Tag Archives: José Giovanni

DEUX HOMMES DANS LA VILLE (José Giovanni, 1973).

Uncategorized, , , , , ,

A plea against capital punishment, something director Giovanni knew something about. Under the name of Joseph Damiani, he was sentenced to death for three pre-meditated murders in ‘48. He’d been previously denied all civil rights for having been a collaborationist and a member of the PPF Fascist Party in ‘46’; and later, in ’49, he was sentenced for ten years for blackmailing hidden Jews during the Occupation. Damiani was pardoned after serving 11 years and encouraged to write about his experiences. Under the name of José Giovanni, he wrote 24 novels, a staple of Serie Noir. Some were adapted to films —  LE TROU (Jacques Becker, 1960); CLASSE TOUS RISQUES (Claude Sautet, 1964); LE DEUXIÈME SOUFFLE adapted first by Jean-Pierre Melville in 1966 and later by Alain Corneau in 2007 – and they too became classics of a kind. I want to know more about Damiani/Giovanni.

I’ve not read any of Giovanni’s novels. But his films are coarse, pulpy, lacking in subtlety and depth and visually perfunctory. DEUX HOMMES EN VILLE is a good example. It’s a message film, a plea against capital punishment. Delon is a bank robber released thanks to the support of his social worker, Jean Gabin. Everything goes well until the policeman who sent him in ends up in the same provincial town and begins to make his life so impossible Delon ends up killing him in a rage and paying for it with his neck. It all culminates in a preachy court-room scene where Capital Punishment is decried as Delon is found guiltuy and followed by a crudely conceived guillotine scene – where all the film has led to, its singular point. Gabin gives the only un-interesting performance I’ve seen him give: sure, smug, patronising. It is nonetheless a pleasure to see him with Delon. Depardieu also appears in a small role, making of this film an opportunity to see three giants of French cinema together. The best performance in the film is Michel Bouquet as the Javert-like inspector who hounds Delon’s ex-con to the point of insanity and onto the guillotine.

DEUX HOMMES EN VILLE  was a big hit. It was remade in 2014 as TWO MEN IN TOWN by Rachid Bouchareb, with Harvey Keitel and Forest Whitaker in the Gabin and Delon roles respectively. I saw it in a restored version that looks crisp but. given what a trial it was to sit through, I didn’t much care. Delon produced.

José Arroyo

Le Gitan/ The Gypsy (José Giovanni, 1975)

Uncategorized, , , , , , ,

A film full of attractions that don’t quite pay off. Alain Delon, Annie Girardot and Renato Salvatore re-unite after their great success a generation earlier in ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS (Luchino Visconti, 1960) but Renato now round-faced and full girth is but one of many Delon sidekicks; and Girardot only appears 2/3rds into the film (why she took this role at the height of her box office is a mystery). Indeed, both are marginal to this narrative. The film is a dual story of two criminals chased by the police: A Gypsy (Delon), an ascetic who eschews even wine, freshly escaped from jail, who has no qualms about committing whatever crime is necessary to help his people; and Yan Kuq (Paul Meurisse), a high end jewel thief from a low-end background who steals as a form of class revenge and as a means to live the high-life. Their paths only accidentally cross when the police keep chasing after one and finding another.

It’s a crudely directed film, with Delon badly dressed at the beginning  (see above) with a ludicrous hat, a thick moustache and an earring. He becomes more effective as the film unfolds and common sense begins to assert itself on the costuming. The film does underline the oppression of Romani people but is mostly concerned with capers, shoot-outs and car chases

It has an amazing opening shot (see above) beginning in a beautiful bourgeois beach and ending on a run-down romani encampment; a fantastic star entrance for Delon (see below); a superb score played by Django Reinhardt; and very compelling performances from all the leads.

It’s a film where you can tell Delon is a gypsy because he wears an earring (see below)

 

 

José Arroyo