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3 Films
by Louis Malle
(Au Revoir les Enfants; Lacombe, Lucien;
Murmur of the Heart) |
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| Starring: Benoit Ferreux, Lea Massari, Michael Lonsdale, Pierre
Blaise, Aurore Clément, Holger Löwenadler, Gaspard Manesse, Raphaël Fejtö, Philippe
Morier-Genoud Directed by: Louis
Malle |
Theatrical Release: 1971, 1974, 1987
DVD Release: 2006
Released by: The Criterion CollectionDolby Digital 1.0
Widescreen |
| Malle in the Beginning  Louis Malle’s first
feature-length movie was not about growing up. It was a film noir, Elevator to the
Gallows (***1/2), a hard-hitting movie about mistaken identities and criminal plans
run amuck. It is a genre he was never to revisit for the rest of his career. It stars one
of the original femme fatales, Jeanne Moreau, who conspires to get rid of her husband in
order to be with her lover. While her lover is trying to leave the scene of the crime, he
gets stuck in an elevator, his car is stolen, and the thieves commit yet another crime. To
tell more would spoil the delicious twists in the tightly woven plot. Criterion’s
transfer of the original black-and-white print is sharp and always on the mark, and the
sound is excellent monaural. Miles Davis created the soundtrack music, and he and his
quintet are recorded in clean, clear sound.
There’s a whole second disc of extras, including the
Miles Davis recording sessions, a recent interview with Jeanne Moreau, a period interview
with Malle, and other interviews with production and acting personnel. Also included is
Malle’s student film, Crazeologie, which features the title song by Charlie
Parker. Since Criterion has done such a bang-up job on Malle’s French movies, it
would be interesting to see what would happen if they took on Malle’s best American
films, Atlantic City and Pretty Baby.
...Rad Bennett
radb@hometheatersound.com |
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The second film, set during the last days of World War II,
follows the maturation of Lucien Lacombe, who always introduces himself as Lacombe,
Lucien. Turned down by French freedom fighters and needing to fit in somewhere, he falls
in with a group of French Nazi supporters. He meets a Jewish family, falls for the
daughter, and in the end, seems to turn to a better side of his nature, albeit too late.
The third movie is perhaps the best known. Au Revoir les
Enfants was nominated for an Oscar and was on the best-of-the-year list of almost
every well-known film critic of the ‘80s. The most autobiographical of Malle’s
coming-of-age movies, it tells the story of a church school during World War II that hides
Jewish students in its midst under false names. The Nazis discover them when one of the
characters turns them in, and they are sent away to the camps.
Malle made documentaries as well as fictional movies. We
can see it in the way he lets his characters write their own stories. Viewers observe and
are not manipulated by anything but their own minds and hearts. The French director was a
genius at working with children. All three movies use young people who were not actors,
yet they turn in performances that are more convincing than those of professionals. Lucien
Lacombe is especially complex. Though he does awful things, we can’t say he is all
bad, for we can see good in him even as he does them.
Criterion has done a splendid job of restoring and
presenting these classic films in a four-DVD set. The restored prints look fresh and new.
Colors are amazing. Blues and greens have presence and life, yet always seem natural, as
do flesh tones. The contrast is perfect, with remarkable shadow detail. Needless to say,
the correct 1.66:1 aspect ratio has been respected. Malle was keen on sound, and the
source music and sound effects are beautifully reproduced in glorious monaural sound,
adding immeasurably to the enjoyment of the films. The new electronic subtitles that are
provided are easy to read.
The extras include interviews with biographer Pierre
Billard and Candice Bergman, Malle’s wife at the time of his death. There are
excerpts from French TV and other festivities in which we can hear Malle, in unhalting and
perfect English, speak about his movies. There is a filmography as well as Charlie
Chaplin’s short silent film, The Immigrant, which plays an important
part in Au Revoir les Enfants. The whole set is packaged in a sturdy
slipcover case, and each individual DVD includes a handsome booklet with color photos and
superb essays on the film it accompanies. If you have never seen these movies, you are in
for a real treat, thanks to Criterion’s fastidious work. |
