Ascenseur pour l’échafaud
I had to watch “Au revoir, les enfants” in middle school, and totally hated the film. Ever since, I have avoided the particular film despite other people’s ravings about it, and ended up never watching another Louis Malle for that reason. That is how much the movie scared me away at the time. But, I also disliked “Rear Window” and might have had a disdain for all movies at high school precisely because we were forced to watch them (except “Women in the verge of a nervous breakdown” which I thought was great), so I suppose it’s time to give the not-really-Nouvelle-Vague director another chance.
Considering that this film is so minor, it has surprisingly long Wikipedia articles that go with it, both in the German and the English version. They also are right: The film is a little strange, somewhat boring and extremely slow. None of the characters are ‘good’, even the German is kind of a fascist, and except for Jeanne Moreau herself, almost every character is also utterly stupid. The stupidity even goes as far as the little nagging girl in the café. But then again, who cares?
The film relies upon Jeanne Moreau’s performance, whom we often see alone. I could watch her being lovesick forever and ever. Sure, she’s a murderous ‘femme fatale’ but more than that, she is largely a woman who thinks she has lost the love of her life. I am immensely intrigued by the film’s Nouvelle Vague looks, the jazzy, incredibly sad soundtrack and close-ups of Jeanne Moreau’s face in there. It’s certainly a mood film, and with those Nouvelle Vague and Film noir elements, it perfectly suits my tastes. In terms of film music, I think I like jazz the most; the beginning of the film gave me the chills and immediately reminded me of Jarmusch.
I absolutely love how the film even shows the 16th arrondissement bridge (I have no idea what it is actually called.) So stylish.
Everything worthwhile of the film is in its opening shot and its ending shot, both of which prominently feature Miles Davis’s captivating trumpet. The opening shot is awfully Nouvelle Vague and the ending shot does only give us a lovely Noir-ish punchline to the crime story, but also has Jeanne Moreau’s greatest monologue of the whole film. It might be a flawed film, but I think it had great potential.