Marie-Octobre (1959)
Directed by Julien Duvivier

Film Review

Although the latter part of his career was blighted by some notable misfires and unfair comparison with the work of his younger contemporaries (including the directors of the French New Wave such as François Truffaut), Julien Duvivier retains his reputation as one of the great creative forces in French cinema, not only an accomplished director in the unfairly derided 'quality' tradition but also a canny experimentalist. 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 only immense technical flair but also a penchant for innovation. Despite being dismissed as old hat by his detractors, Duvivier often took risks in his later years, pushing the envelope almost as spiritedly as his rivals in the Nouvelle Vague. Marie-Octobre is one of his more successful experiments - a compelling huis clos drama that offers some disturbing reflections on the nature of justice.

Shot on a single stage set in just 23 days, this was one of Duvivier's more minimalist productions, but it proved to be a notable hit with critics and audiences alike - one of the director's last commercial successes. A contributing factor in the film's immense popularity was 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. The gripping performances from these high calibre actors, helped by a magnificently taut script from Henri Jeanson, are what make Marie-Octobre one of Duvivier's most arresting and disturbing films. The sheer elegance of the director's mise-en-scène, accentuated by some atmospheric lighting, prevents the film from looking merely like a piece of filmed theatre. If the film's all-too-predictable conclusion comes as a shock, that is probably because we lack Duvivier's grim insights into the human condition.

Film Synopsis

Marie-Hélène Dumoufin, formerly known as Marie-Octobre, hosts a party at her house with the aim of concluding some unfinished business. It has been fifteen years since Marie-Hélène served in the French Resistance, along with her ten houseguests, but in that time no one has yet been able to uncover the identity of the traitor who killed their leader and caused the break-up of their group on the eve of the Liberation. The purpose of Marie-Hélène's soiree is to identify the traitor, through the shared testimony of the odd assortment of guests, who include a butcher, a priest, a lawyer, a printer and a nightclub owner. The hostess is herself a suspect, as is her faithful domestic, Victorine. Once the traitor has been revealed, Marie-Hélène intends that justice should run its course, with a long overdue execution...