
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Next Louis Feuillade film:
La Hantise (1912)
Film Synopsis
Darbois, a wealthy industrialist, declines an invitation to join a
trust headed by the rubber magnate Jacob Berwick after he receives a
telegram from a young scientist, Jean Brémond, who claims to
have invented a revolutionary new form of rubber. Before
Brémond can reach Darbois, he is kidnapped by Julien Kieffer, a
private detective in Berwick's employ. The scientist is taken to
Berwick, who offers to spare his life in return for the chemical
formula of his new compound. Brémond proves to be one step
ahead of his abductors...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.