The movie is based, and based quite faithfully, on the real-life time and crimes of one Henri-Désiré Landru, a Frenchman whose name lives on in infamy. During World War I Landru, already a crook and swindler, progressed to killing and even to serial killing, luring inoffensive women with promises of romance and marriage. He then proceeded to murder the women (where convenient, together with their children or pets) in order to steal their money and other belongings. Here Landru was helped by the profoundly patriarchal nature of his society : he lived in an era where nobody raised his eyebrows at the thought of a man taking care of the financial affairs of a wife, a fiancée, a lover.
To begin with the good, the movie provides the viewer with a good overview of the methods and ruses of Landru. The second half also contains some good trial scenes. (Note the episode where a defence lawyer's trick backfires rather nastily. In the courtroom as in life, it does not do to be too clever...) The cast is impressive, the performances are fine, and the outstanding costumes establish a strong sense of character, time and place.
Touches of imagination provide the movie with additional life and colour. For instance, there's a clever use of music. This includes a clever use of the superb "Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix" aria by Camille Saint-Saëns. In the opera, the cruel and callous Delila seduces and captures her male prey with promises of love, tenderness, union. In the movie, it's the cruel and callous male who ensnares the unsuspecting female... There's also a sense of black humour at work. This makes for an interesting combination of subject matter and style, as the late Landru seems to have been a man of considerable, although very dry wit.
So it's certainly an enjoyable movie. However, it needs to be said that "Landru" suffers from superficiality : it does not explore the full and shocking horror of the various crimes. By the same token it does not dig deep into Landru's twisted psyche. (This last one may be an unjust comment, as serial killers seem to work on different principles than the rest of us - it is possible that, behind all the masks and mirrors, "there is no there there', meaning that you don't get a recognizable soul capable of being explored. But still.)
To begin with the good, the movie provides the viewer with a good overview of the methods and ruses of Landru. The second half also contains some good trial scenes. (Note the episode where a defence lawyer's trick backfires rather nastily. In the courtroom as in life, it does not do to be too clever...) The cast is impressive, the performances are fine, and the outstanding costumes establish a strong sense of character, time and place.
Touches of imagination provide the movie with additional life and colour. For instance, there's a clever use of music. This includes a clever use of the superb "Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix" aria by Camille Saint-Saëns. In the opera, the cruel and callous Delila seduces and captures her male prey with promises of love, tenderness, union. In the movie, it's the cruel and callous male who ensnares the unsuspecting female... There's also a sense of black humour at work. This makes for an interesting combination of subject matter and style, as the late Landru seems to have been a man of considerable, although very dry wit.
So it's certainly an enjoyable movie. However, it needs to be said that "Landru" suffers from superficiality : it does not explore the full and shocking horror of the various crimes. By the same token it does not dig deep into Landru's twisted psyche. (This last one may be an unjust comment, as serial killers seem to work on different principles than the rest of us - it is possible that, behind all the masks and mirrors, "there is no there there', meaning that you don't get a recognizable soul capable of being explored. But still.)