the dreamer awakes
by Douglas Messerli
Jean Castanyer, Jacques Prévert, and
Jean Renoir (screenplay), Jean Renoir (director) Le Crime de Monsieur Lange (The
Crime of Monsieur Lange) / 1936
Jean Renoir’s 1936 film, The Crime of Monsieur Lange, is a hefty
mix of a murder tale and comedy, dipped in a syrup of politics and love.
Batala, like almost every publisher I know (including myself), constantly in debt, spends much of his time creating new schemes to raise yet more funds, but seems permanently behind in all his promised projects. But unlike most publishers I know, Batala, spends most of the money on himself and wastes his days attempting to seduce every pretty woman he encounters, at one point even raping the innocent laundry worker with whom Charles is in love.
In order to satisfy the demands one of his creditors, Meunier—represented
in the film by his son (Henry Guisol)—he suddenly decides to publish Lange’s
ridiculous western fantasies, which strangely enough become a huge hit with the
public. Yet before he can even begin to reap the benefits of his newest scam,
the police show up, forcing Batala to go on the lamb. His train trip away from
Paris ends in a horrific accident which kills several travelers, including, so
the newspapers report, Batala.
Suddenly, the staff of Batala’s publishing house are faced with
unemployment, until the son of Meunier returns to make claim to the company and
is convinced by the staff to run the company as a cooperative. He’s immediately
convinced, but must take Lange aside to ask: “What is a cooperative?” Renoir’s
political statements are not without their humorous side.
The failed publishing house soon is raking in the money, based on the
popularity of Lange’s populist story, as events spin into delight for all
involved. An offer to turn “Arizona Jim” into a film brings together most of the
remaining cast members as they celebrate their success at a grand dinner party,
punctuated by the Christmas songs of the drunken concierge (Marcel Lévesque).
Certainly the villagers find him innocent, despite the bartender’s idiot son’s demand that they call the police; and the last scene of this film shows the couple crossing over the border, free from the ramifications of the murder.
Made during Renoir’s flirtation with and, soon, open embracement with
the Communist Party (the very next year Renoir made a promotional film for the
Party), it is one of the loveliest films of his early period. In this light
story, there are only a couple of dark scenes, but they are among the most
important. One, is the scene in which Charles’ girlfriend, having been
impregnated by Battala’s rape, is giving birth: the child dies, but the mother
thankfully survives. The other is the scene of the crime. As Battala, revealing
himself to Lange, moves toward the right and out of the frame, Renoir pans his
camera on a circular arc to the left, revealing the collective still
celebrating within, before returning to the source of their previous distress,
the villain finally showing his face to Lange. Battala is represented through
angles, at a pitch; he is, we recall, a man who has angled and pitched his way
through life. Lange, on the other hand, has been strengthened and emboldened by
the circle of his friends. In this remarkable cinematic encounter, we realize
that the dreamer has finally awakened. He acts to kill a man who has already
long been spiritually dead.
Los Angeles, May 18, 2017
Reprinted from World Cinema Review (Mary 2017)
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