Film Review
For his first feature, director Pierre Chevalier brought a touch of
classic poetic realism to what is essentially a formulaic film noir
thriller, a combination that works surprisingly well - as perhaps it
should given that film noir (arguably) had its origins in France's
poetic realist offerings of the 1930s. The plot offers few
surprises and borrows a little too glibly from American B-movie
thrillers of the previous decade but the presence of two charismatic
leads - Micheline Presle and Raymond Pellegrin, both at the height of
their powers - ensures the film is never going to be dull or
uninvolving.
Les Impures
is by no means a classic of its genre, but it offers a satisfying
variation on a very familiar theme. At least it has far more
going for it than Chevalier's next thriller offering, the routine Lemmy
Caution adventure
Vous pigez
(1956).
Although Micheline Presle had been one of the biggest stars of French
cinema in the 1940s, her career was beginning to decline around this
time, partly as a result of her decision to move to Hollywood, where
she appeared in films that included Jean Negulesco's
Under My Skin and Fritz Lang's
American
Guerrilla in the Philippines.
On her return to France, she remained very much in demand, but
increasingly as a supporting artiste rather than the lead. Presle
may not have been the box office magnet she once was but her
performance in
Les Impures is
among her most compelling, an astute and compassionate portrayal of a
woman cruelly deceived by love. Raymond Pellegrin's performance
is equally laudable and brings at least an illusion of depth to an
archetypal and insufficiently developed character.
Taking his cue from American film noir, cinematographer Henri Alekan
uses both interior and exterior lighting to create a sustained mood of
tension, which builds to an incredibly tense climax. For the
scenes set in Tangier, the heroine's helpless sense of confinement is
palpably rendered by the spider's web of shadows that surrounds her and
seemingly holds her prisoner. French films noirs (polars) of this
era tend to be less action-oriented than their American counterparts,
so the physically dramatic final scenes of
Les Impures come as something of a
surprise, offering not only some well-choreographed fight scenes but a
hell-for-leather police car chase across Paris. Georges Van
Parys' score adds both to the drama and poetry of the piece, although
the schmaltzy love theme he composed for the film is over-used and ends
up being lodged in the spectator's head for days afterwards. All
in all,
Les Impures is a
satisfying mix of romance and thriller which falls down only because of
its careless over-reliance on dog-eared clichés.
© James Travers, Willems Henri 2014
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
On his release from prison, petty criminal Mario is eager to make a
fresh start, but things get off to a bad start when he learns that his
wife Géneviève has not waited for him. Out of
spite, Mario accepts an offer of work from Mr Charlie, the boss of a
white slave gang. In return for a large wad of cash Mario must
begin by seducing Michèle, a singer and hostess at a night club
in Montmartre. This done, he must then dupe her into signing a
contract for a job in Tangier. Whilst Michèle is
blissfully unaware that Mario is an employee of Mr Charlie, Mario is
equally ignorant that Michèle is a victim of emotional blackmail
and is working at the night club to support her younger sister
Daniele. When Mario falls in love with his victim he knows that
he cannot go through with the scheme. But the gangsters intervene
and Michèle is soon on her way to Tangier. With
Daniele's help, Mario sets out to find her...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.