Post by Brad Nelson on Sept 4, 2023 8:10:44 GMT -8
Elevator to the Gallows
This is a 1958 subtitled French crime drama. A woman is cheating on her husband and she and her lover plan on dispensing with the husband.
This is very plot-driven but I can't say much more – other than to say that in the early going, you almost expect to see Lieutenant Colombo appear on the scene. But he would not be dealing with a particularly clever Patrick McGoohan. At times, it may make you laugh out loud at how stupid the criminals can be. Is this realistic? I dare say, it might be.
But this is a French film and some baggage comes along with that. But for a foreign French film, it's fairly coherent, well-acted, and not steeped in the weird. In fact, it's rather surprising to run across a French film that doesn't have a pretty good dose of weird in it.
Still, it does have that French character. And that could turn some off. I concur with what this one reviewer wrote:
Jeanne Moreau as the cheating wife (Florence Carala) is excellent in the role (pictured below). And she's not hard on the eyes.,
There's a younger couple who get accidentally involved in all this. And I confess this is both interesting and the weakest part of the movie. I'm not really sure why they threw this plot line in. But this is written for a French audience so perhaps the French/German antagonism that shows up has (understandably) more meaning for them.
Little things like the soundtrack (which is pretty good) all add up to make it obvious that this is an attempt at making a good film. It is not some weird-ass "art" project as is typical of many French films whose purpose seems to be to impress you with how well-cultured and sophisticated the filmmakers are, and not with telling a good story.
At the end of the day, suffice it to say that I had not seen this movie before (generally speaking) so it kept my interest. That said, this is not a great film, merely a good one.
This is a 1958 subtitled French crime drama. A woman is cheating on her husband and she and her lover plan on dispensing with the husband.
This is very plot-driven but I can't say much more – other than to say that in the early going, you almost expect to see Lieutenant Colombo appear on the scene. But he would not be dealing with a particularly clever Patrick McGoohan. At times, it may make you laugh out loud at how stupid the criminals can be. Is this realistic? I dare say, it might be.
But this is a French film and some baggage comes along with that. But for a foreign French film, it's fairly coherent, well-acted, and not steeped in the weird. In fact, it's rather surprising to run across a French film that doesn't have a pretty good dose of weird in it.
Still, it does have that French character. And that could turn some off. I concur with what this one reviewer wrote:
The acting is great in every instance, the plot is original, and the direction is probably among the best I've ever seen. I loved how the plot had a lot of twists but there weren't so many that you were confused as to what was going on.
Jeanne Moreau as the cheating wife (Florence Carala) is excellent in the role (pictured below). And she's not hard on the eyes.,
There's a younger couple who get accidentally involved in all this. And I confess this is both interesting and the weakest part of the movie. I'm not really sure why they threw this plot line in. But this is written for a French audience so perhaps the French/German antagonism that shows up has (understandably) more meaning for them.
Little things like the soundtrack (which is pretty good) all add up to make it obvious that this is an attempt at making a good film. It is not some weird-ass "art" project as is typical of many French films whose purpose seems to be to impress you with how well-cultured and sophisticated the filmmakers are, and not with telling a good story.
At the end of the day, suffice it to say that I had not seen this movie before (generally speaking) so it kept my interest. That said, this is not a great film, merely a good one.