Based on the novel by Vecors (Jean Bruller), Le silence de la mer (The Silence of the Sea) is the story of a German officer who has been assigned to stay at the home of a man and his niece during Germany’s occupation of France in World War II. Written for the screen, co-edited, and directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, the film is an exploration into power and resistance where a man tries to instill his power in the home of two people who are resisting him. Starring Howard Vernon, Nicole Stephane, and Jean-Marie Robain. Le silence de la mer is a chilling yet rapturous film from Jean-Pierre Melville.
Set in 1941 in a small town in France during Germany’s occupation of the country during World War II, the film is a simple story of a German officer who has been assigned to stay at the home of an old man and his niece. While he would engage with them through monologues, the old man and his niece choose to be silent in an act of resistance. Even as he tries to approach through conversation where he at first tries to instill a sense of his power but as the story progresses. It is shown that he is just a normal man that actually loves France as he becomes nostalgia for bits of his past but becomes uneasy about what his country wants to do with the country as a whole as it adds a sense of conflict from within.
The film’s script is largely told by this old man (Jean-Marie Robain) as he speaks largely through voiceover narration as he reflects on his time during the occupation where he disapproves the presence of Lt. Werner von Ebrennac (Howard Vernon) only to realize that he is just as human as everyone else. The usage of voice-over narrative and the monologues of von Ebrennac adds to the tension that looms throughout the film but also with a sense of longing for a peaceful resolution as the only other character in the story is the niece (Nicole Stephane) who rarely speaks either in dialogue or in voiceover as she is just this observer that really dislikes von Ebrennac.
Jean-Pierre Melville’s direction is very mesmerizing for not just the fact that it is set almost entirely in the actual house where the book was based on. It’s also in the fact that he would maintain something that feels very real in its tension and intimacy in how these characters would interact together in the same room. While Melville would also do some shooting in the town and in parts of Paris for a sequence where von Ebrennac takes a tour of the city. Much of Melville’s work is set in the house where he uses a lot of medium shots to capture the intimacy and tension that looms throughout. Even as he creates some unique camera angles from above or below to play into that intimacy and whether the old man and his niece would say something or find a way to antagonize von Ebrennac.
Editing the film with cinematographer Henri Dacae, Melville would create these slow rhythms in playing up the tension while utilizing some stylish transition wipes for the scenes where von Ebrennac takes a tour of Paris as it would play into his own fascination for the country. The tour would also include some flashbacks as well as key moment in the film’s climax about the realities of war and occupation that von Ebrennac must deal with. It’s in the moment where the close-ups do come into play as well as a sense of melancholia as it relates to not just what the French had to endure during that awful period of occupation but also in the fact that there were Germans who did have some humanity as they questioned about the moralities of war. Overall, Melville crafts a fascinating and haunting film about a German officer living with a French family during Germany’s occupation of France in World War II.
Cinematographer Henri Dacae does brilliant work with the film‘s black-and-white photography from the way it creates a sense of mood for many of the nighttime scenes set at the den inside the house along with some naturalistic lighting for some of the film‘s exterior scenes in the day. The costumes by Traonuez are quite nice for not just the look of the uniforms but also in what von Ebrennac wears at the house as it showcases where he comes from as opposed to the more quaint, rural look of his inhabitants. The sound work of Jacques Carre is terrific for being very naturalistic in its setting as well as playing into the tension inside the room with the three main characters. The film’s music by Edgar Bischoff is fantastic for its orchestral-based score that plays into some of the drama for some of von Ebrennac’s stories along with more upbeat pieces for scenes set during his tour of Paris.
The film’s wonderful cast include some notable small roles from Denis Sadier as a friend of von Ebrennac in Paris, Georges Patrix as a servant for von Ebrennac who would appear from time to time, and Ami Aaroe as his former fiancee whom he reflects on during his time in France before the war. Nicole Stephane is amazing as the niece who spends much of her time cooking and sewing in silence as she appears uncomfortable around von Ebrennac as she rarely says anything to express her disdain towards him. Jean-Marie Robain is excellent as the old man who copes with von Ebrennac’s presence as he reflects, via voiceover narration, about what is happening as well as dealing with von Ebrennac. Finally, there’s Howard Vernon in an incredible performance as Lt. Werner von Ebrennac as a German officer who is assigned to live in the home of a rural French family as he tries to instill his presence only to reveal sides of himself that display a sense of humanity he struggles to carry amidst the chaos of war as well as what his country’s plans are for not just France but Europe itself.
Le silence de la mer is a phenomenal film from Jean-Pierre Melville. Thanks in part to a great cast, a chilling premise, and a calm yet eerie presentation, the film isn’t just a study of life during Germany’s occupation of France but also a study of humanity within that period from both sides. In the end, Le silence de la mer is a remarkable film from Jean-Pierre Melville.
Jean-Pierre Melville Films: 24 Hours in the Life of a Clown - Les Enfants terribles - Bob le flambeur - (Quand tu liras cette lettre) - (Two Men in Manhattan) - (Leon Morin, Priest) - (Le Doulos) - Magnet of Doom - Le deuxieme souffle - Le samourai - Army of Shadows - Le Cercle rouge - (Un flic)
© thevoid99 2016
Written and directed by Jean-Luc Godard, Alphaville: une etrange aventure de Lemmy Caution (A Strange Adventure of Lemmy Caution) is the story of a secret agent who is assigned to an inventor of a Fascist computer in a futuristic world. The film is a mixture of science fiction with film noir as it plays into a world that is strange as a man finds himself in a world that mixes elements of the 20th Century with a world that is very foreign to him. Starring Eddie Constantine, Anna Karina, Howard Vernon, and Akim Tamiroff. Alphaville is a strange yet entrancing film from Jean-Luc Godard.
Set in a futuristic world that isn’t too distant from 1960s France, the film revolves around a secret agent who arrives in a dystopian city to kill an inventor who has created a computer that controls its people as ideas of love, art, and free-thinking is banned. While it’s a plot that is very simple, it is a story that is very complex as its auteur Jean-Luc Godard creates something that is very abstract as it relates to ideas of existentialism and what a man is trying to do in this dystopian world. It is largely told from the perspective of its lead character Lemmy Caution (Eddie Constantine) who arrives to the city of Alphaville under an alias as he meets this mysterious woman named Natacha von Braun (Anna Karina) whose father (Howard Vernon) is the inventor of the computer known as Alpha 60.
It’s a script that doesn’t play into any conventions as the computer itself is a character in the story as it acts as this cold antagonist that mocks the ideas of love, individuality, and something as simple as poetry. The script is filled with a lot of ideas to set up this dystopian world as it plays into a future that doesn’t feel too distant yet it plays into a world that is the antithesis of what was happening in the 1960s. Even as cities of other countries are referred to in different languages as New York is said in its Spanish pronunciation while everything outside of Alphaville is referred to as the Outlands. It’s where Caution comes from as he brings books of poetry and a gun as his encounters with Natacha would have him going into a personal mission of his own as she had been in control of Alpha 60 as she has no idea what love is or anything else.
Godard’s direction is definitely stylish as he definitely goes for something that is very off-the-wall as he shoots the film on location in Paris without the need to really do anything different to the locations. It’s shot as if Alphaville is stuck in the 1960s even though it is the future as Godard’s use of wide shots and very offbeat angles help play into this strange world that is the future. The film also features these gazing images that play into the future as the computer Alpha 60 is played an electric fan with a light in the background. There is something that feels absurd about what the future is as objects from the time are present such as a camera that Caution carries which was new at the time of the film’s production. Godard also uses some very intricate compositions such as close-ups and medium shots to help play into the suspense and drama while going for some very engaging camera angles to play into something that feels off and otherworldly. While there is a lot that goes on where it can be hard to follow at times, it does play into Caution’s own adventure to try and stop the ideas of a computer from spreading the rest of the free world. Overall, Godard crafts a very engaging yet off-the-wall film about a man killing a computer inventor in a futuristic world.
Cinematographer Raoul Coutard does amazing work with the film‘s black-and-white photography as he uses some intricate lighting schemes and textures to play into the world that is Alphaville for scenes at night as well as some moods for the daytime scenes. Editor Agnes Guillemot does brilliant work with the editing to create some very disconcerting jump-cuts to play into suspense along with other stylish cuts for its sense of drama and action. Production designer Pierre Guffroy does fantastic work with the design of the hotel rooms that Caution would stay in as well as some of the places he goes into including the secret office of Professor von Braun.
The sound work of Rene Levert does superb work with some of the sound effects as well as the distorted voice of the Alpha 60 computer. The film’s music by Paul Misraki is wonderful for its myriad of orchestral music from suspenseful themes to lush and evocative pieces to play into Caution’s love for Natacha.
The film’s phenomenal cast includes some notable appearances from Jean-Pierre Leaud as a breakfast waiter, Christa Lang and Valerie Boisgel as a couple of seductresses, Jean-Louis Comolli and Jean-Andre Fieschi as a couple of professors respectively named Jeckell and Heckell, and Akim Tamiroff in a terrific performance as a friend of Caution in Henri Dickson who was supposed to do the mission but succumb to the traps of Alpha 60’s ideas. Howard Vernon is excellent as Professor von Braun/Leonard Nosferatu as the inventor of Alpha 60 who tries to remove elements of his own humanity as he offers Caution to join him.
Anna Karina is remarkable as Natacha as a woman who had been in Alphaville for too long as she accompanies Caution to the world as she starts to attain elements of humanity including the idea of love. Finally, there’s Eddie Constantine in an incredible performance as Lenny Caution/Ivan Johnson as a spy posing as a journalist who is assigned to kill an inventor as he copes with the strangeness of his surroundings and the ideas of Alphaville as it is a very chilling yet intoxicating performance from Constantine.
Alphaville is a sensational film from Jean-Luc Godard that features great performances from Eddie Constantine and Anna Karina. While it maybe one of Godard’s more offbeat and inaccessible features during his New Wave period. It is still a fascinating film that plays into the idea of dystopia as if it was set in a modern world where things have unknowingly changed. In the end, Alphaville is a tremendously provocative yet exhilarating film from Jean-Luc Godard.
Jean-Luc Godard Films: All the Boys Are Called Patrick - Charlotte et son Jules - Breathless - The Little Soldier - A Woman is a Woman - My Life to Live - The Carabineers - Contempt - Band of Outsiders - A Married Woman - Pierrot Le Fou - Masculin Feminin - Made in U.S.A. - Two or Three Things I Know About Her - La Chinoise - Weekend - One Plus One (Sympathy for the Devil) - (Joy of Learning) - (British Sounds) - Tout va Bien - (Letter to Jane) - (One A.M.) - (Number Two) - (Here and Elsewhere) - (Every Man for Himself) - (Passion) - (First Name: Carmen) - Hail, Mary - (Soft and Hard) - (Detective) - (King Lear (1987 film)) - (Keep Your Right Up) - (Nouvelle Vague) - (Allemagne 90 neuf zero) - (JLG/JLG - Self-Portrait in December) - For Ever Mozart - (Historie(s) de Cinema) - (In Praise of Love) - (Notre musique) - (Film Socialisme) - (Adieu au Language) - (The Image Book)
© thevoid99 2015
