Le grand jeu (1934) Online

This is a fine film from the golden age of french cinema, directed by the now nearly forgotten Feyder who was among other things the spiritual father of Marcel Carné (who contributed to several of his films). As usual, his wife Francoise Rosay has one of the leading roles. The somewhat melodramatic plot involves a yeuppie joining the foreign legion when he can no longer entertain the girl he loves. We get a femme fatale double as our hero meets a honky tonk temptress who reminds him of the girl he is trying to escape. The atmosphere is thick with sand, booze, sex, violence and Tarot cards. See this one if you have the chance, it is probably quite rare.

Four years after Sternberg's "Morocco" came this other story of the loves of a French légionnaire in Morocco, that pretty much knocked the whole romantic notion down a few pegs. It is steeped in pessimism and existential angst, which makes it a film noir despite all that sunshine. The criminal/immoral milieu is lovingly depicted but the thing that captivated me the most in this downtrodden love story is the dual role played by Marie Bell, who plays both Florence, the hot ticket Parisian kept woman sophisticate who only loves money, and Irma, the third-rate boondocks cabaret entertainer with the languid gait and the slow-witted stare who really loves him. What an acting job! The difference in class between the love goddess-for-pay and the kind-hearted unkempt "pouffiasse" is staggering and one must conclude that the hero only loves Irma because she reminds him of the physical Florence under the covers and doesn't care a hoot about her feelings. It's a very depressing take on the "human bondage" of physical attraction and a good precursor to "Pépé le Moko" and "Gueule d'Amour" with the added bonus of Françoise Rosay acting as Greek chorus and earth mother.

The screenplay of Jacques Feyder is very modern:in its own way,it predates , by 25 and more than 40 years respectively Hitchcock's "Vertigo" and Bunuel's "object of desire" .

A man has to join the legion étrangere to avoid a scandal.He leaves his lover,a selfish spoiled woman he is always in love with and heads for the desert:there ,in the brothel,he meets a hooker who extremely resembles her former woman.Is she THE ONE?Sometimes it seems she is and sometimes she isn't.Marie Bell's voice was dubbed for the part of the prostitute,so there were actually two actresses almost like in Bunuel's last film.

However,it seems to me that when you watch the movie some 70 years after something is lacking and it is madness.The silent era could create it and whereas we would need folie à deux,amour fou,we're left with melodrama.Pierre Richard-Wilm was a rather bland handsome actor while Marie Bell had not enough presence,not enough ambiguity.Françoise Rosay ,the madam who draws cards ("the major arcana" is the meaning of the title)and discovers very strange things about the future,-which does nothing but accentuates the melodramatic side-,and Charles Vanel as the "house"'s owner easily outstrip both of them.There is one scene Luis Bunuel would not have disowned: Marie Bell,taking flypaper down with Vanel's lustful eye on her legs.

The Légion Etrangère as a way out when you were threatened in your native country was a permanent feature in the years before WW2:that was also the subjects of "Beau Geste" and Duvivier's "la bandera" .But whereas the two other works focus on every aspect of a Légionnaire's life,in Feyder's movie ,we almost never move out of the brothel.I hardly exaggerate.It's not surprising it was stigmatized by the Catholic Office of Cinema :what else could they do? Marcel Carné was influenced by Jacques Feyder.Not only he was his assistant,but he also met his favorite actress Arletty while they were making "pension mimosas".And Feyder's wife Françoise Rosay starred in Carné's first real movie "Jenny".

Robert Siodmak made a remake in 1954,Jean-Claude Pascal,Gina Lollobrigida and Arletty taking on Richard-Willm's ,Bell's and Rosay's parts.It was a disappointment.

Very few movies for me have captured the tragedy and pageantry of life in one fell swoop, the other two are Les Enfants du Paradis and The Satin Slipper, supernatural titles which must be uttered only in awe. These are decidedly Promethean movies, which beg a thunderbolt from above for their creators. Such movies through their genius seem sacrilegious.

Exuberant, blithe and foolish, Belle Époque nitwit Pierre lives a pampered lifestyle with a sinecure at the family bank. Innocently in love with a man eater, he throws more and more "borrowed" money into the fire of her greed in the hopes of putting it out. Years of disgrace follow where Pierre must learn to be a man like other men, to silently put up with being un raté, to watch his life slide out of view, to take his pleasures where he can in exile with the Foreign Legion. The Book of Ecclesiastes suggests that the only solaces in life are those provided by hard work and immediate pleasures such as eating and drinking, if so then Pierre's exile is something of an unlooked-for gift, a release from perpetual childhood.

Le Grand Jeu is a film that makes one to wonder if God didn't conflate lust and love when He created the world. The filmmakers create their own world in miniature here, a world where people live with the ghouls of their pasts sat on their shoulders, loving without being loved back, cursed by lust unattainable, or attainable and consuming, damned one way or the other. It was a refreshingly raunchy movie with quite the most triple-x-rated cabaret song, from La môme Dauville (Lyn Clevers), recalling Minnie Cunningham (an English tease immortalised by the painter Walter Sickert). Whilst lust does seem to inhibit the possibility of true love, male lust in particular is treated as something natural and not to be ashamed of.

So the world is a casino and our fortunes dictated by Fortuna (the great game of the title). One's only weapon against all this seems to be morale. That seems the key message of what is I would say, a perfect movie (it's probably also pretty similar in that regards to Les Enfants Du Paradis, and no surprise to find out that Marcel Carné was an assistant on this movie). Marie Bell and Pierre Richard-Willm act their hearts out here.

A lot of movie-goers will agree that Alfred Hitchcock's finest work is his seminal 1958 masterpiece Vertigo. But 20 years earlier French director Jacques Feyder, fleeing from Hollywood when he failed to come to an agreement with MGM on new projects, returned to his home country and made Le Grand Jeu, the tale of a broken man falling in love with the doppelgänger of his gold-digging former lover. It's certainly an inferior work to Vertigo, but the themes of obsession and the growing psychological torment of its lead must have surely been an inspiration to the Master of Suspense.

Playboy Pierre (Pierre Richard-Willm) has it all - fast cars, the finest clothes and a beautiful girl, Florence (Marie Bell), who shares his lust for the finer things in life. Their extravagances almost bring his family's business to ruin, so Pierre is exiled to avoid further embarrassment, minus Florence who cannot turn her back on the world of luxury she has become so accustomed to. Distraught, Pierre joins the Foreign Legion in North Africa, where he lives content though the work is hard. On leave, he stays at a hotel/brothel ran by the sleazy and unsavoury Clement (Charles Vanel), and his no-nonsense wife Blanche (Francoise Rosay), who reads Tarot cards in her spare time. One night, Pierre spots a prostitute who is a dead ringer for Florence, and so begins his obsession.

Le Grand Jeu is slow, slightly over-long and often remarkably depressing. It's also a beautifully filmed example of French poetic realism, with the African setting providing a sweaty, claustrophobic atmosphere. There's a naturalism to the performances that was way ahead of what they doing in Hollywood at the time. Feyder also employs the effective tactic of casting Marie Bell in separate roles with one of her character's being dubbed over, causing an unsettling effect when combined with Bell's impressive performances as both socialite seductress and down-beaten night-club singer/party girl. It's a shame that the plot is laid out early on when Pierre has his fortune told as main plot points naturally become inevitabilities, but Le Grand Jeu is often immaculately crafted cinema.

Taking a look around Amazon UK for French films from 1934,I spotted a title from DVD company Masters of Cinema,which looked like an excellent psychological Drama,which led to me getting ready to see the "grand jeu" (great game) take place.

The plot:

France:

Returning home with his blonde girlfriend Florence, Pierre Muller discovers that people are starting to catch up on him stealing their money,in order to fund Florence's lavish lifestyle.Getting told that his name could be splashed across the front page,and that he is close to ruining his family legacy,Muller decides to go into hiding by joining the foreign legion.Just before he leaves,Muller decides to lie to Florence,by not telling her about the legion,but instead saying that he is going to a hide out,which he will give her the details to in a few days time.

Morocco:

Spending 6 weeks barely doing any fighting in the deserts of Morocco,Muller is invited by his army friends to join them on a night on the town.With none of them having seen a women for 6 weeks,the guy's head to the first brothel, (which during quiet days is run as a hotel!)for some relation.Being unable to get Florence out of his mind,Muller arranges with brothel owner Blanche the option of just having a bed room for a few days,with no girls joining him.

Waiting round for his army pals to finish having "fun" Muller notices Blanche using fortune teller cards.Pushing Blanche,Muller is told that he will cross paths with a long lost love,who he will end up breaking up with again.Dismissing Blanche's claims as supernatural rubbish,and sets off to a local bar with his army friends.As the rest of the army tries to get their hands on any girls passing by,Muller spends his time in the bar drinking every hard liquor around.Looking round the bar,Muller catches a quick glance of a dark haired prostitute sitting at a table with 2 men.Feeling a chill go down his spine,Muller takes a second look at the table,and is left speechless,when Muller notices that the prostitute looks just like Florence.

View on the film:

Centering the first half of the title on Muller's experiences in the Foreign Legion,the screenplay by co-writer/(along with Charles Spaak)director Jacques Feyder surprisingly keeps away from opening Muller dark psychological troubles,to instead focus on the deserted location.Despite allowing for a slight lonely atmosphere to be built,the desert setting feels like it is holding the title back from investigating Muller.

Entering the brothel,the writers unleash an incredibly vicious Film Noir world,where destiny is decided by the flip of a card.Initially making Muller look clean & tidy,the writers slowly grind Muller's Film Noir world down, by using the cards to uncover Muller's obsession's,with Muller becoming addicted to making his self- fulfilling prophecy's come true,even though they spell nothing but a life of misery and death.Keeping Florence/Irma at a distance,the writers brilliantly make Muller obsessed with people who he can never get a grip on,as Muller tries to transform Irma into the Florence of his dreams.

Joining her directing husband, Françoise Rosay gives a chilling performance as tarot card reading Blanche,who Rosay lights up with a shot of lightning in her eyes,which crumbles to pieces,when Blanche realises what dark Film Noir road she has layered out for Muller.Taking on not 1,but 2 roles,the stunning Marie Bell gives a tremendous performance as the one-two Florence / Irma combo (with Bell's "Irma" voice being dubbed by Claude Marcy,who add another dream-logic layer to the Noir.)Giving Florence an icy femme fatale manner,Bell brings things down to earth,by showing Irma to be a tough/gritty women who is struggling to keep a grip on the deadly growing obsessions that she is the focus of.Staggering into the brothel/hotel, Pierre Richard-Willm gives a fantastic performance as Muller,which builds in intensity,as Willm shows Muller to jump over the edge of sanity,into a sweat- covered desire to find a "match" for Florence at any cost.

Opening the title with Muller & Florence racing past cop cars,director Jacques Feyder (joined by fellow auteur Marcel Carné as a co- assistant director)soaks up every drop of Film Noir atmosphere,by using a striking depth of field,which shows how deep Muller has dug into his obsession with Florence/Irma.Giving the Foreign Legion scenes a glistering sun appearance,Feyder peels the sun away & sinks the film into a decaying darkness,as Muller's great game begins.

Jacques Feyder has a lot to answer for; his penchant for casting his wife, Francoise Rosay in his films arguably inspired Bryan Forbes to do the same thing a quarter of a century later, a case of pygmies imitating giants. By all accounts this was THE film in France in 1934 and that's not easy when you're stuck with a leading man as insipid as this one - I'll refrain from naming him to spare his embarrassment. The premise was tried and tested, our old friend the bounder who shames the noble family and joins the Foreign Legion to forget (I know the feeling, I have a strong desire to join the 'legion' when watching Nanette Newman attempting to act in a Bryan Forbes film). This is easier said than done for no sooner has he arrived in North Africa than he encounters a dead ringer for the woman who caused his downfall in La Belle France. In both cases she is played by Marie Bell, whose finest hour was a few short years in the future when she played Christine in Duvivier's masterpiece Un Carnet de bal. Perhaps I should have said in one-and-a- half cases because although Bell physically plays both Florence and Irma as Irma her voice is dubbed. Even Gabin would have had his work cut out to steal the film from Charles Vanel in the almost cameo role of the brothel owner and husband of Rosay who supplies the films' title via the cards she is always shuffling and fortunes she is always telling. Holding up surprisingly well in spite of the acting joke leading man this is more than well worth watching.

A playboy is forced to leave the country after plunging his father's business into financial problems after using company funds to support his lifestyle with his high maintenance girlfriend. He joins the Foreign Legion as a means of forgetting his past. When in North Africa he meets a woman who is a look-a-like for his former fiancé and so begins a romantic obsession.

This French movie could quite easily be described as a proto-noir given its early release year, yet unmistakable film-noir aspects. The story has a gloomy feel and atmosphere and it focuses on a down-on-his-luck anti-hero and femme fatale. Alfred Hitchcock's later revered movie Vertigo (1958) shares (or borrowed) the pretty specific idea of a man obsessed with a woman who closely resembles a past love, to the point that he treats her not as a person but as an ideal. I thought the film as a whole had a very daring and quite modern sensibility in its approach to sexual content which no doubt was a French characteristic and certainly isn't something you would associate with Hollywood films of the period. The film after all is set almost entirely within the confines of a brothel with a very sleazy owner overseeing events and who quite clearly sexually abuses the women who work there as his 'entitlement' as their boss. It's quite commendably difficult material and adds quite a bit to the depth the drama mines. The wife of this appalling individual is the one with the strength and personality to hold all the other characters together and has a skill in reading Tarot cards, which is referred to in the title. Her predictions come to bear in the story, an impressive tale of doomed characters and dark obsession.