|
|
|
|
|
|
©-DR-ASCENSEUR POUR L'ECHAFAUD de Louis Malle (1958) p30
23/10/2014 17:35
(1) Des années plus tard, Louis Malle revoyant le film disait qu’il y avait essayé, « avec maladresse parfois, d’y combiner des admirations sans doute contradictoires pour Bresson, et Hitchcock. »
*
(2) Miles Davis à la trompette, Barney Wilen au saxophone ténor, René Urtreger au piano, Pierre Michelot à la contrebasse et Kenny Clarke à la batterie.
*
(3) Melville auquel Malle emprunte ici son chef opérateur Henri Decaë,pour une photo -graphie exceptionnelle, présentant une grande diversité de textures, qui demeure l’un des incontestables points forts du film.
*
(4) La région parisienne ne comptant aucun établissement de ce type à l'époque, le fameux "motel de Trappes" du film fut trouvé en Normandie
*
(5) Dans Le Masque et La Plume du 6 février 1958, Jean de Baroncelli dit du film qu’il est finalement plus intéressant pour ce qu’il laisse entrevoir du talent de Louis Malle que pour ce qu’il est.
Bibliographie
Séverine Allimann, « La Nouvelle Vague a-t-elle changé quelque chose à la musique de cinéma ? : De l’usage du jazz chez Louis Malle et Jean-Luc Godard », 1895 (revue), no 38,? 2002 (lire en ligne)
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
©-DR-ASCENSEUR POUR L'ECHAFAUD de Louis Malle (1958) p31
23/10/2014 17:48
A Film Noir Masterwork - Breathtaking to the Eye and the Ear
Author: noralee from Queens, NY
29 August 2005
"Elevator to the Gallows (Ascenseur pour l'échafaud)" is a master work, so it's startling to learn that it was Louis Malle's first feature. It's a mother lode textbook of how-to for noir genre filmmakers as he creates his own style from what he's learned from other masters.
Malle pays tribute to the tense murder style of Hitchcock with Billy Wilder's cynicism of selfishness a la "Double Indemnity" plus Graham Greene-like, post-war politics from "The Third Man"-- and arms and oil dealers with military pasts in the Middle East are not outdated let alone adulterous lovers and rebellious teenagers.
The film drips with sex and violence without actually showing either -- sensuous Jeanne Moreau walking through a long, rainy Paris night is enough to incite both.
The black and white cinematography by Henri Decaë is breathtakingly beautiful in this newly struck 35 mm print, from smokey cafés with ever watchful eyes like ours to the titular, ironic alibi's long shafts (which surely must have inspired a key, far paler scene in "Speed") to highway lights, to a spare interrogation box, but particularly in the street scenes. The coincidences and clues are built up, step by step, visually, including the final damning evidence.
Miles Davis's improvisations gloriously and agitatedly burst forth as if pouring from the cafés and radios, but the bulk of the film is startlingly silent, except for ambient sounds like rain that adds to the tension in the plot.
The characters are archetypes -- the steely ex-Legonnaire, the James Dean and Natalie Wood imitators, the preening prosecutor -- that fit together in a marvelous puzzle. But all are cool besides Moreau's fire, as she dominates the look of the film, just wandering around Paris.
There is some dialog that doesn't quite make sense at the end, but, heck, neither does "The Big Sleep" and this is at least in that league, if not higher in the pantheon.
51 out of 62 people found the following review useful:
This film should be widely available on DVD
Author: Jerrold Baldwin from SW England
3 June 2004
This film is a master piece. Miles Davis's music is superb. It is an object lesson on the art of combining sound and vision. The tension and the brooding Parisian atmosphere are heightened with cool and poignant playing. It is surprising (to the best of my knowledge) that this is the only complete original film score he produced.
The story of the crime is clever. It has reasonable human motivation and plot, and is steadily revealed. But, it is the study of 'being in the wrong place at the wrong time' that makes this film a classic. The series of chance events that will dramatically effect the characters' lives, give this film a similar feel to 'Run Lola Run' or 'Irreversible', dispute this film's linear structure and age. The dark cinematography is excellent.
I have only had an opportunity to see it once (I only just caught it because BBC4 listed it under its English title), but I would like to see it again.
The soundtrack is widely available, but I can not find the film on DVD or PAL VHS. This film should be available to a wider audience, for me, preferably in French with English subtitles.
P.S. This wonderful film is now available on DVD as part of the Louis Malle Collection: Volume 1. (Updated 11/10/2006.)
25 out of 28 people found the following review useful:
A masterpiece and reference in "Film Noire" type films.
Author: phmw from NYC
26 November 2000
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
(Possible Spoiler!)
The atmosphere of 1950's Paris, a truly beautiful actress, a well-balanced plot and the ultimate Jazz soundtrack, recorded in one go by Miles Davis.
The 1958 Louis Malle masterpiece, more than 40 years later, is still one of the best police films ever, Hollywood included. If only more films could seek inspiration from it!
Every moment, from the time the nearly perfect crime is committed to the end, oozes with elegant Parisian sophistication and beauty, and artful camera work. The silences, punctuated with Davis' magnificent trumpet playing, gives the audience time to breathe without reaching boredom. The overall relatively slow pace is actually enthralling. Tension rises as the main protagonists gradually travel to their scaffold. As they finally are arrested and led to their cruel fate, one cannot but feel pity and even sympathy for the killer couple, for such is the sense of involvement that Malle manages to pass on to the audience.
The absence of the now necessary action scenes is also wonderfully refreshing, and the plot is thorough and intelligent.
"Ascenseur pour l'Echafaud" is masterpiece and reference in "Film Noir" type films. It is, along with "Aurevoir les Enfants" undoubtedly a Louis Malle "Chef d'Oeuvre".
21 out of 24 people found the following review useful:
Amazingly Good
Author: thejman991 from United States
8 July 2006
Elevator to the Gallows is a great film and even better, has a short running time! The acting is great in every instance, the plot is original, and the direction is probably among the best I've ever seen. I loved how the plot had a lot of twists but there weren't so many that you were confused as to what was going on. Although I won't reveal the ending, I thought it was great and made me smile. However, you have to like this type of movie to see it, as it is kind of complicated and there isn't a ton of action. This film shows how the perfect murder can be only planned so well; you can never plan what could happen. If you don't get bored too easily, stick with this gem and I'm sure you'll love it.
16 out of 18 people found the following review useful:
Malle's Atmospheric Debut Made Resonant by Moreau's Haunting Presence and Davis's Jazz Score
Author: Ed Uyeshima from San Francisco, CA, USA
20 May 2006
Louis Malle was all of 25 when he made his directorial debut with this 1958 noirish thriller that also serves as a morality play. Using the elevator of the title as a vehicle for his leitmotif, he does an admirable job of capturing the smoky gray atmosphere of Paris in the 1950's and using it to great cinematic effect on a chain-link story of deception and murder. In fact, the whole movie plays like a Francophile version of a James M. Cain novel times two with plot twists coming in quick and sometimes contrived succession. To its credit, the brief 92-minute running time trots by quickly given the multiple story lines.
The labyrinth story focuses first on illicit lovers Florence Carala, the restless wife of a corrupt arms dealer, and Julien Tavernier, a former war hero working for Florence's husband. There is not a wasted moment as they plot her husband's murder, but of course, things go awry with a forgotten piece of evidence and a running car ready to be taken. An amoral young couple, sullen and resentful Louis and free-spirited Veronique, enter the scene tangentially and get caught up in their own deceptions with a boisterous German couple whom they meet through a fender bender. The plot strands meander somewhat and eventually come together in a climax that has all the characters confronting the harsh reality of their past actions. There is a particular poignancy in the photos Florence sees at the end since we have no indication of the depth of emotion between the lovers otherwise.
Malle, along with co-screenwriter Roger Nimier, presents an interesting puzzle full of irony and chance events, but there is a periodic slackness to the suspense, for instance, Florence's endlessly despondent walk though nocturnal Paris. Jazz great Miles Davis contributes a fitting hipster score, though the music is not as big an element as I expected in setting the mood. With her sorrowful eyes and pouting intelligence, Jeanne Moreau makes a vivid impression as Florence and gives her obsessed character the necessary gravitas to make her journey worthy of our interest. Maurice Ronet effectively plays Julien like a coiled spring throughout, and it's intriguing to note how most of his performance takes place in an immobilized elevator. As Louis and Veronique, Georges Poujuloy and the especially pixyish Yori Bertin are the forerunners for the runaway pair in Jean-Luc Godard's "Breathless" replete with youthful angst and mercenary cool.
The print transfer on the 2006 Criterion Collection DVD package is wonderfully pristine. The first disc also contains the original and 2005 re-release trailers, though there is surprisingly no scholarly audio commentary track (the usual bonus for a Criterion release). The second disc, however, makes up for it with a bevy of extras starting with an extensive 1975 early career retrospective interview with Malle, a 2005 interview with an aged but still haunting Moreau, and a joint interview with the two icons and one-time lovers at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival.
Three shorts on the second disc focus on Davis's contribution - the six-minute "The Record Session" shot the night Davis and his musicians recorded the score; a remembrance piece with pianist Rene Utreger, the only surviving member of Davis's ensemble; and the celebratory "Miles Goes Modal: The Breakthrough Score to Elevator to the Gallows" where jazz trumpeter Jon Faddis and music critic Gary Giddins discuss Davis's influence over the generation of musicians to come. There is also a short by Malle set to Charlie Parker's "Crazeology" and an informative 25-page photo essay booklet.
11 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
Camera Has Many Photos
Author: Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
6 October 2011
The former Captain Julien Tavernier (Maurice Ronet) works in the company of the powerful arms dealer Simon Carala (Jean Wall) and is the lover of his wife Florence Carala (Jeanne Moreau). Julien and Florence plot a scheme to kill Simon simulating a suicide. Julien stays after-hours in the company with the telephone operator and the doorman and comes to his office. He climbs to Simon's office using a rope outside the window and kills the executive. He runs to his office to attend a phone call and forgets the rope, and leaves the building with the two employees to have an alibi. When he is ready to drive his car, he sees the rope hanging outside the building and he returns to withdraw the rope, leaving his overcoat and revolver in the car. When he enters in the lift, the doorman shutdown the building and Julien is trapped inside the elevator.
Meanwhile the smalltime thief Louis (Georges Poujouly) steals Julien's car and drives to a motel with his girlfriend Véronique (Yori Bertin) and lodge using the name of Julien. They drink with the German tourists Horst Bencker (Iván Petrovich) and his wife Frieda Bencker (Elga Andersen) and early in the morning, Louis tries to steal his Mercedes Benz. When he is surprised by Horst, Louis shots and kills the couple. Julien Tavernier becomes the prime suspect of the murder and when he leaves the lift, he does not have alibi for the murder of Simon Carala and the German tourists.
"Ascenseur pour l'Échafaud" is the first feature of Louis Malle, who is also one of the writers. The unpredictable and original story is fantastic, the screenplay has many plot points until the very last scene and the performances are top-notch.
Julien Tavernier is a methodic military with cold blood that gets caught between the rock and a hard place due to a mistake and lots of bad luck. The soundtrack with the music of Miles Davis gives a touch of class to this little masterpiece. The result is one of the best thrillers entwined with comedy of errors that I have ever seen. My vote is nine.
Title (Brazil): "Ascensor Para o Cadafalso" ("Elevator to the Gallows")
18 out of 26 people found the following review useful:
naturalistic to a T, cool to the bone, atmosphere and suspense pay-off
Author: MisterWhiplash from United States
26 August 2005
I've only seen a couple of other of Louis Malle's films, but I'm sure I'll want to see more after getting to see this in its revival in theaters. It's an ironic, tense, a little aloof and engrossing thriller that plays on a couple of expectations if not all. At times I almost felt like I was watching a darker, dramatic French-noir version of Curb Your Enthusiasm; you're cringing in your seat at times because everything, at least for the first hour, seems realistic, and the inter-cutting between the three plot-lines (Julien in the elevator, Florence on the streets, the lovers-on-the-run at the Motel). You know something bad will happen, as par for the style Malle is working in (it's his first film, one can/can't tell if they didn't know beforehand). But it interested me, and kept me in my seat, how I knew things may unravel as they should in these films, and I found myself having to root for someone in a sea of anti-heroes.
I mention Curb Your Enthusiasm as there is a sort of everyday occurrence that basically kicks off the plot (in tune with the genius title of the film), as Julien Tavaneur gets stuck in an elevator after getting rid of Florence Carala's rich husband (Moreau's character). Two kids, one more dangerous (if a little inexplicable, Louis) than the other, steal his car and stay at a Motel, where they meet a genial German tourist. Out of bad luck (as it is a running theme of the play), he kills the German, and things get more out of hand for everybody. In fact, the plot is rather thin, leaving room for a) suspense tenseness in the elevator scenes (and later in the interrogation scene, superbly lit), b) narrative musings by the calm Moreau, or c) troubles of the kids. These narratives are handled well, along with the typical police procedural, and it leads up to an ending that may not necessarily have a message to it.
It can't be as pat as 'crime doesn't pay'. Moreau, in a classy close-up, says things that struck a chord with me, as did many parts of the film. It may be fate, as par for the naturalism, but is there something behind the cool veneer? The only downside for me was with the performance of the actor who played Louis. I didn't think he gave enough to what is indeed a rather small-minded character. The actress who plays his girlfriend fares fine, but he is one of the keys to the film, and I felt a little uneasy watching some of his scenes later on in the film. But still, any fault(s) I had with the film were minuscule when looking at how it is overall. This is one of those films that for pretty much the whole way through had me in its grip; I've rarely felt that watching a 'film-noir' before, but I did feel a very small kinship to another love/lust/cold-murder film, Blood Simple, which leaped off of some of the conventions we all know and admire in these films.
And the contribution from Miles Davis, who is to 'cool' as the Beatles are to love & peace, can't be over-estimated. If Moreau gives the film a kind of downtrodden, wandering and wondering soul, and Malle gives the right look of the film with the great Henri (Le Samourai) Decae as DP, Davis backs up everything else. Sometimes his fast, overwhelming notes come through (mostly as on-the-set background music), and his slower music is landmark stuff, but what's surprising is that he can also add suspense, like to the elevator and interrogation scenes, and the mood is inescapable. I wouldn't be surprised if more than a few filmmakers who saw this film were inspired by Malle's use of free-flow jazz to add to the 'cool-ness' of the picture (not that he was the first of course, but it can be spotted in many films, in particular Herrmann's score for Taxi Driver). I have a feeling this may be the kind of film that will play better on multiple viewings, and for now I'm content to say it was a very well-spent trip.
31 out of 53 people found the following review useful:
pleasure to watch
Author: Berrin
18 December 2000
I have seen several movies where a movie was very interesting at the time it was filmed, but is barely watchable today if not funny because of technological obsoleteness. This is not one of them. The plot is very interesting and is not at all predictable, making me wonder why it was not copied by later movies. This movie made me proud of myself for going to that art cinema without knowing anything about it, and watching it with a few other poor souls who had nothing else to do on a Friday afternoon. Definitely the best b/w movie and the best French movie I have seen, and one of the best films I have seen in the past 5 years.
Greetings again from the darkness. The phrase Film Noir conjures up a certain feel and look and "Gallows" certainly captures what we have come to expect from the genre. However, the great director Louis Malle goes even further with his minimalistic approach to sound, lighting and dialog. Where 1944's "Double Indemnity" wreaks explosive on screen passion, Malle offers up a quiet simmering that draws the viewer into the lives of the main characters.
Jeanne Moreau is the perfect pouty French femme fatale. Her scenes of walking (wandering) the dark, rainy streets of Paris are chilling to watch for film lovers. The weak lighting and lack of make-up allow Moreau's true emotions to guide us. Malle also is tremendous in his filming of the elevator scenes with Maurice Ronet.
The secondary characters of the young lovers played by Yori Bertin (Veronique) and George Poujouly (Louis) are unmistakable in their likeness to Natalie Wood and James Dean. Watching two young kids carelessly destroy their own lives, as well as that of others, is quite the contrast to the well-conceived scheme of Moreau and Ronet.
I have not been able to come up with an apt description of the powerfully improvised jazz score from the legendary Miles Davis. The approach has been mimicked over the years, but never duplicated. It is startling in its ability to slap the viewer in the face! Moreau is of course a screen legend and went on to star in "Jules and Jim", Truffaut's "The Four Hundred Blows" and my personal favorite, "The Bride Wore Black". As great as she was in all of these, I am not sure her essence was ever better captured than her wandering through the Paris streets in "Elevator to the Gallows".
7 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
The black cat has it...
Author: The-Spike from United Kingdom
1 March 2014
Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (AKA: Elevator to the Gallows/Lift to the Scaffold) is directed by Louis Malle and co-written by Malle, Roger Nimier and Noël Calef (novel). It stars Jeanne Moreau, Maurice Ronet, Georges Poujouly, Yori Bertin and Jean Wall. Music is by Miles Davis and cinematography by Henri Decaë.
A little ole devil this one, a sly slow pacer that itches away at your skin. Rightly seen as a bridging movie between the classic film noir cycle and the nouvelle vague, Malle's movie is in truth straightforward on narrative terms. Julien Tavernier (Ronet) is going to kill husband of his lover, Florence Carala (Moreau), who also happens to be his boss, but upon executing the perfect murder, he, through his own absent mindedness, winds up stuck in a lift close to the crime scene. Outside Florence is frantically awaiting his arrival so as to begin their life together in earnest, but when a couple of young lovers steal Julien's car, Florence gets the wrong end of the stick and a sequence of events lead to Julien and Florence hitching that ride to the gallows.
Simplicity of narrative be damned, Malle's movie is a classic case of that mattering not one jot. There is style to burn here, with bleak atmospherics dripping from every frame, and Miles Davis' sultry jazz music hovers over proceedings like a sleazy grim reaper. The ironic twists in the writing come straight off the bus to noirville, putting stings in the tale, the smart reverse of the norm finding Moreau (sensual) wandering the streets looking for her male lover, while elsewhere he's in isolation and a doppleganger murder scenario is cunningly being played out. Decaë's photography has a moody desperation about it that so fits the story, the use of natural light making fellow French film makers sit up and take notice. While the dialogue, and the caustic aside to arms dealings, ensures we know that Malle can be a sly old fox. He really should have done more noir like pictures.
A film that convinces us that Julien and Florence are deeply in love and passionate about each other, and yet they never are once together in the whole movie! It's just one of the many wonderful things about Louis Malle's excellent picture.
Remember folks, the camera never lies... 8/10
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
©-DR-ASCENSEUR POUR L'ECHAFAUD de Louis Malle (1958) p31
23/10/2014 17:59
My Friend before Dinner
Author: tedg (tedg@FilmsFolded.com) from Virginia Beach
18 June 2007
I never physically met the man, but I consider Malle an old friend.
He made two films that I think are among the most perfect and intellectually adventurous I know. He also made some good films that aren't life-changing but that show insight. This is one of them.
There are no new ideas here. It unfolds as one expects. The drama is muted to the point of homeopathy.
And yet we like it because it is so economical. Its bare, honest, true. So we like it, just like we gravitate to an open person regardless of whether she is dumb. I appreciate Bresson for this, his economy which blesses the viewer with a mind that necessarily filters what we see. But Bresson goes too far and presses into the impress of abstraction. Malle is real because it is overtly untheatrical.
Its worth seeing because it is seamless bamboo and because it informs "Vanya" and "Dinner." But in terms of its effect; its callow post-noir noir. And it has that hint at the end of a "film" within that condemns the couple.
Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.
4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Snap shots
Author: jotix100 from New York
31 October 2006
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
"Ascenseur pour l'echafaud" was Louis Malle's first film. It's strange that the man that showed a natural talent for telling a crime story in a somewhat unusual way, didn't go back to the genre in his interesting and distinguished career as a director. The timing was right, the film came out in 1958. It was followed by "Les Amants", which proved he was a force to be reckoned with.
The director adapted a novel by Noel Calef that presented a classic situation for these types of crime films. A young and beautiful woman married to an rich older man who finds herself passionately in love with a younger man that works for her husband. The old man has to be eliminated if the lovers are to aspire to a life together.
Julien Tavernier, the young man, plans and executes the crime that appears to be flawless. Stupidly, he overlooks a piece of rope he has left hanging from an the upstairs floor. As he does that, he is about to leave to meet Florence Carala, his lover, at a cafe on Boulevard Hausmann. As he goes back to take care of his mistake, the janitor stops the elevator that is carrying him upstairs. What to do? In the meantime, a young punk and petty criminal, Louis, who is picking up his girlfriend, Veronique, sees Julien has left the keys in the convertible car, plus his raincoat. He decides to take a joy ride. Florence, who happens to be looking to the street sees the car go by, but she notices there is a woman on the passenger's side. Florence decides to look for him.
This intensely satisfying crime film was given a great treatment by an inspired Louis Malle and he was blessed to have Jeanne Moreau to portray Florence. Louis Malle, like the directors that were arriving on the scene of the French cinema were impressed by the American crime and film noir genre, they discussed in magazines. These crop of new directors wanted to revolutionize the narrative and create a different way to present their stories. The streets of Paris became the backdrop to the movies that will follow.
What Louis Malle created was a moody film that tells a lot about the mind of the criminals as they are going through the anxieties of knowing what they had done and thinking how they would get away with the horrible crime they had committed. On the one hand, Julien, is the victim of Louis and Veronique, as they steal the convertible, only to get into trouble themselves. Florence's state of mind is right there on the screen, in front of us, as she roams the streets of Paris trying to make sense of what happened to Julien.
Jeanne Moreau gives an impeccable performance as Florence. We watch her as she goes from being sure of herself, to suddenly realizing she is defeated. What's more, in a ironic twist, her confession to the police will work against Julien, instead of helping him. She also incriminates herself in ways she never suspected when the candid pictures on a forgotten camera are developed. Jeanne Moreau is nothing short of fabulous.
Maurice Ronet, doesn't have the flashy opportunity in which to shine as does his co-star. His Julien is a man that wants to have it all, but he makes serious mistakes along the way. Georges Poujouly is seen as the petty criminal Louis who passes himself as Julien Tavernier. Charles Denner and Lino Ventura, who will go to bigger and better things later on in their respective careers are excellent, especially Mr. Ventura as the inspector Cherier, who figures the whole mystery.
This film was the debut of a man who went to do great work in his native France and have a second career in America. What distinguishes this film from others of the genre is the jazzy score by Miles Davis, whose music blends perfectly with the images one sees. The cinematography by Henri Decae shows us a nocturnal Paris far from the touristy places most directors love to present. Paris, as a backdrop, is what makes this film the joy it is to watch.
2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
One of the Most Substantial and Memorable Film Noir
Author: jzappa from Cincinnati, OH, United States
21 July 2008
Elevator To the Gallows is a very Chthonic thriller, driven by its twisty plot but dramatic and extemporaneous. Yes, it's about a pair of lovers who have planned the perfect crime. Yes, the plan goes awry in the first few minutes. Yes, unanticipated occurrences and people appear to thwart the intentions for which we are desperate to succeed. But there is passion at work in Louis Malle's first film, and my first film by Louis Malle. There is more to who these lovers are and who they have planned to kill. A lot of the story's substance revolves around chance, the unremitting impulses of selfish people and the ironic misunderstanding of the worse of two evils.
Malle likes his characters to make frustrating mistakes that we can relate to, seemingly apocalyptic predicaments such as leaving one's keys in the ignition, or forgetting a vitally important thing that causes you to be trapped upon your unexpected return. Much of the suspense comes from attempts to thwart these situations as unwitting supporting characters tighten fate's grip.
Malle creates the quintessential film noir atmosphere with the use of natural lighting and Miles Davis's unabashedly urban jazz score. It really is one of the most substantial and memorable of the film noir genre.
3 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Miles Davis and Paris at Night--and some great crime suspense, too...
Author: secondtake from United States
11 January 2010
Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
The ambiance, with a woman walking the streets of night time Paris as Miles Davis growls in the background is as good as it gets. And the plot, with all its surprises and twists, is great. The only thing that will strike a lot of us, especially those used to American crime films, is a lack of believability now and then--a reaction, or actual decision, that just isn't quite right.
You can write this all off to style, and that's good enough because it's just being in the movie that is rewarding. The plot will get you going, and with each odd turn, people left out and others killed so incidentally it's a surprise, you are really caught up wondering what is next. Louis Malle directed a number of distinctive films (including another from 1958, The Lovers, again starring Jeanne Moreau), and they precede and later parallel the French New Wave films which are a little looser and grittier than his. Elevator to the Gallows is a film noir of sorts, though with a very French, lyrical quality. And an odd lack of hero, as you'll see. Meanwhile, watch every scene--the black and white photography is simply beautiful.
5 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Almost Perfect
Author: brostonjon from Alexandria, Virginia
19 September 2005
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Somehow I missed seeing this film when it came out in 1958. (I was old enough to see any restricted movie by then.) I just saw it in a fresh theater print and loved it for all the reasons covered by the previous respondents. It holds up tremendously well for a fifties flick I think because the director, being new to the game, was concentrating on telling the story and avoided any self-conscious stylization. Style is there of course and I detected minor references to one or two American "noirs". The cutting between Florence and Julien seen through the metal gates of the office entrance and the elevator reminded me of Mary Astor's last shot in "The Maltese Falcon", hinting of jail-time to come. No explanation was given for the sudden appearance of the grappling hooks and rope which are seen at Florence's feet as she tries to find Julien at the office. The small girl she talks to then makes off with them. Julien at that point had not escaped from the elevator, so how did they fall to the street? Is there a scene missing here? I also thought it very unlikely that Julien, who was obviously very experienced in climbing with these hooks, would neglect to automatically take them with him after the murder. Also it seemed out of character for a well-trained paratrooper like him to actually leave his car on the street with the motor running when he had to return for the hooks. The later incident with the kids and German tourists relied on accepting that the tourists were remarkably good-humored with the kids who followed them to the motel. After a highway chicken-race and having the back of my Mercedes gull-wing roadster rear-ended at the motel I would have called the cops right away. When Julien was being questioned by the police he could have proved he was stuck in the elevator all night by describing how he dropped the flaming Gauloise pack down the shaft (its remains still had to be there) and take his chances that the cops would still accept that his victim had actually committed suicide and his night in the elevator was just an unfortunate coincidence. Small gripes, but they really did not spoil the movie for me. I thought the "denouement" was very inventive and satisfying. Worth another look.
13 out of 24 people found the following review useful:
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Superb Louis Malle's debut
Author: psagray from Spain
7 September 2014
It was the first film of Louis Malle and above all implies two things: first that was not only Orson Welles "Citizen Kane" the only able to make a masterpiece of his first film as we get tired read and listen to critics; secondly, to view the complete filmography of its author, "Elevator to the Gallows" is, one of the three best of his films.
His filmography includes an interesting variety of genres and styles as noir films as "Elevator to the Gallows" crazy and surreal comedies "Zazie in the Metro", existential dramas or psychological "A heart murmur", films about the Nazi occupation "Lacombe Lucien, Goodbye Boys" ...
"Elevator to the Gallows" was his first work of fiction, a peculiar approach to black cinema on a style ahead of his time. the fantastic photograph in black and white, evocative and excellent soundtrack Miles Davis (which was as improvising saw the film in a study) and the sober and effective direction of Louis Malle film endowing clothing irresistibly elegant style. Jeanne cast highlight the very large Moreau, his mere presence, the look of sadness and desolation that transmits, makes one remember his performance.
The plot: a man (Ronet) murders his lover's husband (Moreau) working in the building, since the second is the head of a company military business. This murder is perfectly prepared by the woman. However, everything goes wrong when a man is trapped in the elevator ...
A perfect film literally in your startup and first half hour resting on its great argument, which is splendidly adapted film language, demonstrating mastery and early Malle restless.
Magnificent, full of nuances and with an air of involuntary Kafkaesque nightmare movie this is a classic and memorable with a great performance of its cast.
Today, many years after its release, we can say that this is a film classic that maintains the quality of its staging and fidelity to the gender ..
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Malle a wunderkind!
Author: junkielee from Cairo, Egypt
7 January 2014
Malle's career debut feature length at the age of 26, a stylized dramatization of a well-planned murder goes berserk. Florence (Moreau) and Julien (Ronet) are two lovers out of wedlock, the only barrier is Florence's senescent but wealthy husband Simon (Wall), for whom Julien works as a corporate clerk, they diligently hatch a plot to get rid of Simon and make the pretense as a suicide scene. The scheme is executed according to the schedule until a last-moment hiccup (Julien forgets the damn rope on the roof), a black cat is always ominous, just when he returns to the company building to fetch it, Julien is accidentally left alone in the elevator. Meanwhile, a pair of youngster Louis and Véronique (Poujouly and Bertin) lift Julien's posh car for a wild ride, en route, a harebrained Louis shot a German couple in a motel using the identity of Julien. The same night, Florence is aimlessly roaming around the streets of Paris, looking for her absent lover!
Things will get messier the next morning when Julien gets out of the elevator, he is wanted by the police and Florence starts to get a grip on the entire misidentified situation, after a concise confrontation with Louis and Véronique, a few developed photographs reveal the real culprits of both homicides, the star-crossed lovers meet their comeuppance as well as the hotheaded Louis.
Logically speaking, its 88 minutes running time seems a bit sketchy for clarifying the police's investigation procedure and there are a flew negligible plot holes dangling (e.g. how the rope without a trace appears at the entrance of the building is never explained), obviously they are not Malle's first choice. The picture is mostly preeminent for the bounteous close-ups to examine his then lover Moreau's emotive visage (under a plain make-up free naturalism) with her inner voice-over, equally impressively is the Black & White shots of the night view on the expressway and in the interrogation part under a pitch-black background, it is a conflation of Film-Noir with a budding La Nouvelle Vague. My personal recommendation is a heart-in-the- mouth set piece for the acrophobic when Julien tries to scale down from the elevator when it abruptly descends, Ronet is solely in his prime and later his mojo would be evoked unconditionally in Malle's THE FIRE WITHIN (1963, 9/10). Two thumbs up to Malle for his immense dexterity in such an incipient stage of his career.
One can also find some scattered fun in the film, such as the chic vehicle or the gizmos of a spy camera or the telephone-cum-pencil-sharpener, certainly for me they are eye-openers. Let's not forget Miles Davis' saxophone-heavy score, downright impromptu, but tallies with the film impeccably!
A more on-topic note is the alert message "never leave photos around", if only everyone could have watched this film before we reached this epoch of selfie fever, the world would be a bit less tumultuous indeed.
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Surf'in French New Wave.
Author: morrison-dylan-fan from United Kingdom
6 March 2012
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Ever since hearing a number of critics widely praise films from the French New Wave I have always gotten a feeling of intimidation and inaccessibility from the wide group of films due to how most of the mainstream critics seem to constantly try and put the New Wave films in a special box just for themselves.
After having become completely fascinated by tremendous "genre" films from Italy and Sweden,I started to look over at the New Wave films from France and began to feel that I should completely tear down the wall of intimidation around them by jumping straight into one of the first ever French New Wave films made that also starred one of the most famous (and most loved) actresses from the period
The plot:
Finishing his latest phone call by arranging a meeting with his secret lover Florence Carala,Julien Tavernier goes back to his office and tells all his staff that he is not to be disturbed for any reason.Gathering up a rope,gloves and a fully loaded gun,Julien quietly grapples his way to a building on the opposite side where Tavernier plans to stage an I'm prov meeting with his boss,who is also Florence's husband.
Succeeding in getting the short meeting to take place,Tavernier shoots his soon to be ex-boss in a style which will make it look like a suicide.Feeling that he should get back to his office before anyone gets suspicious,Julien picks up everything and quickly glides back to his office.Getting set to finally spend the rest of his life with the now-widowed Carala,Tavernier walks past two rebellious looking teenagers and jumps straight into his gleaming car.
Just as Julien is about to set off ,he has a look back at the building Tavernier gets a feeling of terror running down his spine when he notices that during the rush to get back to safety he had accidentally left the grappling rope hanging outside the room where the murder had taken place!.Leaving the car still running,Julian makes a dash for the lift in the building so that he can correct his dangerous mistake.
As the lift starts nearing the all important floor,Tavernier is suddenly left trapped and with no where to run when the buildings lift is shout down as the staff close the office block down to get set for all having the weekend off work.Meanwhile outside,the two teenagers start to take a real interest in Julien's abandoned car and soon decide that they will steal it so the they can use it for some wild weekend travailing.
Driving down one of the cities main roads,the teens inadvertently drive past lady in waiting Florence Carala,who due to mistaking one of the teens for Julien begins a long furious search for him all over the city which will lead to her and Tavernier discovering that their troubles are far from being confined in a shut down lift.
View on the film:
For his tremendous directing of what is possibly the first ever French New Wave film, Louis Malle (who also wrote the stunning screenplay adaptation of Noel Calef's novel with Roger Nimer)starts the new era off with a "bang", as the film opens on a proto-Segio Leone extreme close up of a beautiful Jeanne Moreau.
Checking for any info about the making of the film,one of the very best decisions that I feel Malle made was to show Moreau's face with no make up on at all,which along with allowing Malle to show Florence as a real femme fatale who is more than ready to walk through the shadows of the city to catch the smallest glimpse of her murdering lover,also allows Jeanne to give an elegant performance as she shows Florence to go from being self assured of her and Julian's murder plot,to shivering with fear as Florence realises that the situation has gotten completely out of her control.
Whilst Moreau unforgettable face does open this fantastic film,the rest of the cast easily deserve equal praise,with the sadly under rated Maurice Ronet giving a terrific performance as Julian Tavernier who along with showing a chilling precision of executing the murder is also able to show an increase feeling of dread as the walls of the lift start to close in on him as his fear of getting found really starts to take its toll on him,and also gives the audience of great sense of isolation.
After opening his New Wave Film Noir on a stunning shot and a rolling score from Miles Davis,Malle brilliantly creates a world of darkness as he goes from a truly edge of the seat,gripping murder sequence to making the city filled with wonderful characters who go from an edgy proto-James Dean teenage rebel who steals a car from under everyone's nose,to a cop,who like the audience finds the activates of Florence and Julian something that he will never forget.
Final view on the film:
A stunning,unforgettable and extremely moody New Wave Film Noir,with an astonishing cast,a fantastic tension building screenplay and artful directing from an amazing Malle.
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
©-DR-ASCENSEUR POUR L'ECHAFAUD de Louis Malle (1958) p32
23/10/2014 18:04
External reviews
Showing all 93 external reviews
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
©-DR-ASCENSEUR POUR L'ECHAFAUD de Louis Malle (1958) p33
23/10/2014 18:10
Le réalisateur Louis Malle (2e gauche)
*
Trivia
Showing all 7 items
*
Miles Davis recorded the music with a quartet of French and US musicians in a few hours (from 11pm to 5am one night), improvising each number and allegedly sipping champagne with Jeanne Moreau and Louis Malle.
*
Louis Malle shot his lead actress Jeanne Moreau in close-up and natural light and often without make-up. Moreau, an icon of French film, had never been seen like this before, to the extent that lab technicians, reportedly appalled at how unflatteringly she was photographed, refused to process the film. Once they were persuaded to, however, it soon began clear that Malle had captured every nuance of Moreau's performance.
*
The two lead characters, Florence (Moreau) and Julien (Ronet), never share a scene in the film. They do however speak on the phone together and are seen together in still photographs.
*
The German tourists' Mercedes-Benz 300SL W198 "Gullwing" was the fastest production car of its day. It is the first production car with direct fuel injection, which is why the characters mention that the engine has no carburetors.
*
Mercedes-Benz "Gullwing" 300SLs are highly sought-after collector cars now. Produced from 1954 to 1957, they originally sold for $11,000 USD. A pair (Gullwing and Roadster) were offered together for $1.3 million USD in 2009, and in 2012 an extremely rare 1955 model with aluminum body (of which only 29 were made) was sold for $4.62 million USD.
*
Gardenal is a barbiturate, and is the most widely used anticonvulsant (anti-epileptic) worldwide.
*
The tiny camera is Minox. It was originally developed as a luxury item, but it gained notoriety from its use as a spy camera.
| |
|
|
|
|
