Showing posts with label Alain Delon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alain Delon. Show all posts

Friday, July 29, 2022

Armageddon (1977)

 After the sudden death of his younger brother, repairman Louis Carrier (Jean Yanne) acquires a large inheritance and he sees an opportunity to make something of his life. Louis has always lived in obscurity and poverty. With his new found wealth, he concocts a plan. He wants the celebrity that comes with being an international criminal. Louis recruits his buddy Einstein (Renato Salvatori) to be his sidekick. Einstein, who wants to help his friend but isn't fully aware of the gravity of the situation, learns photography skills in order to be Louis' personal paparazzi. Einstein photographs Louis in public settings alongside well-known figures. These photos are printed, packaged with threatening letters and recordings, and sent to officials under the pen name 'Armaguedon.' Louis is threatening to commit mass murder and begins practicing on people whom he thinks are either disposable or a threat. Dr. Michel Ambrose (Alain Delon), a psychiatrist skilled at working with exceptionally difficult mental health cases, is hired to analyze Armaguedon's words and actions, track down his real identity and help the authorities find Louis before he poses a real threat to the public.

Armageddon/Armaguedon (1977) is a heavy-handed crime thriller that tries to do too much with an ultimately flimsy plot. All of the action comes at the expense of any real character development. I'm reluctant to call this a psychological thriller because even though one of the protagonists is an actual psychiatrist, there is very little conveyed to the audience about Louis' psychosis. We learn more about Dr. Ambrose' techniques but very little about him as a psychiatrist or even as a person. There is one scene where we see him with his wife and two children. Later in the film, he and inspector Jacques Vivien (Michel Duchaussoy) are seen in bed with prostitutes. No context is given. They're just expected to cheat on their wives because they're professionals who work high stress jobs and need to unwind? In general the female characters are depicted as sex objects or they're just a pawn to move the plot forward. The way the gay characters are depicted is even worse. Overall, there is no complexity or nuance with any of the characters other than some with Louis and his buddy Einstein. 

The performances are a bit of a mixed bag. Delon seems to be sleepwalking through his performance. Jeanne Yanne, on the other hand, does an excellent job conveying Louis' increasing mania and downward spiral.

The movie was directed by Alain Jessua and produced by Alain Delon. They both worked on the script, adapting David Lippincott's novel The Voice of Armageddon to screen. From what I've gathered, Jessua and Delon butted heads. According to unit manager Alain Depardieu (Gerard's brother), Delon didn't even want to breathe the same air as Jessua. This must have made for a lot of tension on set and could explain why the end result was a mess of a movie. This was Delon and Jessua's second collaboration, Traitement de choc (1973) being the first. Delon hired Astor Piazzolla to compose the film's score. French is the movie's main language but Italian, English and German are also spoken. Armageddon/Armaguedon did well at the French box office. It doesn't seem to have gotten a US release.

Armageddon/Armaguedon (1977) is worth watching if you're an admirer of Alain Delon or you're looking for a movie about the psychology behind mass murderers. Otherwise, this weird, macabre and ultimately empty thriller is one you may want to skip.





Armageddon/Armaguedon (1977) is available on DVD and Blu-ray from Kino Lorber. The Blu-ray edition comes with subtitles, trailers and audio commentary by film historians Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson.

Monday, July 23, 2018

Cinema Shame: Le samouraï (1967)




When I was curating my Cinema Shame list for 2018, I looked to FilmStruck for some inspiration. Le samouraï (1967) is a staple on FilmStruck's Criterion Channel and one of the first films I noticed on the service when I signed up as a beta user. I wasn’t familiar with director Jean-Pierre Melville’s work and hadn’t seen many Alain Delon films. For me that’s good enough a reason to dive in because I love exploring unfamiliar territory. In addition to that, my love of French cinema and the influence of my friend Kate Gabrielle, who is a big Alain Delon fan, helped put Le samouraï on my FilmStruck watchlist.

Le samouraï stars Alain Delon as Jef Costello, a professional hitman hired to kill the owner of a jazz club. He goes through an elaborate ritual in preparation for the kill: he dresses up in his signature trench coat, with popped collar, hat and white gloves, he establishes an alibi with his girlfriend Jane (Nathalie Delon) and he steals a car. The hit goes according to plan until it doesn’t. The club’s pianiste (Cathy Rosier) becomes a witness to the murder. Jef is put in a police line up and is suspected of being the killer by Le Commissaire (Francois Perier). This puts his bosses, which include some of the club’s staff, in a precarious situation. They decide that they must get rid of Jef to protect themselves. Jef goes from killer for hire to target.

Jean-Pierre Melville was heavily influenced by American Film Noir and it shows in Le samouraï. This French neo-noir thriller is atmospheric and strikingly visual. I love how the film plays with light and shadow. Alain Delon is a perfect fit for Jef, the cold, detached and methodical protagonist. Delon brings a mystique to the character that makes Jef one cool mofo. Delon is a work of art in motion. I love how beautifully he’s positioned in the different scenes. With his amazing blue eyes are piercing through the screen, Delon is someone you just want to keep looking at. Yes there are other actors in this movie but they all seem to serve as pawns to tell Jef’s story.


Alain Delon in Le samouraï

Alain Delon in Le samouraï

Alain Delon in Le samouraï

Alain Delon in Le samouraï

Alain Delon in Le samouraï


Alain Delon in Le samouraï


And his story is brilliantly told. The first 10 minutes are without any dialogue. We watch Jef go through the motions of his pre-kill ritual. Just watching him we learn about what kind of man he is but also we’re held at a distance. In one of the early, it’s a rainy day, Jef has just stolen a car and a beautiful young woman looks over at him while they sit in traffic. He acknowledges her presence but makes it clearn he has no interest in pursuing any form of interaction with her. As the audience we have the same dynamic with him. In Jef’s apartment is a bullfinch in a cage. I like to think the bird represents Jef’s fear of being trapped. He’ll do anything to be free and stay free. At any cost.

I fell for Le samouraï hook, line and sinker. I’m here for more Melville, more Delon and more French neo-noir. It was by happenstance that I watched Robert Wise's film noir thriller Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) immediately after watching Le samouraï . I found out later that Melville adored that film, kept his own 35mm copy, and watched it over 80 times. A review of that film is coming soon!

Le samouraï is available to watch on FilmStruck's Criterion Channel. There is no expiration date so this one is not going anywhere anytime soon.



Le samouraï (1967) is the fourth of eight films that I am watching for the 2018 Cinema Shame challenge. Check out my original list and stay tuned for more reviews!
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