Strong and Moving!

Just perfect...

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

What a horrible story and extremely awkward predicament! He commits the absolutely most perfect murder imaginable, and then a telephone call makes him forget one detail, and when he tries to remedy his mistake he is caught in an elevator between two storeys and can't get out! And that's only the introductory plot to a web of plots or rather an inextricable mess of misfortunes...There are altogether four criminals and three murders committed, only one planned and three just slipping into it by circumstances. Jeanne Moreau is always perfect in wicked roles, there is a certain trait around her mouth which makes her hopelessly and incurably look cruel, her laugh is never convincing, and she has no sense of humour. That'¨s what's generally lacking in French films, which is why they are best at making sinister films, like this one, "Les yeux sans visage", "Les diaboliques" and other hopelessly dark thrillers, of which this is another one and definitely one of the very best in its grey tristesse and filmed almost exclusively in sterile surroundings - that's the dominant character of almost all French films of the Nouvelle Vague, which makes them slightly inhuman. This is more human, since it's a crime passionnel it's all about, and the youths are just humanly stupid and actually try to commit suicide for their offence.Maurice Ronet is always expressionless and here more than ever - a total poker face, having nothing else to do but to submit to his bleak destiny - not even the smartest murder in the world could save him here.Miles Davis' dark jazz underscores the défaitism of the thriller by being mostly silent but for some poignant reminders to add some acuteness to the dreary mood. It's a brilliant film, the first of many by Louis Malle, most of them equally hopeless, like the dreadful suicide study "Le feu follet"(also with Maurice Ronet), but this is only his second best film. His best film remains his very odd and different collaboration with Jacques-Yves Costeau in "The Silent World", which is also his most human film.

I am a great fan of noir and thus was severely underwhelmed by this considering the glowing reviews. Jeanne Moreau looks great and the photography is suitably stylish and atmospheric but it's just that the story is so routine, so mundane, so ordinary. It looks like there might be a few clever twists but they never come, no, the clever cops work it all out and the silly chumps leave incriminating photos to seal their fate and by the way, who took the photos anyway? I hardly think they had selfies in those days, especially not on a spy camera, but rather indiscreet nonetheless considering the circumstances. However, justice is done, the bad guys get theirs and that's that. There is none of the moral ambiguity, nihilism or hopelessness that true masterpieces of the genre like Scarlet Street, Kiss Me Deadly or The Third Man have in spades. This plays out more like a routine episode of Colombo with all loose ends nicely tied up, thank you very much. A real disappointment.

A self-assured business man murders his employer, the husband of his mistress, which unintentionally provokes an ill-fated chain of events.Journalist Barry Farrell wrote, "Moreau had 20 forgettable films behind her... Malle put Moreau under an honest light and wisely let his camera linger. The film was nothing special, but it did accomplish one thing: it proposed a new ideal of cinematic realism, a new way to look at a woman. All the drama in the story was in Moreau's face – the face that had been hidden behind cosmetics and flattering lights in all her earlier films." Farrell is certainly right about the portrayal of Moreau. How can you make a leading lady anything but glamorous? Malle found a way that was quite successful.As for the film being "nothing special", I think Farrell is wrong. A 1950s French film noir that is well executed? This is something we need more of. Starting with a murder and then spreading out from there, this is a good story of suspense, intrigue and all that. The whole concept of being caught in an elevator is incredible, and probably unprecedented.

Intriguing policier with a very off-beat plot and a neat little reminder about the best-laid plans of mice and men. As much as we may think that we can plan our lives, a simple little thing -- say, taking an elevator, or leaving a camera in one's car -- may turn out to have life-or-death consequences. I found it quite interesting that the two romantic leads, Mrs. Carala (Jeanne Moreau) and Tavernier (Maurice Ronet), spend the entire length of the film apart.I think the movie falters toward its end, when Mrs. Carala turns detective and the police case falls too neatly into place. However, I enjoyed the little steps of the cat-and-mouse game.The younger, all-too-ordinary, unintelligent lovers' antics, and the way their lives go down the tubes in a heartbeat, is fascinating to watch and, sadly, not that hard to believe.This was a fun, if not totally coherent, highly atmospheric viewing experience. It kept my attention thoroughly.