Saturday, January 15, 2011

Le Feu Follet

Maurice Ronet is an unhappy, recovering alcoholic leaving his rehab to see old friends in Paris. Also starring Jeanne Moreau in a small part. The English title is The Fire Within.

It's a French film allright! The alienation of the bourgeouisie... Again Malles's camera is simply observing what is happening, never intruding. We follow Ronet around in bars, cafés and finally an evening party, there are lots of philosophical conversations and chic parisiennes. The film looks great in black and white, and Ronet is good in the main part, but in the end I got a bit bored. Who are these people? Why should I care about them? It reminded me of that Monty Python sketch where they make fun of Godard and made me long for a film with Jean-Paul Belmondo and a barfight.

Next: Les Amants

2 comments:

  1. This is my favorite Malle film! I think I recommended it to you at some point here, though I'm sorry you lost interest as it went on. For me, I love that it just wallows in depression, the almost sloppy camerawork (I know at least a couple scenes have visible cameras in reflections), and that the actor emaciated himself for the role.

    I hope you enjoy the rest of your Malle marathon!

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  2. Yes, I remember your recommandation, and then saw that the collection was only 10 pounds on amazon. It's not a bad film. Maybe I was just in the wrong mood.

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