Bill T
Like most French movies, I found this Renoir movie just a bit too much on the boring side. I zapped out a few times. It did start to get interesting in the 1/2 way mark, but seemed awfully episodic and sketch-show worthy. A variety of things happen with a variety of characters, mostly centering around a seedy publisher and scam artist. When he dies, everyone tries to pick up at whatever he left off. Maybe a wee bit too ambitious for it's own good, like most French movies are.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/22/23
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Audience Member
Lovely french movie, tho the ending was kinda too easy :)
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/16/23
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Audience Member
Its interesting for the use of space and the deep composition, and it is equally admirable for its social message, but the story gets muddled and confusing in the middle. However that can mostly be chalked up to Renoir's roots in surrealism.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/27/23
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Audience Member
Often marked as "one of Renoir's greatest films," LE CRIME DE MONSIEUR LANGE is a platform for us to witness how a director can convert propaganda into memorable art. The script is full of wit but Renoir is the hero, here. He allows for multiple perspectives and concise characterization to produce a quick, jaunty, and bright film.
LANGE is dense with insightful stagings. Renoir had learned by 1936 that everything serves character. In some ways, he recalls the swift attitude in Hawks's comedies. The camera work is clearly more radical, but they both succeed with abundant charm and aim every device at the service of character. Visually, some usual complexities are reserved for the end where the street allows for at least two excellent tracking shots. LANGE presents some of the most precise and concise characterizations in the Renoir repertoire. Batala is given superior attention. If we compare him to the capitalist villain in something like STRIKE, we find that Renoir believes in the complexity of thought even when working with a simple and economic script. In his frequent manipulation of women, Renoir illuminates the tight bond between money, power, and sex. His metamorphosis into a priest is loaded with dubious criticism, but is still the source of comedy.
The best component of LANGE might be the frequent allusions to Americana and westerns. It asserts that the American frontier was imbued with absolute freedom and the characters use it to focus their socialist fantasies. This parallel between socialist idealism and dreams of the West play incredibly well as an object of cinema. LANGE even gets its own joke -- "It's only a movie." The film is dense with the inimitable charm of Renoir, consistently exquisite photography, and forceful characterization. The comedy is presented with ease and subtlety. It is only unfortunate that so much of the commentary is excessively heavy. Capitalism comes back from the dead only to be defeated by Socialism. Socialism gets away with murder and walk happily out into infinity.
79.7
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/12/23
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Audience Member
An allegory, or a parable, but at the same time a charming comedy in that very French, Renoir style. A rogue, bully, scallywag Fascist publisher lords it over his writers and other staff, including M. Lange who writes "Arizona Jim" stories. When he is killed in a train accident, the workers form a cooperative and cheerfully keep the business going, to great success. But when Fascism rears its ugly head again, what will happen? A very optimistic film, unaware of what was to come next for the world.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/04/23
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Audience Member
Jean Renoir is one of the classic French directors and films like La Grande Illusion and The Human Beast show that. This film, The Crime of Monsieur Lange, is not one of the man's best films; but it's still a more than adequate example of French film-making in the 1930's. Adapted from a story by Jean Castanyer (the same man that wrote the story for Renoir's earlier film 'Boudu Saved from Drowning'), The Crime of Monsieur Lange tells the story of a man and woman that bed down in a hotel for the night. The man is recognised by the patrons as being the same man that killed another man, but before they can turn him in; the woman decides to tell the story of exactly why her man is a murderer and then let the customers decide whether or not he should be convicted. This premise offers an interesting base for a film, as themes of justice and morality can easily be tied in; but this is the film's main problem. While Renoir presents the story behind the murder in an interesting way, we never really get into whether or not the protagonist should be convicted. The film is left open ended, probably so that the audience can 'make their own minds up' about the events; but this idea is never really explored and it's a shame because it could have presented a very interesting backbone for the movie. Quite what Renoir's intentions were for this film, therefore, are rather quite muddled. The film is never exciting enough to be considered a straight thriller, the story isn't deep enough for it to be a deep and complex drama, and we're not presented with enough themes for it to be viewed as a cross section of justice and morality. Jean Renoir seems to have been too much of a complex man to have simply intended this film as a quick Saturday-morning style drama, and themes of living in France at the time aside, that's pretty much what this is. The actual drama in the film is good, however, with the actors giving life to their characters through realistic acting. Renoir's direction is as assured and as vivacious as ever, and you really get the impression with this man that he really puts his back intohttp://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/crime_of_monsieur_lange/# making films. This certainly isn't a bad movie; but it's not great either. Most people, like me, would probably expect a little more from Renoir...but it's still worth seeing.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/02/23
Full Review
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