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Marie-Octobre
1959 Drama
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Credits
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Director: Julien Duvivier
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Script: Julien Duvivier, Henri Jeanson, Jacques Robert (novel)
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Photo: Robert Lefebvre
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Music: Jean Yatove
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Cast: Danielle Darrieux (Marie-Hélène
Dumoulin, dite Marie-Octobre),
Bernard Blier (Julien Simoneau),
Lino Ventura (Carlo Bernardi),
Paul Meurisse (François Renaud-Picart),
Serge Reggiani (Antoine Rougier),
Noël Roquevert (Etienne Vandamme),
Paul Frankeur (Lucien Marinval),
Robert Dalban (Léon Blanchet),
Jeanne Fusier-Gir (Victorine, la gouvernante),
Paul Guers (Père Yves Le Guen),
Daniel Ivernel (Robert Thibaud),
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Country: France
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Language: French
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Runtime: 100 min; B&W
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Aka: Secret Meeting
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Summary
Fifteen years after the Liberation, ten former members of the French
Resistance are invited to the home of Marie-Hélène
Dumoufin, code-named Marie-Octobre. The latter reveals she
has discovered that, in 1944, one of their group betrayed them to the
Nazis, resulting in the break up of the group and the death of its
leader, Castille. The purpose of the reunion is to identify the
traitor and to ensure he - or she - is punished...
Review
Although the latter part of his career was blighted by some notable
misfires and unfair comparison with the work of his younger
contemporaries (New Wave directors such as François Truffaut),
Julien Duvivier was one of great creative forces in French cinema in
the Twentieth Century. Many of his films of the 1930s and
1940s - such as La Belle équipe (1936), Pépé
le Moko (1937) and Panique (1946) - have become
classics which show not just a great technical flair but also a very
definite touch of the auteur. Marie-Octobre was one of Duviver’s
later, more experimental films, which demonstrated both his talent for
filmmaking and his readiness to take risks.
The film, shot on a single stage set in just 23 days, was one of
Duvivier’s last commercial successes, despite its extreme minimalist
composition. The film’s immense popularity was mainly down to its
remarkable cast, which includes some of the biggest name French actors
of the period - Danielle Darrieux, Bernard Blier, Paul Frankeur, Lino
Ventura, Paul Meurisse and Serge Reggiani. It is the compelling
performances from these high calibre actors, Henri Jeanson’s well-honed
script and the alluring film noir-like cinematography which make
Marie-Octobre such a thoroughly compelling and memorable psychological
drama.
© James Travers 2008
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