The raven (1943)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The Raven |
| Original title | Le Corbeau |
| Country of production | France |
| original language | French |
| Publishing year | 1943 |
| length | 92 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 6 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Henri-Georges Clouzot |
| script | Henri Chavance, Henri-Georges Clouzot |
| production | René Montis, Raoul Ploquin |
| music | Tony Aubin |
| camera | Nicolas Hayer |
| cut | Marguerite Beaugé |
| occupation | |
| |
The raven (original title "Le Corbeau") is the title of a French crime film by Henri-Georges Clouzot , which was made in 1943 during the German occupation. Because of its content ( denunciation ) and its production conditions, it was initially very controversial. Today it is not only considered one of the first film noirs in French cinema, but also a cinematic document of the atmosphere under the occupation and an early masterpiece by the director.
action
Life in a small French provincial town is shaken by a wave of anonymous letters, all signed by the “raven”. The first target of the attacks is a visiting doctor (Pierre Fresnay), who is accused of illegal abortions and adulterous relationships. But soon other prominent members of the community are also targeted, and the small town falls into hysteria when a cancer patient named François takes his own life in the hospital after receiving an anonymous letter. Police, judiciary and city notables are failing in the face of the situation. The victims are left alone. Fear, rumors and lynch mood are rampant. The attacked doctor has to take his fate into his own hands. In the end, the perpetrator is convicted and judged by one of his victims.
Political Impact and Reception
"The Raven" was initially controversial because it portrayed French society in a gloomy and unpleasant light. The German occupiers misused the film for anti-French propaganda, but significantly, the work never came into German distribution. After the liberation, the director was therefore exposed to violent attacks. He was banned from work for life and leading actor Fresnay was jailed for six weeks. In 1947 the ban on Clouzot was lifted, and when "The Raven" ran again in French cinemas, it had great success.
Clouzot was influenced by expressionist German cinema of the twenties. But it wasn't until long after the film was released that the French film critics understood that Clouzot's “Raven” had all the classic genre characteristics of film noir in terms of style, story, imagery, settings and lighting. From today's perspective, he is already pointing to later masterpieces by the director such as “ Wages of Fear ” and “ The Devilish / Les Diaboliques”.
criticism
In Kay Weniger's The Great Personal Lexicon of the Film , the biography of director Clouzot says:
“Clouzot was in top form early on with his second piece, also produced by 'Continental':“ The Raven ”describes in a morbid, distrust-nourished small-town world how anonymous letters full of insinuations nourish mutual distrust and soon completely poison the atmosphere. “The Raven” was probably the best portrait of the Vichy era, a very coherent reflection of a French society determined by denunciation and inquisitiveness - which meant that after the liberation in 1944, as every scratching at the chimera of a united nation of Resistance was undesirable and "The Raven" seemed to mean an attack on this life lie, was forbidden. "
Web links
- The Raven in theInternet Movie Database(English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for The Raven . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , June 2012 (PDF; test number: 133 373 V).