With most of the family on holiday,I realised that I could catch-up on some long awaited viewings. Reading excellent comments on the title from fellow IMDber dbdumonteil,I decided to discover how much deadlier auteur Julien Duvivier could make things.
The plot:
Divorced from his wife Gabrielle for over 20 years, André Chatelin has poured his heart and soul into becoming the greatest chef in Paris,with even the President going for regular meals at Chatelin's café. Whilst clearing up,Catherine walks in. Not having seen Gabrielle's for over 20 years,Catherine reveals to Chatelin that she has recently died,and that she herself is Gabrielle's daughter. Bringing Catherine into the business, Chatelin starts finding Catherine placing romantic feelings on him. Whilst Chatelin takes everything at face value,Catherine starts cooking up a scheme that will reveal her to be deadlier than the male.
View on the film:
Opening with a crane shot sweeping up the streets of Paris, co- writer/(with Charles Dorat/Maurice Bessy and Pierre-Aristide Bréal) directing auteur Julien Duvivier & Henri-Georges Clouzot's regular cinematographer Armand Thirard pull the viewer into the dirty side streets with a glistening "evil under the flames" aura being cooked up in the kitchen between Chatelin and Catherine, which spills over in dazzling pre-French New Wave outdoor shooting,which gives Chatelin's battles for Catherine an on the spot urgency. Served in just under two hours, Duvivier grills his unique Film Noir style with a rich canvas of lingering murky shadows and transfixing tracking shots,which sway on the pessimism seeping into Chatelin's "image" of Catherine.
Giving the viewer the opportunity to taste Chatelin's Noir meals,the screenplay by Duvivier/Bessy and Bréal fully explore the relationships in brilliantly subtle gestures,via the almost- son/dad bond between Chatelin and Gérard Delacroix breaking down into Noir loners fighting in the streets,and Catherine's humble,pristine image being chipped away to unveil the heart of a Femme Fatale. Keeping her real hand out of sight,the writers smartly spend the first hour threading a bond between Catherine and Chatelin that shines with some glimpses of sincere love,which wilts away into the Noir tar that Catherine tries to keep out of Chatelin's sight.
Shimmering into Chatelin's kitchen, Danièle Delorme gives an exquisite performance as Catherine,whose Femme Fatale mind games are given an earthy veneer by Delorme that tug at the heart strings of Chatelin,and shake up the Angry Young Man tension within Gérard. Giving his exchanges with Gérard (played by a great Gérard Blain) a parental warmth,Jean Gabin gives an extraordinary performance as Chatelin. Constantly seeing the burnt embers of past romantic relationships,Gabin catches the youthful excitement that surrounds Chatelin in a new romance,but is unable to escape the Noir loner wriggling unease that Catherine has a hidden side that is about to steam up.
The plot:
Divorced from his wife Gabrielle for over 20 years, André Chatelin has poured his heart and soul into becoming the greatest chef in Paris,with even the President going for regular meals at Chatelin's café. Whilst clearing up,Catherine walks in. Not having seen Gabrielle's for over 20 years,Catherine reveals to Chatelin that she has recently died,and that she herself is Gabrielle's daughter. Bringing Catherine into the business, Chatelin starts finding Catherine placing romantic feelings on him. Whilst Chatelin takes everything at face value,Catherine starts cooking up a scheme that will reveal her to be deadlier than the male.
View on the film:
Opening with a crane shot sweeping up the streets of Paris, co- writer/(with Charles Dorat/Maurice Bessy and Pierre-Aristide Bréal) directing auteur Julien Duvivier & Henri-Georges Clouzot's regular cinematographer Armand Thirard pull the viewer into the dirty side streets with a glistening "evil under the flames" aura being cooked up in the kitchen between Chatelin and Catherine, which spills over in dazzling pre-French New Wave outdoor shooting,which gives Chatelin's battles for Catherine an on the spot urgency. Served in just under two hours, Duvivier grills his unique Film Noir style with a rich canvas of lingering murky shadows and transfixing tracking shots,which sway on the pessimism seeping into Chatelin's "image" of Catherine.
Giving the viewer the opportunity to taste Chatelin's Noir meals,the screenplay by Duvivier/Bessy and Bréal fully explore the relationships in brilliantly subtle gestures,via the almost- son/dad bond between Chatelin and Gérard Delacroix breaking down into Noir loners fighting in the streets,and Catherine's humble,pristine image being chipped away to unveil the heart of a Femme Fatale. Keeping her real hand out of sight,the writers smartly spend the first hour threading a bond between Catherine and Chatelin that shines with some glimpses of sincere love,which wilts away into the Noir tar that Catherine tries to keep out of Chatelin's sight.
Shimmering into Chatelin's kitchen, Danièle Delorme gives an exquisite performance as Catherine,whose Femme Fatale mind games are given an earthy veneer by Delorme that tug at the heart strings of Chatelin,and shake up the Angry Young Man tension within Gérard. Giving his exchanges with Gérard (played by a great Gérard Blain) a parental warmth,Jean Gabin gives an extraordinary performance as Chatelin. Constantly seeing the burnt embers of past romantic relationships,Gabin catches the youthful excitement that surrounds Chatelin in a new romance,but is unable to escape the Noir loner wriggling unease that Catherine has a hidden side that is about to steam up.