Summary
Inspecteur Georges Vallois is called in to investigate the murder of Albert Simoni, the
owner of a night club in Paris. The prime suspect is Lucky Fridel, a young German
woman who came to Paris to start a career as a singer. Vallois is seduced by Lucky and
ends up falling in love with her, although he discovers that she is a drug addict.
Intending to protect Lucky from the police, Vallois pursues his own private investigation,
realising that whoever is supplying Lucky with dope is very probably the person who murdered
Simoni...
Review
Le Désordre et la nuit is a good example of the French film noir of the
latter years of the 1950s, and it is interesting to compare this film with earlier crime
thrillers. Over the decade, the French film noir generally showed a marked migration
away from the dark seedy underworld which was prevalent in the American film noir of the
1930s and 1940s, towards a more sophisticated, lighter, variation on the same theme.
The night clubs, trenchcoat wearing cops and gun-totting villains, femme fatales, prostitutes
are still there, the emphasis has shifted, with dialogue playing a greater importance
in the film (a typically French characteristic).
The shock pairing of an ageing Jean Gabin and a near-adolescent Nadja Tiller is one of
the things which makes this a memorable and enjoyable film. Gabin’s loneliness and
disillusionment with his life is apparent, as is Tiller’s vulnerability and need to be
loved. Despite their age difference, the two actors have a genuine rapport which
provides the film with a feeling of humanity which is often lacking in French thrillers
of this period. Although she plays a lesser role in the film, Danielle Darrieux
is equally captivating when she finally appears.
Another distinguishing characteristic of this film, and the thing which most gives it
a sense of modernity and energy, is the almost omnipresence of jazz music. The film
makes good use of its jazz star Hazel Scott, the whole film appearing to come to life
when she appears with her jazz troupe at various sections in the film.
© James Travers 2002
|
