Wonderful character development!

To me, this movie is perfection.

The first must-see film of the year.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Starts out shaky: "O, here comes another crappy French film, full of shoddy exposition, sound and fury signifying nothing." Starts out with a chattering crowd, not much story. But then, as if in spite of itself, hones in on a doomed, fatal attraction, between a prostitute (Signoret) and an ex-con (Reggiani), with no frills or distraction. Their affair goes against everything, against cheap hoods & moral propriety, against all odds, majestically, tragically. Movie is ruthlessly economic and to the point, striking at the heart of the inevitability of fate, of character. It crescendos with matter-of-fact flatness to its bleak, inevitable, beautiful conclusion.That final image of the couple twirling together, locked to each other like marionettes, is all.

"Casque d'Or" has long been an underrated movie and Jacques Becker an underrated director. When it came out, it was a complete flop in France. Criticisms revolved around the mismatching star couple (Simone Signoret was almost as tall as Serge Reggiani, and more corpulent), the simplistic love story, minimal psychology and tragic ending. It was reassessed years later, notably by the "New Wave" directors, and now stands as a masterpiece, the best film of one of the best French directors.The title literally means "Golden helmet", the main female role's nickname, after her blond hair. The movie is seemingly of the classic genre: image is black and white with a standard ratio of 4/3; the story is linear with regular pacing and no flashbacks; symbols are traditional (city versus countryside, interiors versus exteriors, the ill-fated café, the blind men at the end). However, this is only apparent. Image is exceptionally delicate, with subtle tones of grey, very sharp texture and extremely deep views. Psychology is condensed to emphasise form and other content: a modern feature. We could hence qualify the movie as the quintessence of classic cinema announcing modern form, a "meta-classic". Likewise, it is more than a brilliant reconstitution of late-19th century France: its story and themes are timeless.*** WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS ***The movie is structured around social milieus: criminals, prostitutes, workers, bourgeois, policemen. Each milieu has its own rules. You immediately recognise persons by their clothing: bourgeois criticise the prostitutes at the beginning; "don't wear a cap when coming to my place", Leca tells his men, etc. Criminals kill but do not betray. Prostitutes help each other. Workers do not take money if it is not earned. Symbolically, because Leca thought he could act above these rules, he will die: he has a cover-up work, he mingles with the police, he kills Anatole, he betrays Raymond, he breaks his promise to Marie.Milieus do not mix. When they do, there generally is trouble. Manda joins the group at the beginning: he fights with Roland. Marie meets Manda around his workplace: she is insulted by his fiancée. Manda goes to the café: he kills Roland. Anatole warns the police: he is murdered. The final murder of the criminal Leca by the worker Manda happens at the police station: three milieus are involved.In such an environment, the love story develops against the lovers' milieus. It is love at first sight, there is no explanation why they fall for each other, and it does not actually matter: what counts is their relationship and its consequences. Marie and Manda barely talk, which does not reduce, but on the contrary increase the strength of their relationship (although she does somewhat play with him at the beginning, maybe to test him).Social segregation increases the importance of windows and openings through which characters look at other milieus: Raymond looks at Manda working, the bourgeois look inside the café, the policemen look at Manda after he killed Leca. In this context of social postures, people intensely stare at each other. Gazes are crucial, more important than words. When Manda announces Raymond is about to die, looks immediately turn towards his best friend Paul. After Raymond died, the four criminals angrily look at Leca who goes away: without a word, we instantly understand Raymond told them about Leca's betrayal before dying, and so does he. Logically, the movie ends on a final important gaze: Marie specifically goes to a hotel to see Manda being executed. These are only a few examples, towards the end.Visually, gazing is articulated by formidable depth of field (we see sharply very close and very far, as in real life), frequent close shots (we seem to be part of the scenes) and frequent subjective shots (we see what characters see, notably Marie and Manda). We are hence immerged in the movie: we watch characters like they watch each other.This "in situ" viewing is reinforced by life-like elements: apparent simplicity of dialogues; strong presence of secondary roles, while the two main characters' dialogues are voluntarily reduced; collateral and seemingly pointless images (e.g. the memorable shot on the newly-wed in the church). All these increase the authenticity of the movie, yet transcended by superb image and direction, like artistic photos beautify reality.In this movie where eyesight is key, the ending is signalled by two blind men singing: this exterior element disrupts all-important gazing and tragedy unravels. Their famous song "Le temps des cerises" (the period of sherries) conveys a nostalgic message of short-lived happiness: it tells about summertime (that is brief) and love (that is gone); historically, it was an iconic tune during the 1871 Parisian revolt against oppression (that was crushed). Hence the song represents a transition between the beautiful hopes of the two lovers and the coming tragedy. This compelling allegory is reinforced by the repetition of the musical theme in different forms, binding the last scenes together in progressive culmination: the blind men sing, then an orchestra distantly plays off-screen, then a flute plays and ultimately the orchestra plays full-scale."Casque d'or", fundamentally, is a story about impossible redemption and happiness. We believe the lovers can succeed when they spend idyllic moments in the countryside, away from the violent city, close to where they initially met. However there is no escaping one's milieu. Marie thought she could give up prostitution, but has to go back to Leca. Manda thought he could avoid being a delinquent (he previously spent five years in jail) to become a worker, but kills twice and is executed. In parallel to the love story, the infallible friendship between Manda and Raymond also cross milieus; yet both eventually die.This tragic message and ending is somewhat smoothed by the movie's final image: Marie and Manda dance together, alone at last in the sunny open-air dance hall where they first met. They swirl to the background, as if fading in Marie's memory.

Jacques Becker's belle époque tragedy of a pair of star-crossed lovers, Marie (Signoret) and Georges (Reggiani), she is a mistress of Roland (Sabatier), who is the underling of the local Apache gang, mastered by Félix Leca (Dauphin), and he is an unassuming carpenter, their encounter is occasioned by their common friend Raymond (Bussières), another member of the the Leca gang, through DP Lefebvre's lithely swirling choreography, their destiny is sealed through a wordless dance, while jealousy is simmering with impending menace.Strikingly, words are inessential in Becker's narrative, emotion runs the gamut without the help of verbose dialogue, one expression or gesture is simply enough to deliver the unspoken intention and determination, to hit the bull's eye of being compelling, heartfelt, even agonising in the climax, which marks a great achievement and testimony of how cinema can be a first-rate storyteller, trimming down the redundant bells-and-whistles, just sticking to those what makes our characters tick: the encounter, the duel, the elope, the scheme, the revenge and the guillotine.Simone Signoret, shoulders on the triple identities as a poised courtesan, a romantic inamorata and a reluctant moll, leaves her most iconic screen persona in her prime, under Becker's aegis, the camera unsparingly aims at her in stunning close-ups enveloped with divine halo (thanks to the heightened lighting). Marie is a dauntless pursuer, she lives for passion, for love, living in the present, a force-of-life so irresistible and indefatigable. Interestingly, Reggiani's Georges is not the traditional hero type, his average look and lean physique, should have triggered far more maternal nature of protection from her than a fervent passion act, yet, Georges has the spine to be a martyr out of genuine devotion to friendship and moral integrity, which eventually will wholeheartedly win a woman's heart.Dauphin's smirky presence as Félix Leca persuasively draws on the sophistication of being a Mafia ringleader, the murky dynamism of his reign over the henchmen gives as much as pleasure as the central romance. To a large extent, CASQUE D'OR (golden hat in literal translation, which refers to Marie's representative coiffure) is seminally inspiring and majestically executed at its time, an unforgettable Parisian tale-of-woe but shines with its glittery black-and-white enticement, as the introductory piece of Becker's oeuvre, it bode well than my expectation, bravo!

"Casque d'Or" is a very well made film. However, I must also point out that the characters themselves were not particularly likable or easy to believe--even though the story is supposed to be based, at least in part, on a real case.The film is set among the seedier elements in Paris in the 1890s. It begins with a woman of very easy virtue (Simone Signoret) meeting a man who is a carpenter (Serge Reggiani). Their meeting is VERY tempestuous and throughout the first part of the film they seem to have a love-hate relationship. Later, when he tries to talk with her in a bar, a fight breaks out and he kills a man. What happens next is rather sad and sordid--though I never really cared about the characters.Compared to the average American film of the time, this movie is a bit shocking. While there is no nudity, the characters are rather matter-of-fact about sex. One man gropes Signoret's breasts early in the film and later Signoret and her lover (who barely know each other) jump into bed. At the time, I am sure international audiences were a bit shocked by all this. They also might have been shocked by the fact that EVERYONE in the film is a bit slimy--and some are VERY slimy--though this isn't all that different from some Film Noir.All in all, the acting is nice, the film work is nice and the sets very nice. It's just a shame that although the story had a few nice twists I never really cared about any of them.