Monsieur Verdoux - The woman murderer of Paris

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
German title Monsieur Verdoux - The woman murderer of Paris
Original title Monsieur Verdoux
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1947
length 124 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Charlie Chaplin
script Charlie Chaplin
production Charlie Chaplin
for United Artists
music Charlie Chaplin
camera Roland Totheroh ,
Curt Courant ,
Wallace Chewing
cut Willard Nico
occupation

In private life

At work"

Couvais family

Police & Officials

Monsieur Verdoux - The women murderer of Paris (alternative title: The marriage swindler of Paris, original title: Monsieur Verdoux ) is a socially critical black comedy by Charlie Chaplin from 1947 .

action

In France in the 1930s during the Great Depression : the film tells about the unemployed bank clerk Henri Verdoux and his sociopathic methods of making money. Although loyal and competent in his work at a bank, Verdoux was fired when the economic crisis began. In order to secure his livelihood, he marries rich widows of advanced age or becomes in a relationship with them, in order to then appropriate their money and finally to murder them. Right at the beginning of the plot, a member of the Couvais family falls victim to him, and later another unsympathetic widow named Lydia Floray. He uses the money from the raids for his "real", disabled wife Mona and their son, so that they can lead a carefree and happy life in the country. Mona doesn't know anything about his actions, but complains (like all fake women) that Verdoux always has to leave so quickly. Verdoux always appears as a well-dressed, courteous gentleman; who is actually a staunch pacifist and vegetarian and does not want to trample even small caterpillars while he is burning his youngest victim to ashes in the oven.

Verdoux learns about a new poison from his friend, the scientist Maurice Bottello: This is fast, deadly, painless and, moreover, is probably not detectable in the victim's body. Verdoux is brewing the poison and wants to try it on a poor girl who has just been released from prison and who happened to meet him on the street. He mixes the poison in a wine glass that he gives to the girl. In conversation, however, Verdoux increasingly developed sympathy with the young girl and discovered her will to live, which is why he exchanged the wine glass and gave her some money with her on the way. Instead, Verdoux later tries his poison wine on the detective Morrow, who has followed the serial killer on his forays and now wants to arrest him for twelve murders. In fact, the poison cannot be proven, and Detective Morrow's death is declared a heart attack.

Verdoux's attempts to murder his hysterical "wife" Annabelle Bonheur, who thinks he is a ship's captain, all fail. Instead, Annabelle's maid Annette uses the poison as a hairspray, which then causes all of her hair to fall out. With another widow named Marie Grosnary, however, Verdoux's attempts are successful after long, aggressive recruiting. Both get engaged, but unfortunately Annabelle Bonheur also appears at the wedding between Marie and Verdoux, which is why Verdoux has to flee from the wedding. However, the police now know what Verdoux looks like and have identified him as Bluebeard .

After a stock market crash, Monsieur Verdoux loses almost all of his fortune that he had invested in stocks. A little later, Verdoux's wife and child also die. Broken, the aging Verdoux withdraws from his "job" and spends the next few years without being discovered by the police. One day he meets the street girl again, whom he once tried to administer the poison to. She is now the lover of an arms manufacturer who earns huge amounts of money because of the Second World War . Verdoux bitterly realizes that the defense industry might have been a better profession for him. He is purified by talking to the young woman in a restaurant. In the restaurant, Verdoux is recognized by two members of the Couvais family, whose sister he had once killed. He finally allows himself to be captured by the police. In the process he defends his deeds as no worse than the normal daily work of business people and soldiers who also kill in war or under capitalism. Verdoux, who told his story to the viewer from the tombstone, was finally executed in 1940.

production

The script, based on an idea by Orson Welles, was inspired by the case of serial killer Henri Désiré Landru . The premise of the plot has been interpreted by critics as "murder is the logical extension of capitalism "; the main character kills for merit, so he's not a murderer (from his point of view). Welles tried to direct the film with Chaplin as the star, but Chaplin got out at the last minute saying he had never been directed and did not want to start now. Instead, Chaplin bought the script from Welles and rewrote parts, and only mentioned Welles for the idea. Another story suggests that while the script had yet to be written, Welles wanted Chaplin to star. Chaplin decided he didn't want to have to script with Welles and backed off. In addition, Welles insisted on getting film credit for Verdoux's plot idea if he so requested after a screening.

Monsieur Verdoux was an unusual film for Chaplin and heralded his late work. In the unusually aggressive, black comedy, Chaplin's Tramp no longer plays the main role.

Since the film is a sound film, there is both dialogue humor and body language humor. Chaplin tended to work with a select group of actors who appeared exclusively in Chaplin's films. Monsier Verdoux , atypical for a Chaplin film, shows some well-known Hollywood actors such as Martha Raye , William Frawley and Fritz Leiber . Rumors have survived that Chaplin's 1915-1923 female favorite, Edna Purviance , made a cameo in the film. Chaplin biographer David Robinson wrote that Purviance came back briefly to the Chaplin studios, preparing for a small role in Verdoux , but actually never went on camera.

admission

Popular success

When it was first performed in the United States, it did poorly. The film and its somber themes did not suit the political and cultural climate of the US at the time, and Chaplin's public image was marred by several scandals and political controversies prior to its release. Chaplin faced unusually hostile treatment from the press while promoting the flick, and there were even some boycotts during the short season.

The film was better received in Europe. The film was shown in the Federal Republic of Germany for the first time on June 6, 1952 under the title "The marriage swindler of Paris". The Wiesbaden film evaluation agency awarded the “ rating particularly valuable”.

Since then, it has gained enough sympathy to be called a cult film . The group of Chaplin fans falls apart because of the quality of the film. His dark humor, so strikingly different from Chaplin's usual sentimentality, is more appreciated today.

Reviews

After the film was received mixed by critics at its premiere, a positive opinion has prevailed for Monsieur Verdoux today. When critics portal Rotten Tomatoes the film has a superior rating of 97%, with the only negative criticism comes there from the Year of the film.

“Aggressive and macabre comedy in which Charles Chaplin brilliantly exposes society and its double standards in a highly polemical manner. Failed by audiences and critics at the time of its creation, the film only received adequate recognition decades later. […] - Worth seeing"

- Lexicon of international film

Important prizes and nominations

literature

  • André Bazin , "Le mythe de M. Verdoux", German "The Myth of Monsieur Verdoux" in a film review , No. 296 (May 1979)

Web links

Commons : Monsieur Verdoux  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ so in the opening credits
  2. ↑ a b Hoberman, s. Web links.
  3. ^ Danny Peary: Cult Movies 3 . Pp. 136-140. Simon & Schuster Inc., New York 1988. ISBN 0-671-64810-1 .
  4. ↑ a b Lexicon of International Films , Volume 2, p. 2168.
  5. ^ "Monsieur Verdoux" at Rotten Tomatoes