Film Review
On 30th October 1963, film director Marcel Ophüls, son of the
great Max Ophüls (
La Ronde,
Madame de..., Lola montès) presented his
second film
Peau de banane, a
Franco-Italian production based on a novel by Charles Williams.
After the unsuccessful
La Mer
à boire and the disappointing
L'Ainé des ferchaux, the
crime-comedy
Peau de banane,
written by film director Claude Sautet (
Classe tous risques) and filmed by
Marcel Ophüls and his assistant Costa-Gavras (
Compartiment tueurs) brought actor
Jean-Paul Belmondo the popular hit he needed.
Marcel Ophüls proves to be a worthy successor to his father and
offers a skilful piece of work with a funny and very dynamic Belmondo
teamed up with an irresistible and enchanting Jeanne Moreau (who sings
the lovely ballad
Embrasse-moi).
With our leading duo playing two sympathetic crooks, the supporting
cast includes a pleasant Claude Brasseur and Jean-Pierre
Marielle. A special mention goes to Alain Cuny, a mainstay of
French cinema (seen in Marcel Carné's
Les Visiteurs du soir) and also to
German actor Gert Fröebe, who will later make an unforgettable
Auric Goldfinger.
Peau de
banane is a cheerful and inventive film with some inspired
dialogue. It has nice way of manipulating the viewer and keeping
his attention by sending him down several wrong tracks. However,
it suffers from a lack of rhythm owing to the complexity of the
plot.
Peau de banane
was an immediate popular success, attracting an audience of two million
in France. It is now available on DVD.
© Willems Henri (Brussels, Belgium) 2012
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Next Marcel Ophüls film:
Le Chagrin et la pitié (1969)
Film Synopsis
Cathy, a seductive young woman, decides to take revenge on two crooks,
Bontemps and Lachard. These two are responsible for the bankruptcy and ruin
of her father, and so she asks Michel, her ex-husband, to give her a
helping hand. There is no other solution for them than to become crooks themselves,
so they conceive a shady deal with Bontemps on a island in Brittany. The first
part of their plan is a success and they leave with a huge sum of money.
The second part is to take place in Monte Carlo, where they can expect a
dramatic showdown with Lachard...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.