Post by rmichaelpyle on Nov 3, 2008 6:31:13 GMT -6
I recently bought Abel Gance's "J'Accuse" from Flicker Alley. They have released this and "La Roué" as restored Gance material. In past I've always said that 1936's "Dodsworth" was the most sophisticated film I've ever watched, but now I must add "J'Accuse" to that list.
It is an anti-war film whose glue to hold it together is the story of two men in love with the same woman, the woman of whom is married to one of the men already, a brute of a man, and she loves the other man! It's complicated, and it's not made sordid and exploited as it would be today. Instead, with the patience of Job the film takes this theme and winds it around and through World War I and makes us feel - and I do mean feel - the entire crux of the situation.
The leads are Romuald Joubé (as the poet/lover of Edith Laurin), Severin-Mars (who simply steals the show as the brute of a husband), Maryse Dauvray (as the wife who, when sent away to escape the war, is nevertheless captured by Germans and brutally raped), and Angèle Guys (as the small daughter born of the rape of Edith Laurin). All the acting is superb in the most triumphant way. Direction is years ahead of its time. I've only seen one or two things that ever even begin to rival this for the time it was made, and the sophistication level isn't as high. "Sir Arne's Treasure" (originally "Herr Arnes pengar", directed by Mauritz Stiller in 1919) is close for camera work, but none of the war films made at the time, "Hearts of the World", or any of those, begin to compare for the reality of the conflict. Nothing even close, believe me!
If you have the opportunity to buy this or see it at a festival, do so. You certainly won't be disappointed. I must point out that the final twenty minutes may disappoint somewhat a few viewers. It is a fantasy of death that possibly goes on too long for modern movie viewers sensibilities. But it is what ends the film, and it is in itself simply magnificent, although I admit that it is long for the context of the rest of the film. The film is 166 minutes long as it is!
It is an anti-war film whose glue to hold it together is the story of two men in love with the same woman, the woman of whom is married to one of the men already, a brute of a man, and she loves the other man! It's complicated, and it's not made sordid and exploited as it would be today. Instead, with the patience of Job the film takes this theme and winds it around and through World War I and makes us feel - and I do mean feel - the entire crux of the situation.
The leads are Romuald Joubé (as the poet/lover of Edith Laurin), Severin-Mars (who simply steals the show as the brute of a husband), Maryse Dauvray (as the wife who, when sent away to escape the war, is nevertheless captured by Germans and brutally raped), and Angèle Guys (as the small daughter born of the rape of Edith Laurin). All the acting is superb in the most triumphant way. Direction is years ahead of its time. I've only seen one or two things that ever even begin to rival this for the time it was made, and the sophistication level isn't as high. "Sir Arne's Treasure" (originally "Herr Arnes pengar", directed by Mauritz Stiller in 1919) is close for camera work, but none of the war films made at the time, "Hearts of the World", or any of those, begin to compare for the reality of the conflict. Nothing even close, believe me!
If you have the opportunity to buy this or see it at a festival, do so. You certainly won't be disappointed. I must point out that the final twenty minutes may disappoint somewhat a few viewers. It is a fantasy of death that possibly goes on too long for modern movie viewers sensibilities. But it is what ends the film, and it is in itself simply magnificent, although I admit that it is long for the context of the rest of the film. The film is 166 minutes long as it is!
