Entranced by his sadly near-forgotten 1953 title When You Read This Letter,I was intrigued to find out from a fellow IMDber that DVD company Masters of Cinema had put out a DVD/Blu-Ray of auteur Jean- Pierre Melville's feature debut,which led to me listening to the silence.
The plot-
France 1941:
Wanting to not get too caught up in the Resistance battle against the Nazi Occupation,a man and his grown-up niece try to follow their daily routines. Crushing their will,the Nazi generals order them to take Werner von Ebrennac in as a "guest" who will come home after a long day working for the Führer. Whilst they have no say in him staying there,the man and the woman decide to stage a silent protest against him,which leads to Ebrennac filling the silence by exploring his most intimate feelings on the war and his love of the occupied country.
View on the film:
Offering an interesting booklet and detailed docs as extras,Masters of Cinema give an amazing transfer,with the audio and the visuals being pin-sharp,whilst retaining the natural grit from the film.
Saying just a handful of words over 90 minutes,the alluring Nicole Stéphane gives an incredible performance as the niece, drawing in the most subtle change of facial and body language,from looking down at the floor like a statue,to longing close-ups letting Stéphane crack the ice from the niece's eyes. Bringing attention to detail in his smoke- hued performance, Jean-Marie Robain gives a haunting performance as the uncle,whose low shoulders and endless pipe smoking gives the uncle an unassuming appearance,which Robain cleverly uses to give the uncle's pragmatic mind-set a left-field mood. Holding his head high on the first night in the house, Howard Vernon gives a delicate performance as Ebrennac,whose Nazi uniform Vernon peels away to reveal the thoughtful,considerate man hidden under the beast.
Made when feelings on the Occupation were still raw, Jean-Pierre Melville's adaptation of "Vercors" (real name Jean Bruller,who based the story on real events) underground short story delivers a message of understanding the individual,but finely not understanding/reasoning with the enemy. Sitting in silence, Melville takes advantage of the situation by giving the uncle a poetic narration expressing how deep his understanding of Ebrennac goes,and giving Ebrennac a blank canvas,which gets painted with the discovery that all of his optimistic beliefs are fatally wrong. Unafraid to open up feelings on the Occupation, Melville presents the uncle and nieces rebellion in a detached, passive manner,with neither of them looking outside the window for a Hollywood (in terms of heroics) resistance.
Going French New Wave almost a decade before the movement existed, Melville went in an indie mode made visible by two non-union cinematographers quitting over his style,the production taking a year due to Melville's cash limits,and most of the movie being shot at Vercors own house. Largely keeping the screen limited to the three in the house, Melville breaks the theatrical trappings of the real location with deep,rich shadows and charcoal (natural) low- lighting casting a ghostly atmosphere over the title. Making his debut, Melville displays signs of the auteur vision that was to arrive with beautiful close-ups capturing the moment when the restrained emotion silently pours out.
The plot-
France 1941:
Wanting to not get too caught up in the Resistance battle against the Nazi Occupation,a man and his grown-up niece try to follow their daily routines. Crushing their will,the Nazi generals order them to take Werner von Ebrennac in as a "guest" who will come home after a long day working for the Führer. Whilst they have no say in him staying there,the man and the woman decide to stage a silent protest against him,which leads to Ebrennac filling the silence by exploring his most intimate feelings on the war and his love of the occupied country.
View on the film:
Offering an interesting booklet and detailed docs as extras,Masters of Cinema give an amazing transfer,with the audio and the visuals being pin-sharp,whilst retaining the natural grit from the film.
Saying just a handful of words over 90 minutes,the alluring Nicole Stéphane gives an incredible performance as the niece, drawing in the most subtle change of facial and body language,from looking down at the floor like a statue,to longing close-ups letting Stéphane crack the ice from the niece's eyes. Bringing attention to detail in his smoke- hued performance, Jean-Marie Robain gives a haunting performance as the uncle,whose low shoulders and endless pipe smoking gives the uncle an unassuming appearance,which Robain cleverly uses to give the uncle's pragmatic mind-set a left-field mood. Holding his head high on the first night in the house, Howard Vernon gives a delicate performance as Ebrennac,whose Nazi uniform Vernon peels away to reveal the thoughtful,considerate man hidden under the beast.
Made when feelings on the Occupation were still raw, Jean-Pierre Melville's adaptation of "Vercors" (real name Jean Bruller,who based the story on real events) underground short story delivers a message of understanding the individual,but finely not understanding/reasoning with the enemy. Sitting in silence, Melville takes advantage of the situation by giving the uncle a poetic narration expressing how deep his understanding of Ebrennac goes,and giving Ebrennac a blank canvas,which gets painted with the discovery that all of his optimistic beliefs are fatally wrong. Unafraid to open up feelings on the Occupation, Melville presents the uncle and nieces rebellion in a detached, passive manner,with neither of them looking outside the window for a Hollywood (in terms of heroics) resistance.
Going French New Wave almost a decade before the movement existed, Melville went in an indie mode made visible by two non-union cinematographers quitting over his style,the production taking a year due to Melville's cash limits,and most of the movie being shot at Vercors own house. Largely keeping the screen limited to the three in the house, Melville breaks the theatrical trappings of the real location with deep,rich shadows and charcoal (natural) low- lighting casting a ghostly atmosphere over the title. Making his debut, Melville displays signs of the auteur vision that was to arrive with beautiful close-ups capturing the moment when the restrained emotion silently pours out.