The Moon in the Gutter (1983)
"La lune dans le caniveau" (original title)

He is a revenge-obssessed stevedore whose sister was brutally raped and murdered. She is a wealthy, elusive woman. They try hard to get together... or do they?

Director:

Jean-Jacques Beineix

Writers:

Jean-Jacques Beineix, Olivier Mergault,

Stars:

Gérard Depardieu, Nastassja Kinski, Victoria Abril

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gérard Depardieu	...	Gérard Delmas - un docker hanté par le suicide de sa soeur
Nastassja Kinski	...	Loretta Channing - une fille des beaux quartiers
Victoria Abril	...	Bella - la maîtresse possessive de Gérard
Bertice Reading	...	Lola
Gabriel Monnet	...	Tom
Dominique Pinon	...	Frank - le frère alcoolique de Gérard
Milena Vukotic	...	Frieda - une prostituée vieillissante
Vittorio Mezzogiorno	...	Newton Channing - le frère à la dérive de Loretta
Bernard Farcy	...	Jésus
Anne-Marie Coffinet	...	Dora
Jacques Herlin
Guido Alberti	...	Le gardien de la cathédrale
Katya Berger	...	Catherine (as Katia Berger)
Rosa Fumetto
Graziano Giusti

Storyline

In Marseilles, a woman commits suicide after she is raped in an alley. Nightly, her brother Gerard broods at the scene hoping to catch the rapist. He lives with his lover Bella whom he neglects, an alcoholic brother who lurks about, and his father who's stayed drunk since the daughter's death, ignoring work and his own companion. At a seedy bar, Gerard meets a wealthy, nihilistic hedonist and his beautiful sister. Gerard flips for her and thinks she's his ticket out of the slum. Bella warns him otherwise and also, in jealousy, sets two thugs on him. Then Gerard thinks he's found his sister's rapist. These emotional crises force Gerard to choose what's most important.

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Plot Keywords:

marseille | stevedore | suicide | slum | revenge | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French

Release Date:

18 May 1983 (France)

Also Known As:

The Moon in the Gutter

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gaumont, TF1 Films Production, S.F.P.C.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

137 min 126 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

After completing the director's cut of Betty Blue, Jean-Jacques Beineix approached Gaumont with a request that he do the same thing for The Moon in the Gutter. The studio however informed Beineix that all the unused scenes from the film had been destroyed. Beineix has said that the original cut of the film was 4 hours long.

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Quotes

Tom: A husband, you have to earn it!

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Connections

Featured in Cannes... les 400 coups (1997)

User Reviews

pretty pointless

When I read the jacket on the videotape, it sounded like an interesting story. A guy's sister is raped and he can't get over it and continues looking for her assailant. However, that really isn't what the movie was about. While it is true she is raped and he talks about finding her attacker, so much of the movie just seems banal and pointless. Along the way, we are shown a variety of naked women and images that MIGHT be true (or a dream or who knows),...but none of it really adds up to anything. While some might find it surreal and artsy, I just found it boring and a real drag. It's a shame, too, as the movie stars Gerard Depardieu--his talents are pretty much wasted, as anyone could have sleep-walked through the movie as they had his character do.