“The Crime of Monsieur Lange” – a crime to miss [MOVIE REVIEW]

Florelle, Nadia Sibirskaïa, and Jules Berry in Jean Renoir's THE CRIME OF MONSIEUR LANGE (1936). Courtesy: Rialto Pictures/Studiocanal

Florelle, René Lefèvre, and Jules Berry in Jean Renoir’s THE CRIME OF MONSIEUR LANGE (1936). Courtesy: Rialto Pictures/Studiocanal

In a new 4K restoration, Jean Renoir’s too seldom seen 1936 classic “The Crime of Monsieur Lange” is a pure pleasure. Spoiler alert: this is an “old” (some would say ancient) black and white film with actors you’ve never heard of in a style that some might consider stagey and I consider brilliant in its use of German Expressionist-style lighting (the effective use of stylized lighting and shadows) on bare bones sound stages with rudimentary set dressing. As in many French films of the era, the voices seemed pitched a bit high but this lends an almost musical effect to the sound.

Renoir hired one of the best scenarists in cinema history to lay out the story he wanted to tell. Jacques Prévert, a renowned poet and lyricist, having written the lyrics to the evergreen (pun intended) “Autumn Leaves,” was most associated with the director Marcel Carné, writing the screenplays for “Drôle de Drame”, “Quai des Brûmes” and, most famously, for “Les Enfants du Paradis.” But “The Crime of Monsieur Lange” was one of his first and it is lyrical.

The story is fairly simple. Valentine, owner of a small personalized laundry service, and her companion, Amédée Lange, arrive at an inn on the Belgian border just as the radio announces the search for a fugitive who has murdered a man in Paris. The slow-witted son of the owner notes that the man who has just checked in resembles the picture of the fugitive printed in that afternoon’s paper and they should immediately call the police and claim a reward. Valentine, overhearing this conversation, comes into the room and admits that her companion is, indeed, the fugitive but would like to tell his story. If, at the end of the story, they still want to call the police, she will support their decision; but first, allow her the chance to detail the circumstances.

The employees at the printing plant where Amédée works are paid very little, when they are paid at all. Their boss, Monsieur Batala, is a complete scoundrel and crook who seduces all the women in his shop. When Batala goes missing and is presumed dead, his employees band together as a group and form a cooperative business where they share in the profits of their publications. Finding both success and satisfaction in their work, it is all about to come to nothing when Batala reappears and makes it known that the cooperative is over and the profits are his, including those resulting from the serialization of a book created by Amédée entitled Arizona Jim, the adventures of a cowboy in, you guessed it, Arizona. Defending the honor of the shop, of the women who have been abused by Batala (a theme that obviously never grows old) and his co-workers, shy Amédée Lange kills his boss. He and Valentine are spirited away from the scene of the crime and their fate is now in the hands of the Innkeeper and his patrons.

For a story based on a crime, Renoir paints (and yes, this is a reference to his father) a light- hearted story punctuated by deception, corruption, seduction, rape, and murder. But this is something you will have to experience for yourself as everything described herein would lead one to the opposite conclusion.

At this point in his career, Renoir was well on his way to fame and respect. Two of his previous films, “La Chienne” and “Boudu Saved from Drowning” showed a sharp cynicism that would serve him well in the future. (“La Chienne” was remade into “The Woman in the Window” and “Boudu” became “Down and Out in Beverly Hills” – although curiously neither remake was credited to Renoir). “The Grand Illusion” and “The Rules of the Game” would soon follow “The Crime of Monsieur Lange.” But that cynicism is largely missing from this film, although one could argue that any justification of murder is cynical in its own way.

Still, this is a film that also speaks of its time in history. In1936, the year this film was released, France would elect a leftist government coalition called the Popular Front that would strengthen the rights of workers, introduce the 40-hour work week (a failure, not because of the idea behind it but because of its implementation that didn’t allow for overtime) and the mandatory two-week vacation. One could view the formation of the workers’ cooperative in “The Crime of Monsieur Lange” as a salute to the proposals of the new government, especially when one considers that Renoir was a member of the Popular Front. This was Renoir’s valentine to a political party that failed spectacularly but whose idealistic leanings were influential, positively and negatively, long after its demise.

Making the film all the more engaging were the actors, all famous in French cinema and some on stage. Florelle, as Valentine, is sympathetic and saucy, portraying a woman who has made her way up from the bottom, regretting none of her previous suspect choices but determined to do better. René Lefévre pulls off the difficult task of being a complete naïf and perpetrator of the crime in question. As Lange, he is absolutely hilarious when discussing the plot lines for his cowboy, Arizona Jim, given that he has never set foot outside his small town.

Florelle, Nadia Sibirskaïa, and Jules Berry in Jean Renoir’s THE CRIME OF MONSIEUR LANGE (1936). Courtesy: Rialto Pictures/Studiocanal

But the coup de grace in casting was the brilliant Jules Berry. Trained in theater, he is considered one of the greatest French actors and was a favorite of director Marcel Carné.  Berry, playing the scoundrel Batala, gives depth, humor, and the necessary charm to an unadulterated villain. It is virtually impossible to hate him whether he is seducing a virgin, robbing his employees, bilking Lange, or conning the clergy.  His character has no redeeming value; if he had a mustache, he’d be twirling it. But as portrayed by Berry, you almost root for him as he schemes, for without the depth of his portrayal, it would be impossible to understand why everyone hypnotically remains with him.

François Truffaut, an ardent Renoir fan, stated, “Of all Renoir’s films, Monsieur Lange is the most spontaneous, the richest in miracles of camera work, the most full of pure beauty and truth. In short, it is a film touched by divine grace.”

Don’t miss this one.

In French with English subtitles.

Opening Wednesday, November 22 at the Laemmle Royal in West Los Angeles.

 

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