Before going to see Cairo Conspiracy (2022-also reviewed) I decided to check the local CEX. Recently having gotten Montparnasse
(1958-also reviewed) on DVD,I was happy to find a Blu-Ray of another title by film maker Jacques Becker on sale, which led to me going to Paris.
View on the film:
Brushing away the decades of grime that has covered the film, StudioCanal present a sparkling transfer, with the picture shining from the opening scene, and the soundtrack being as sharp as the suits in the film.
Rolling into the fashion house looking like a wheeler-dealer, Jean Chevrier gives a seductive, live-wire turn as Daniel, whose wide-smile Chervrier has turn like a slippery eel, which Chervrier lights up in a slick manner, expressing the ease Daniel slides pass the awkwardness of Philippe.
Attempting to hold the thread which has made his business the top fashion house in Paris, whilst at the same time knitting a closeness to Micheline, (played by a magnetic Micheline Presle) Raymond Rouleau gives a blistering performance as Philippe, whose obsession for perfection from everyone who works for him, Rouleau has decay into raw bursts of frustrations, as Philippe attempts to make the perfect image he holds of Micheline, into reality.
Inspired by the fashion house his mum use to run, co-writer (with Maurice Auberge and regular collaborator Maurice Griffe) / directing auteur Jacques Becker & Between Eleven and Midnight (1949-also reviewed) cinematographer Nicolas Hayer unveil a pristine, ultra-stylized atmosphere woven from a fantastic, extended first person shot gazing upwards as a lift go down and rival lovers Daniel and Philippe, gliding tracking shots from the hem of a dress across the faces of the wedding guests, and immaculate close-ups on the beautiful fashion covering every corner of the screen.
Looping the beginning to the ending, Becker ties a haunting, poetic ending of dissolves and forward tilts, towards Philippe's dream wedding.
Engaging the increasing isolated Philippe to unavoidable impending doom from the first scene, (a major recurring motif in Becker's works) the writers brilliantly pave the road by pairing the high-end fashion with high-end drama, that entangles Daniel, Micheline and Philippe, with an all consuming desire for perfection and a thirst for controlling every aspect of fashion and love, leading to Philippe losing a thread.
View on the film:
Brushing away the decades of grime that has covered the film, StudioCanal present a sparkling transfer, with the picture shining from the opening scene, and the soundtrack being as sharp as the suits in the film.
Rolling into the fashion house looking like a wheeler-dealer, Jean Chevrier gives a seductive, live-wire turn as Daniel, whose wide-smile Chervrier has turn like a slippery eel, which Chervrier lights up in a slick manner, expressing the ease Daniel slides pass the awkwardness of Philippe.
Attempting to hold the thread which has made his business the top fashion house in Paris, whilst at the same time knitting a closeness to Micheline, (played by a magnetic Micheline Presle) Raymond Rouleau gives a blistering performance as Philippe, whose obsession for perfection from everyone who works for him, Rouleau has decay into raw bursts of frustrations, as Philippe attempts to make the perfect image he holds of Micheline, into reality.
Inspired by the fashion house his mum use to run, co-writer (with Maurice Auberge and regular collaborator Maurice Griffe) / directing auteur Jacques Becker & Between Eleven and Midnight (1949-also reviewed) cinematographer Nicolas Hayer unveil a pristine, ultra-stylized atmosphere woven from a fantastic, extended first person shot gazing upwards as a lift go down and rival lovers Daniel and Philippe, gliding tracking shots from the hem of a dress across the faces of the wedding guests, and immaculate close-ups on the beautiful fashion covering every corner of the screen.
Looping the beginning to the ending, Becker ties a haunting, poetic ending of dissolves and forward tilts, towards Philippe's dream wedding.
Engaging the increasing isolated Philippe to unavoidable impending doom from the first scene, (a major recurring motif in Becker's works) the writers brilliantly pave the road by pairing the high-end fashion with high-end drama, that entangles Daniel, Micheline and Philippe, with an all consuming desire for perfection and a thirst for controlling every aspect of fashion and love, leading to Philippe losing a thread.