Le Crime de Monsieur Lange

Though Jean Renoir's apparently classic piece of film has touched many hearts, it certainly didn't touch mine. Over the past few years where I've been viewing more films than I ever have before, I've discovered myself to be a man of plot. I am intrigued by how the director utilizes a basic story structure as well as characterization and transforms it into a nice visual. I felt that with this film, it didn't happen. I felt that Batala, the opposition, developed barely any antagonism throughout the film, if any. It seems as if he truly becomes the bad guy right at the end. While I should have been affected by Batala's sexually predatorial ways on the laundresses, it just didn't seem to impact me as much as it did others. I suppose I could blame the director or the actor, but I think it may have come from the source: the script. Anyway, the one thing I did enjoy was the almost humorous influence of the American west on this film. A sort-of shootout and Lange's creation (Arizona Jim ) were a few obvious points to support that. Well, anyway, that's it for now. Bash me for disliking a classic if you want.

Originally posted by HorseradishTree
Though Jean Renoir's apparently classic piece of film has touched many hearts, it certainly didn't touch mine.

I commend you for your interest in Renoir, who I'd name my favorite director if forced to pick one. Your recognition that others have been and will be moved by M. Lange is a sign of your generosity of spirit. I was touched by Renoir's contribution to the Front Populaire, his ode to collectivism and worker camaraderie. Reminds me a bit of Kurosawa's Ikiru, which I admire even more.

I've discovered myself to be a man of plot.
I think it's useful to draw parallels between literary forms and filmic ones. Most commercial films, past and present, are plot-driven, thus akin to novels and short stories. As I got older I began to appreciate films that are the literary equivalents of essays and poems. For instance, I began to "get" Godard when I stopped looking for narratives and started to regard his films as essays or commentaries.

I felt that Batala, the opposition, developed barely any antagonism throughout the film, if any. It seems as if he truly becomes the bad guy right at the end.

This comment got me thinking about how villains in most contemporary movies are so one-dimensional, not "bad" but downright "evil", sometimes devoid of any redeeming features. Renoir's villains are more complex individuals, like the German commander who invites his French captives to lunch before sending them to the prisoner camp in Grand Illusion.

Anyway, the one thing I did enjoy was the almost humorous influence of the American west on this film. A sort-of shootout and Lange's creation (Arizona Jim ).

That shootout scene is perhaps cinema's first 360-degree pan.
By film's end, Lange becomes as heroic as Arizona Jim.

Bash me for disliking a classic if you want.

No bashing. I like the way you personalize your take on this film. Figuring out what is it about you that makes you respond to certain films and not others is a worthwhile, life-long pursuit.

An excerpt from Renoir specialist James Leahy:

These days, people are likely to encounter Renoir's work for the first time on television or video rather than in the cinema. In these low information, small screen formats, the energetic ensemble acting characteristic of his films often seems merely busy. The humour and much of the richness of characterization derive from interplay between dialogue and the visual image (which communicates gesture and movement). For an anglophone audience, even when the subtitles communicate the dialogue accurately, the pace of the interaction and the impeccable timing of the delivery of the lines are lost. In Renoir's art, every line of dialogue, every action, every detail of dress, gesture, posture and setting needs to be taken into account if story, theme and characterisation are not to be misunderstood.

Renoir repays multiple viewings with subtle, precise characterisation, agile storytelling and joie de vivre.