Delightful! I'm a great fan of Jean Renoir, and I was very pleased to see this early piece as part of the excellent boxed set of 3 now available on DVD. It has its faults, but I love the way that he lets his actors "do their thing" and lives with the resultant somewhat chaotic mis en scene. The characters are great, with Jules Berry outdoing every caddish scoundrel I've ever seen on film (even including Terry -Thomas!). There's so much fun evident in the making of it, the rather slight fairy-story plot fills the bill perfectly, so it's like watching an early Hitchcock like "Young and Innocent". Lots of the same sense of fun finds its way into Renoir's later, more profound pieces like La Grande Illusion and Les Regles du Jeu, and help make those the more human by not being too sententious.
18 Reviews
I found this in the public library!
mehobulls16 September 2020
This film, shot in less than a month, contains some of the pleasures in Renoir's oeuvre. The fluid camerawork and the social satire have here, as elsewhere, rewards to yield, culminating in the 360 degree shot in the finale. Maybe the rashness accounts for flaws in the one-dimensional characters and the not so successful dramaturgy but the social messages about cooperatives, debt and exploitation are conveyed well.
Publish And Be Damned
writers_reign15 March 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Prevert wrote this screenplay for Renoir the same year he wrote Jenny for Marcel Carne and it's interesting to speculate what might have happened in French cinema had Prevert forged a partnership with Renoir instead of Carne. There's a lot here about workers 'rights' a subject that still, 70 years down the line, still preoccupies Robert Guidiguian, but given that Prevert IS Prevert there's also a lot of poetic touches and subtle dialogue. Indeed it is tempting to think that the Batala he wrote for Jules Berry was a rough draft for the real Devil that Berry would play a few years later in Les Visiteurs du Soir. Arguably one of the earliest uses of 'flashback' it is also full of holes - the flashback is related by a laundress who has fled with Amedee Lange to a small inn on the border; realizing that the proprietor and customers have recognized Lange as a man wanted for murder, she offers to tell his (Lange's) story and then let them decide whether or not to turn him in. However roughly half of what she relates is stuff of which she herself had no direct knowledge, conversations to which she was not privy, etc. If we make allowances for this we are left with a fairly engrossing story verging on a morality play of good (Lange) versus evil (Batala) and workers banding together and unlike La Belle Equipe remaining bonded via the glue of Lange's humanity. In many small ways it feels earlier than nineteen thirty six but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Now available in a boxed set of 3 Renoir titles of which La Grande Illusion stands out.
Renoir's Agitprop confuses more than clarifies...
artihcus02215 March 2009
Warning: Spoilers
''LE CRIME DE MONSIEUR LANGE'' is a film that Renoir made as part of the Popular Front sympathies of the mid-30s when a co-alition of various organizations banded together in a show of collective solidarity under Leon Blum's leadership. It was this film which cemented Renoir forever after in the ranks of left-wing film-makers much to Renoir's bemusement years later and the film has been variously seen as a call-to-arms towards collective organization, as a film about the class conflict and oppression of workers and about creating a new social utopia. Such reductions do the film little justice because what seems an agitprop actually becomes murky.
LE CRIME DE MONSIEUR LANGE begins with a flashback(a device Renoir rarely used) at a Frontier Hotel(which frontier is unspecified) where a guard brings in a wanted poster informing the bar patrons about Amedee Lange(Rene Lefevre), a fugitive on the run from the law. Lange and his sweetheart Valentine(Florelle) arrive at the hotel and are recognized by the patrons. Valentine decides to explain why Lange committed the crime of the title as he sleeps from exhaustion in his room. The film then begins and is set in a courtyard(brought to vivid life by beautiful set design and superb circular panning shots) where writers of a publishing firm reside. This publishing firm is run by Batala(Jules Berry in a great performance), a corrupt fabulist of an employer who loves sleeping with his female employees and crushing the spirit of his males.
Berry's Batala is a caricature par excellence of a bourgeois businessman who will promote Lange's "Arizona Jim" stories in his magazine to make up for swindling his sponsors only to sabotage Lange's vision by inserting absurd advertisements into the mouth of his idealized and poorly researched Western hero. The film moves without a plot, smoothly scripted by the legendary poet-scriptwright Jacques Prevert(who worked with Marcel Carne and Jean Gremillon but this was his only work with France's best film-maker) driven by the actions and interactions between the workers of the publishing firm and their relationships with the girls who run the neighbourhood laundry. It's a portrait of class relationships like few others in film history making room for such expert caricatures as a old war veteran of an Indo-China conflict whose racism and colonialism is presented starkly.
The film's key movement happens midway when the publisher Batala seemingly perishes in a train crash, leaving the publishing firm in disarray...the sponsors want their money back, the workers want to keep their jobs. By mutual agreement and mutual interests they form a co-operative and in this phase, class distinctions fall apart, middle-class businessmen eat side by side with writers and businessmen, corrupt reactionaries alongside progressives, women with men. The publishing firm which had been in tatters because of Batala's pretentious detective magazine Javert rejuvenates itself by making pulp fiction of "Arizona Jim" novels, fumetti and even discuss making a film(although Lange disagrees noting the impossibility of faking the American West in France...).
The film's vision of co-operative society isn't one of classlessness but class co-ordination. The firm's major support comes from a dandy son of a bourgeois businessman, it passes into their hands through the aegis of an unconvincing distant relative of Batala who inherits the place when he "dies". Much of the film's strength comes from Renoir's effortless blocking of actors in group, with direct sound creating a palpable sense of place.
The film's finale climaxes in a stunning coup, where the line between Lange and Arizona Jim blurs. Batala returns from the dead to take over his firm and rub out the work done without him and in an act of inspiration, Lange commits himself to assassinate Batala. This act is carried in two successive spellbinding tracking shots. The first is a crane shot of a high angle which follows Lange walking through three rooms down a stairs, the other is a breathtaking semi-circular pan in which Arizona Jim Lange defeats the bad guy and rescues his girl and then of course heads to the frontier.
LE CRIME DE MONSIEUR LANGE begins with a flashback(a device Renoir rarely used) at a Frontier Hotel(which frontier is unspecified) where a guard brings in a wanted poster informing the bar patrons about Amedee Lange(Rene Lefevre), a fugitive on the run from the law. Lange and his sweetheart Valentine(Florelle) arrive at the hotel and are recognized by the patrons. Valentine decides to explain why Lange committed the crime of the title as he sleeps from exhaustion in his room. The film then begins and is set in a courtyard(brought to vivid life by beautiful set design and superb circular panning shots) where writers of a publishing firm reside. This publishing firm is run by Batala(Jules Berry in a great performance), a corrupt fabulist of an employer who loves sleeping with his female employees and crushing the spirit of his males.
Berry's Batala is a caricature par excellence of a bourgeois businessman who will promote Lange's "Arizona Jim" stories in his magazine to make up for swindling his sponsors only to sabotage Lange's vision by inserting absurd advertisements into the mouth of his idealized and poorly researched Western hero. The film moves without a plot, smoothly scripted by the legendary poet-scriptwright Jacques Prevert(who worked with Marcel Carne and Jean Gremillon but this was his only work with France's best film-maker) driven by the actions and interactions between the workers of the publishing firm and their relationships with the girls who run the neighbourhood laundry. It's a portrait of class relationships like few others in film history making room for such expert caricatures as a old war veteran of an Indo-China conflict whose racism and colonialism is presented starkly.
The film's key movement happens midway when the publisher Batala seemingly perishes in a train crash, leaving the publishing firm in disarray...the sponsors want their money back, the workers want to keep their jobs. By mutual agreement and mutual interests they form a co-operative and in this phase, class distinctions fall apart, middle-class businessmen eat side by side with writers and businessmen, corrupt reactionaries alongside progressives, women with men. The publishing firm which had been in tatters because of Batala's pretentious detective magazine Javert rejuvenates itself by making pulp fiction of "Arizona Jim" novels, fumetti and even discuss making a film(although Lange disagrees noting the impossibility of faking the American West in France...).
The film's vision of co-operative society isn't one of classlessness but class co-ordination. The firm's major support comes from a dandy son of a bourgeois businessman, it passes into their hands through the aegis of an unconvincing distant relative of Batala who inherits the place when he "dies". Much of the film's strength comes from Renoir's effortless blocking of actors in group, with direct sound creating a palpable sense of place.
The film's finale climaxes in a stunning coup, where the line between Lange and Arizona Jim blurs. Batala returns from the dead to take over his firm and rub out the work done without him and in an act of inspiration, Lange commits himself to assassinate Batala. This act is carried in two successive spellbinding tracking shots. The first is a crane shot of a high angle which follows Lange walking through three rooms down a stairs, the other is a breathtaking semi-circular pan in which Arizona Jim Lange defeats the bad guy and rescues his girl and then of course heads to the frontier.
If Frank Capra had been French...
1930s_Time_Machine2 December 2023
It's not funny but its upbeat yet conflicted message of the hippie dream - 1930s style, plays with your emotions ultimately leaving you happier and more optimistic than before. It's not a simple story but it's put together so beautifully that it's easy to follow.
The picture this paints is of a mad muddled melange of dozens of colourful characters that somehow live as one giant happy utopian family. Once you've got used to the subtitles you're sucked into that world. Compared with American and English... and indeed most French films from this era what's remarkable about this is just how natural and realistic it is.
Besides 'Batala', the larger than life anti-hero, everyone else is just ordinary but not dull, they've all got real personalities, they're the sort of people we think we'd know if we were around then. M Lange himself, played by Rene Lefervre is convincing and endearing as the simple minded dreamer who writes the escapist Wild West comic stories. Stunningly beautiful Florelle is Lange's girlfriend who in this utopian world is not just subservient eye-candy, she's as much a part of society as any man. It's refreshing to see such an enlightened attitude in a 30s movie.
Everything about this fast-moving story seems so natural that you feel you're part of it. It's somewhere you can go to relax. M Renoir is brilliant at making his celluloid world where one man's fantasy awakens his neighbours' sense of community feel so real to us. By evoking a manufactured nostalgia and a desire for shared ideals he makes us, the audience feel like we're part of his story, which is our story. Like most good story tellers, Renoir leaves little gaps in the plot for us to insert our own characters into. This makes this very engaging.
The picture this paints is of a mad muddled melange of dozens of colourful characters that somehow live as one giant happy utopian family. Once you've got used to the subtitles you're sucked into that world. Compared with American and English... and indeed most French films from this era what's remarkable about this is just how natural and realistic it is.
Besides 'Batala', the larger than life anti-hero, everyone else is just ordinary but not dull, they've all got real personalities, they're the sort of people we think we'd know if we were around then. M Lange himself, played by Rene Lefervre is convincing and endearing as the simple minded dreamer who writes the escapist Wild West comic stories. Stunningly beautiful Florelle is Lange's girlfriend who in this utopian world is not just subservient eye-candy, she's as much a part of society as any man. It's refreshing to see such an enlightened attitude in a 30s movie.
Everything about this fast-moving story seems so natural that you feel you're part of it. It's somewhere you can go to relax. M Renoir is brilliant at making his celluloid world where one man's fantasy awakens his neighbours' sense of community feel so real to us. By evoking a manufactured nostalgia and a desire for shared ideals he makes us, the audience feel like we're part of his story, which is our story. Like most good story tellers, Renoir leaves little gaps in the plot for us to insert our own characters into. This makes this very engaging.
Not Renoir's greatest achievement
The_Void19 July 2005
Jean Renoir is one of the classic French directors and films like La Grande Illusion and The Human Beast show that. This film, The Crime of Monsieur Lange, is not one of the man's best films; but it's still a more than adequate example of French film-making in the 1930's. Adapted from a story by Jean Castanyer (the same man that wrote the story for Renoir's earlier film 'Boudu Saved from Drowning'), The Crime of Monsieur Lange tells the story of a man and woman that bed down in a hotel for the night. The man is recognised by the patrons as being the same man that killed another man, but before they can turn him in; the woman decides to tell the story of exactly why her man is a murderer and then let the customers decide whether or not he should be convicted. This premise offers an interesting base for a film, as themes of justice and morality can easily be tied in; but this is the film's main problem. While Renoir presents the story behind the murder in an interesting way, we never really get into whether or not the protagonist should be convicted.
The film is left open ended, probably so that the audience can 'make their own minds up' about the events; but this idea is never really explored and it's a shame because it could have presented a very interesting backbone for the movie. Quite what Renoir's intentions were for this film, therefore, are rather quite muddled. The film is never exciting enough to be considered a straight thriller, the story isn't deep enough for it to be a deep and complex drama, and we're not presented with enough themes for it to be viewed as a cross section of justice and morality. Jean Renoir seems to have been too much of a complex man to have simply intended this film as a quick Saturday-morning style drama, and themes of living in France at the time aside, that's pretty much what this is. The actual drama in the film is good, however, with the actors giving life to their characters through realistic acting. Renoir's direction is as assured and as vivacious as ever, and you really get the impression with this man that he really puts his back into making films. This certainly isn't a bad movie; but it's not great either. Most people, like me, would probably expect a little more from Renoir...but it's still worth seeing.
The film is left open ended, probably so that the audience can 'make their own minds up' about the events; but this idea is never really explored and it's a shame because it could have presented a very interesting backbone for the movie. Quite what Renoir's intentions were for this film, therefore, are rather quite muddled. The film is never exciting enough to be considered a straight thriller, the story isn't deep enough for it to be a deep and complex drama, and we're not presented with enough themes for it to be viewed as a cross section of justice and morality. Jean Renoir seems to have been too much of a complex man to have simply intended this film as a quick Saturday-morning style drama, and themes of living in France at the time aside, that's pretty much what this is. The actual drama in the film is good, however, with the actors giving life to their characters through realistic acting. Renoir's direction is as assured and as vivacious as ever, and you really get the impression with this man that he really puts his back into making films. This certainly isn't a bad movie; but it's not great either. Most people, like me, would probably expect a little more from Renoir...but it's still worth seeing.
Not just a crime film (spoilers)
irritable23 February 2006
Warning: Spoilers
It is a mistake to view this as a crime movie. The crime aspect is just a symbolic summary of the theme that Renoir developed in this movie.
Essentially, this movie was about unbridled capitalism, personified by Batala, vs. the commutarianism of the publishing house after he "died".
The "new era" at the publishing house was one of unbridled happiness and prosperity. Under Batala, the workers were starving while the boss was stealing and screwing people.
My only disagreement with Renoir was that he spent too little time on the good times after Batala was gone, and too much on how Batala was a criminal. But perhaps he needed this to demonize him as well as he did.
We know where Renoir's sympathies were since the protagonists get away in the end. A symbolic death of unbridled capitalism.
Essentially, this movie was about unbridled capitalism, personified by Batala, vs. the commutarianism of the publishing house after he "died".
The "new era" at the publishing house was one of unbridled happiness and prosperity. Under Batala, the workers were starving while the boss was stealing and screwing people.
My only disagreement with Renoir was that he spent too little time on the good times after Batala was gone, and too much on how Batala was a criminal. But perhaps he needed this to demonize him as well as he did.
We know where Renoir's sympathies were since the protagonists get away in the end. A symbolic death of unbridled capitalism.
Very interesting social drama
MarioB26 July 1999
Warning: Spoilers
This very simple movie is not Jean Renoir's best, but it shows some very interesting social issues, typical of the 1930's french movement of cooperative togetherness. In this film, a very bad man (Jules Berry) steals the workers of his journal, seduce innocent girls and don't pay his debts. To run away from the police, he pretends to be dead. Then, the workers of the journal forms a cooperative and had big success, until the day the bad man come back. Renoir's direction is just good, but the actors seems to improvise.
Perfect, a kind of masterpiece on a few cups of coffee
beagleface15 August 2005
Hard to believe this was made in 1934. It is further ahead than movies of today by 100 years, with ideas, ironies, and characters worthy of fine literature. A classic, made by a serious filmmaker. Maybe its most distinctive feature is its seeming absolute effortlessness. It moves along at an extremely fast pace, and if you don't watch and listen, you'll miss some gems. The villain is magnificent and done with such accuracy and a complete lack of stylized fiendishness that you realize Renoir is a master of human psychology. There are many little jokes throughout--jokes and ironies that are far beyond what people say and think today. The reaction of a man to the death of a baby, the way sex among unmarried people, even very casual sex, is portrayed as utterly normal. You have the feeling throughout that you are not watching a movie but are watching some lives pass by--it is participatory rather than self-glorifying film-making (see Oliver Stone and even some Spielberg for that) But if you like Britney Spears and think Colin Farrel can act, this isn't for you.
What crime?
gridoon20243 October 2022
Warning: Spoilers
"Le Crime De Monsieur Lange" is one of those movies that seem aimless most of the way, until you can finally see the aim: a rambling comedy turns into one of the most militantly Marxist films I have ever seen. Its thesis is that business bosses are an obstacle to personal and professional happiness. The ending is satisfying, but it does take quite a while to get there. Until you do, the chief pleasure is watching Florelle, a French Joan Blondell - lookalike who gives a lively performance. Jules Berry is also fun as the crooked, lecherous villain, but René Lefèvre, as the initially timid hero, lacks screen magnetism. **1/2 out of 4.
Quel Drole de Monde...
LobotomousMonk10 March 2013
The Jacques Prevert-Jean Renoir teaming provides for an exciting tale of murder, mens rea, judgment and justice. The narrative frame introduces the story through straightforward exposition. Great depth of field and uneven staging/blocking of characters constructs a space unobtrusively in order to make room for the free interchange of political positions of everyday people. It is difficult to deny that M. Lange isn't a call for French citizens to become politicized, but one cannot overlook the contribution of Prevert to that end. Mobile framing is employed once Florelle's character introduces the past events that led her and M. Lange into the provincial regions. The mobile framing operates to connect lives that might otherwise require the conjuring of contrived connections by the audience. The fact is that these people live and work together - that is the essence of their connection, and for Prevert (and Renoir) such a connection is enough to create a demand for respect, dignity and autonomy. Batala throws a wrench in all that good stuff and provides the catalyst for politicization. Is murder condoned in this film or is it representative of the sacrifice that will be made to take up a firm political position? (a massive issue at the time of the Popular Front) M. Lange is all about context but in the most self-reflexive manner. Even the Arizona Jim storyline has a direct conversation operating within the French film industry at the time. M. Lange isn't anachronistic but for a contemporary audience, the concept of group responsibility has distorted and perverted into an amorphous hideous blob cranking up the volume of the latest tech trinket to drown out the screams of a Kitty Genovese in the alley below. This makes M. Lange a refreshing take on politics but a depressing one, given the contemporary spectator has the foreknowledge that WWII happened and that international corporate conglomeration (Batala's wet dream) has become so dominant that an Occupy Movement on Wall Street looks more like a corporate-sponsored Hoedown-cum-Pow-Wow... and just wait for the time management game version to be released on iPhone in the next three months. If M. Lange were real life in 2013 we can be sure that Batala "getting his" would mean getting the highest amount of profit participation and controlling the creative accounting end of things when the box office closes on the film's run. It is beautiful to see a world fighting for what is right. Prevert was unabashed in that regard. Renoir was fighting for something else - both more personal and universal. In a true Renoir film, Batala would have been a more complex character... likely something between King Louis in La Marseillaise and Dede in La Chienee. That is to say, his return would be announced and his escape would be ensured at the expense of some poor bugger's own life... in a kind of reprehensible accident. What does the 360 shot mean to me? I believe that it represents a political statement about the deferral of responsibility. The Lange and Batala roles are a clever reversal of the real issue... where do you stand against the threat of fascism that will soon begin stomping faces (which it did in abundance).
Has all of Renoir's pace and vivacity, and intriguing politics
allyjack13 October 1999
It takes a while to locate one's bearings in this work, although that speaks to its emotional and thematic complexity. The film has the constant pace and vivacity and glee that is (stereotypically?) associated with Renoir - the film is something of a romantic whirl, with the interconnections of men and women are beguilingly dramatized in all their fleeting glory. Even the scenes with the wicked boss have an initial joie de vivre. Lange himself retains a restrained calm at the heart of it all - until he comes to illustrate the normal man who takes a desperate, self-sacrificing stand for the good of others. Although idealistic, his action resonates when offset against the explicitly cartoonish heroism of the Arizona Jim character (which we see embodied in some epically corny tableaux), and the impact thrives from being based in a muscular evocation of left-wing collectivist sympathies (a strand that comes over heavily in the almost idyllic scenes of things after the demise of the capitalist - with workers happy and lovers unfettered; although I found the very end of the film a bit puzzling).
plenty of fulsome performances
christopher-underwood24 January 2015
Most of the film is in flashback and as soon as this gets under way the film seems to move at such a pace I had trouble keeping up and along the way it only gradually dawned on me it was a comedy. So, once I had sorted that out and got used to the bold and challenging edits and dissolves the film was well under way and I was playing catch up. As has been pointed out by others, looking at this today it would seem that more time than necessary is given to convincing that the old boss is bad and that it would have been good to spend more time with the good times. However, we have to allow for the fact this is almost 80 years old and those early audiences would have needed that time to be fully convinced so that the ending could be accepted. Interesting, bold, amusing and entertaining with plenty of fulsome performances.
One of Renoir's best - social comment that leaves you smiling
j-connolly15 May 2007
One of Renoir's best - a humanist story of worker cooperation under duress and naturally with a strong social undercurrent. It's strongly narrative following the hopes and dreams of the younger generations, contrasted with the wily and self interested actions of some of the older, more experienced characters.
The way the story is told, be beautiful cinematography all sweep you along through perfectly choreographed dramatic tableaux. With the little guy at the centre moving the action along without ever really taking center stage. Masterful.
I can't help comparing it with "It's a Wonderful Life" by Capra, because of the same "good guy versus corrupt company boss" side, and the strong social message in both. They both leave you feeling "Ah that's alright then" with faith in humanity.
So it's one of the happier Renoirs, with his trademark moral undertone.
The way the story is told, be beautiful cinematography all sweep you along through perfectly choreographed dramatic tableaux. With the little guy at the centre moving the action along without ever really taking center stage. Masterful.
I can't help comparing it with "It's a Wonderful Life" by Capra, because of the same "good guy versus corrupt company boss" side, and the strong social message in both. They both leave you feeling "Ah that's alright then" with faith in humanity.
So it's one of the happier Renoirs, with his trademark moral undertone.
Humanist look at communities in pre-war France - and it's a mystery!
roger-21216 March 2006
Warning: Spoilers
One of the greatest (almost) lost films I've seen is Jean Renoir's "The Crime of Monsieur Lange." Renoir made it in 1936, prior to the invasion of France by German forces, and just before his two wartime masterpieces "Rules of the Game" and "Grand Illusion," which both have overshadowed it critically and in terms of popularity. But I consider "Lange" to be richer in irony, political bite, and even humanity than its more famous followers.
It relates the story of one Amedee Lange, a pulp writer for a weekly paper, published by the womanizing and ever scheming Batala, played with delicious gregariousness by Jules Berry. Lange writes the continuing western serial "Arizona Jim" for the paper, but his prose suffers the indignity of having advertising blurbs inserted into it to by Berry. When Berry, in an effort to avoid creditors, fakes his own death in a train wreck, Lange and the other workers for the paper rally and take over the publishing themselves, creating a popular and commercial success, continuing "Arizona Jim," sharing in the tasks and rewards, and even staging a (rather stagy and unconvincing) film version of the western for the local cinemas.
Renoir creates a potent political subtext by defining this community - the workers, neighbors, and friends - around a single courtyard. His camera glides through doorways and peers through the windows of apartments and shops to eavesdrop on all the personal and professional intrigues (in a way that at the time was considered outrageously overdone). Lange himself has never been outside Paris, and when people comment on the apparent "authenticity" of his western serial, he constantly corrects them - but to no avail. He is soon taken for the lover of the laundress whom his bed-ridden friend has a crush on, another misunderstanding. Lange's a fake but he barely suspects as much, as he's too concerned with trying to explain, facilitate his friends, or going along for the ride to ever express much more than a sense that he finds the situation ironic. His misunderstood, almost aggressively passive existence becomes the catalyst and center of this self-forming community, a new populist collective that's practically communist.
When Berry unexpectedly returns (dressed in a priest's outfit he's appropriated), he intends to reap the benefits of the commune's success publishing and filming the serial. Lange realizes Berry's capitalist worldview and intent to dictate over them again threatens the well-being of the community, indeed will destroy it. After a drunken party that night (in which Marcel Lévesque gives a speech, in a way reprising his role as the good-hearted sidekick in Feuillade's 1917's "Les Vampires"!) Lange leaves Berry's office and the camera follows him outside through the windows of the office. With a bravura camera pan of a full 360 degrees to take in all the elements around the central courtyard (considered quite self-indulgent then, but now practically invisible to our jaded eyes) Renoir returns to Berry, who's now lying on the cobblestones bleeding - Lange has stabbed him off-screen - yet the camera move signifies a profound emotional event has transpired and transformed the community...
Lange was made during the period that the Popular Front was gaining political ground in France, when there was optimism that people could band together and conquer the threat that Hitler was manifesting. Renoir's political themes have always been background texture rather than text "The Rules of the Game" is considered one of the best anti-war films ever made and yet the topic is never brought up in the film. Even "Grand Illusion," taking place in prisoner-of-war camps, concerns itself primarily with the class-based relations between the Germans and their captured prisoners.
Lange's positioning as the reluctant center and catalyst for the commune, as well as its inadvertent savior (by eventually committing murder, the "crime" of the title), is played in ironic set-ups. Berry is dressed as a priest for his ignoble return. Earlier Berry mentions to a priest on the train he "must be able to get away with anything" and this returning sheep in wolf's clothing is another resonance with how people put up fronts that are misunderstood. The film also manages to address, redolent in its subtext, the vagaries of pop culture, verisimilitude of representation, and personal responsibility. (None of the handful of pregnancies in the picture seem to enjoy the benefit of being in wedlock it's likely that Berry is responsible for all of them).
My favorite moment occurs at the train station, when Berry is about to flee the office for the first time. He's saying goodbye to one of his smitten secretaries (who doesn't realize what a cad he truly is). Renoir allows Berry a moment of wisdom as he tells her how to capture the sympathies of some passing young man (speaking perhaps from personal knowledge) so she won't be lost, abandoned, once he leaves her - by suggesting she pretend to cry over a departing lover on the station platform. Indeed, as Berry's train leaves, her sobs capture the attention of a passing man, whom she begins to walk with. The shot fades out with the hint of a slight smile on her face as she begins to warm to her new conquest. Amazing.
Truffaut called "Monsieur Lange" Renoir's greatest work. The film was issued by Interama on laserdisc in 1988 (now way out of print of course). It was recently issued on VHS from Kino, now OOP as well, and could use a Criterion-grade upgrade and reissue.
It relates the story of one Amedee Lange, a pulp writer for a weekly paper, published by the womanizing and ever scheming Batala, played with delicious gregariousness by Jules Berry. Lange writes the continuing western serial "Arizona Jim" for the paper, but his prose suffers the indignity of having advertising blurbs inserted into it to by Berry. When Berry, in an effort to avoid creditors, fakes his own death in a train wreck, Lange and the other workers for the paper rally and take over the publishing themselves, creating a popular and commercial success, continuing "Arizona Jim," sharing in the tasks and rewards, and even staging a (rather stagy and unconvincing) film version of the western for the local cinemas.
Renoir creates a potent political subtext by defining this community - the workers, neighbors, and friends - around a single courtyard. His camera glides through doorways and peers through the windows of apartments and shops to eavesdrop on all the personal and professional intrigues (in a way that at the time was considered outrageously overdone). Lange himself has never been outside Paris, and when people comment on the apparent "authenticity" of his western serial, he constantly corrects them - but to no avail. He is soon taken for the lover of the laundress whom his bed-ridden friend has a crush on, another misunderstanding. Lange's a fake but he barely suspects as much, as he's too concerned with trying to explain, facilitate his friends, or going along for the ride to ever express much more than a sense that he finds the situation ironic. His misunderstood, almost aggressively passive existence becomes the catalyst and center of this self-forming community, a new populist collective that's practically communist.
When Berry unexpectedly returns (dressed in a priest's outfit he's appropriated), he intends to reap the benefits of the commune's success publishing and filming the serial. Lange realizes Berry's capitalist worldview and intent to dictate over them again threatens the well-being of the community, indeed will destroy it. After a drunken party that night (in which Marcel Lévesque gives a speech, in a way reprising his role as the good-hearted sidekick in Feuillade's 1917's "Les Vampires"!) Lange leaves Berry's office and the camera follows him outside through the windows of the office. With a bravura camera pan of a full 360 degrees to take in all the elements around the central courtyard (considered quite self-indulgent then, but now practically invisible to our jaded eyes) Renoir returns to Berry, who's now lying on the cobblestones bleeding - Lange has stabbed him off-screen - yet the camera move signifies a profound emotional event has transpired and transformed the community...
Lange was made during the period that the Popular Front was gaining political ground in France, when there was optimism that people could band together and conquer the threat that Hitler was manifesting. Renoir's political themes have always been background texture rather than text "The Rules of the Game" is considered one of the best anti-war films ever made and yet the topic is never brought up in the film. Even "Grand Illusion," taking place in prisoner-of-war camps, concerns itself primarily with the class-based relations between the Germans and their captured prisoners.
Lange's positioning as the reluctant center and catalyst for the commune, as well as its inadvertent savior (by eventually committing murder, the "crime" of the title), is played in ironic set-ups. Berry is dressed as a priest for his ignoble return. Earlier Berry mentions to a priest on the train he "must be able to get away with anything" and this returning sheep in wolf's clothing is another resonance with how people put up fronts that are misunderstood. The film also manages to address, redolent in its subtext, the vagaries of pop culture, verisimilitude of representation, and personal responsibility. (None of the handful of pregnancies in the picture seem to enjoy the benefit of being in wedlock it's likely that Berry is responsible for all of them).
My favorite moment occurs at the train station, when Berry is about to flee the office for the first time. He's saying goodbye to one of his smitten secretaries (who doesn't realize what a cad he truly is). Renoir allows Berry a moment of wisdom as he tells her how to capture the sympathies of some passing young man (speaking perhaps from personal knowledge) so she won't be lost, abandoned, once he leaves her - by suggesting she pretend to cry over a departing lover on the station platform. Indeed, as Berry's train leaves, her sobs capture the attention of a passing man, whom she begins to walk with. The shot fades out with the hint of a slight smile on her face as she begins to warm to her new conquest. Amazing.
Truffaut called "Monsieur Lange" Renoir's greatest work. The film was issued by Interama on laserdisc in 1988 (now way out of print of course). It was recently issued on VHS from Kino, now OOP as well, and could use a Criterion-grade upgrade and reissue.
excellent in every way
planktonrules13 November 2005
Warning: Spoilers
This film was a tiny bit predictable, otherwise it would have earned a 10. The story is about a decent but meek French man who writes cowboy stories (though he has never even been to the American West). He has no dream of having them published but feels a strong need to put his fantasies on paper. This is sort of a vicarious thrill for him because apart from his stories, his own life is rather dull and he is a failure with the ladies. Eventually, his sleazy boss who owns a magazine discovers his stories and agrees to publish them. Of course, being sleazy, there is a catch and the nice main character is, for a while, being used by this creep. However, where the story goes from there and how it goes there is intriguing and make this a must-see film.
Socialist Black Comedy, Tonight
TheFamilyBerzurcher31 March 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Often marked as "one of Renoir's greatest films," LE CRIME DE MONSIEUR LANGE is a platform for us to witness how a director can convert propaganda into memorable art. The script is full of wit but Renoir is the hero, here. He allows for multiple perspectives and concise characterization to produce a quick, jaunty, and bright film.
LANGE is dense with insightful staging. Renoir had learned by 1936 that everything serves character. In some ways, he recalls the swift attitude in Hawks's comedies. The camera work is clearly more radical, but they both succeed with abundant charm and aim every device at the service of character. Visually, some usual complexities are reserved for the end where the street allows for at least two excellent tracking shots. LANGE presents some of the most precise and concise characterizations in the Renoir repertoire. Batala is given superior attention. If we compare him to the capitalist villain in something like STRIKE, we find that Renoir believes in the complexity of thought even when working with a simple and economic script. In his frequent manipulation of women, Renoir illuminates the tight bond between money, power, and sex. His metamorphosis into a priest is loaded with dubious criticism, but is still the source of comedy.
The best component of LANGE might be the frequent allusions to Americana and westerns. It asserts that the American frontier was imbued with absolute freedom and the characters use it to focus their socialist fantasies. This parallel between socialist idealism and dreams of the West play incredibly well as an object of cinema. LANGE even gets its own joke -- "It's only a movie." The film is dense with the inimitable charm of Renoir, consistently exquisite photography, and forceful characterization. The comedy is presented with ease and subtlety. It is only unfortunate that so much of the commentary is excessively heavy. Capitalism comes back from the dead only to be defeated by Socialism. Socialism gets away with murder and walk happily out into infinity.
79.7
LANGE is dense with insightful staging. Renoir had learned by 1936 that everything serves character. In some ways, he recalls the swift attitude in Hawks's comedies. The camera work is clearly more radical, but they both succeed with abundant charm and aim every device at the service of character. Visually, some usual complexities are reserved for the end where the street allows for at least two excellent tracking shots. LANGE presents some of the most precise and concise characterizations in the Renoir repertoire. Batala is given superior attention. If we compare him to the capitalist villain in something like STRIKE, we find that Renoir believes in the complexity of thought even when working with a simple and economic script. In his frequent manipulation of women, Renoir illuminates the tight bond between money, power, and sex. His metamorphosis into a priest is loaded with dubious criticism, but is still the source of comedy.
The best component of LANGE might be the frequent allusions to Americana and westerns. It asserts that the American frontier was imbued with absolute freedom and the characters use it to focus their socialist fantasies. This parallel between socialist idealism and dreams of the West play incredibly well as an object of cinema. LANGE even gets its own joke -- "It's only a movie." The film is dense with the inimitable charm of Renoir, consistently exquisite photography, and forceful characterization. The comedy is presented with ease and subtlety. It is only unfortunate that so much of the commentary is excessively heavy. Capitalism comes back from the dead only to be defeated by Socialism. Socialism gets away with murder and walk happily out into infinity.
79.7
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