Les violents (1957) Poster

(1957)

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Whodunit in the dark
dbdumonteil11 January 2009
"Les Violents " should have been Calef's best movie.Unfortunately it is not.The opening is brilliant : a murky dark atmosphere where a strange silhouette moves ,sometimes you can only see threatening eyes in the dark.A great moment:the captain to a frightened Ledoux: "what does he look like?" "he looks like you" .

The problem is the number of characters :there are so many persons on the screen that it's very hard to catch up with the plot.Calef had qualities,but creating a supporting character was not his forte (in "la Passante " it's also obvious).The ending is meant to be surprising and it is ,but it's so implausible you can't say it packs a wallop .

Best performance comes from Fernand Ledoux ,as a jaded bitter man ,whose life has been ruined by his cousin.For the rest,it's a faceless cast,even the talented Paul Meurisse.
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8/10
"Even the stock-market reacts like a barometer to your anger. "
morrison-dylan-fan4 November 2018
Warning: Spoilers
When getting hold of all 4 (!) outstanding films Jeanne Moreau made in 1957,I decided to go for a handful of other French titles from '57 at the same time. Despite having read about him for years,I somehow have never seen a Henri Calef movie, which I decided to correct by opening the coffin sent by post.

View on the film:

Caped in a silk Jazz score from Marcel Landowski, co-writer/(with Jacques Chabannes and André's Haguet and Legrand) director Henri Calef & cinematographer Jean Isnard dress the Tercelin household in lush Art Deco stylisation, shimmering in long panning shots across the rooms and down the secret passage ways. Breaking out of the Art Deco, Calef neatly balances this elegance with a Film Noir ruggedness, lit from the Giallo-style mini-coffins landing in the hands of the next victim, and a tastefully done topless scene with Françoise Fabian, (a rare thing to do in this era)to the misty outdoor scenes gliding on fear of Inspecteur Malouvier sinking with the killer.

Holding Malouvier back from getting involved in the first half, the writers present an excellent family affair Film Noir, where the Tercelin's extended family feud fuels revenge as they trade underhanded double-dealings that get nailed as they each start being posted to their coffins. Becoming caught in the middle of this challenging family matter, the writers tensely have Malouvier chop down the cold shoulders from the Tiercelin's and unveiling their criminal stash. Met with cold glances from her broken dad Pierre, (a great, worn-down Fernand Ledoux) Françoise Fabian gives this Noir a welcomed slice of glamour as nightclub dancing Evelyne, with Fabian making visible Evelyne's hopes in breaking out of the shadow over her family. Finding his fellow officers less than keen to dig up the family matters,Paul Meurisse gives a very good performance as Malouvier, with Meurisse capturing Malouvier's thoughtful silence, in order to hear a coffin get posted.
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