Judex

This film is most certainly worth a watch if you're at all interested in classic film. Highly stylized and full of fun and suspenseful moments, Judex is a gem amongst crime thrillers.

There are quite a bit of issues that keep it from being a perfect film though, not the least of which is how dated it is. As some shots and practical effects are less than stellar, almost comical at times.

At points as the story goes on you'll likely find yourself thinking "Well that's convenient" or "What, how?". But a lot of that can be chocked up to the already ridiculous nature of the plot, and aren't necessarily due to negligence from the screenwriter.

The acting from some characters can be a bit off putting at times as well, but there's enough great performances in there to offset that.

However despite its flaws this is a good early film for the genre.

The first "Judex" was made in 1916 and the late French critic Roger Boussinot was hard on Feuillade ,whose films were (I quote him) " brainwashing" .He was speaking of "Les Vampires" and "Judex" which ,for him,were hiding the atrocious reality.

Back in 1963,Franju,who had a penchant for mystery ("Les Yeux Sans Visages" "Pleins Feux sur l'Assassin" ) made a remake.He cast a conjurer(Channing Pollock) as the lead (which was not a bad idea after all for Judex being an almost surrealistic hero did not demand a great actor ) Franju used again his favorite actress ,Edith Scob,("les Yeux Sans Visage" ) whose eyes were the most beautiful (along with MIchèle Morgan's) in the French cinema.

Judex is some kind of mysterious Robin Hood,who comes to the rescue of poor people an unscrupulous banker has swindled . Franju's sense of mystery works wonder and creates a strange atmosphere with this hero with a bird mask .A sequence was filmed in Château-Gaillard ,les Andelys .

Franju's evocation of a lost innocent era of French silent cinema is a real gem, and a much neglected film. The film creates an air of gentle menace from the opening scenes featuring a bird-masked magician at a masked ball. We soon learn that he is, in fact, Judex, the legendary crime-fighter. He soon becomes engaged in a battle with a cat-suited female criminal. The plot itself is one-dimensional comic-strip stuff, as the above suggests, but what constantly impresses is the poetic set-pieces Franju sets up, particularly a burglary at a country house swathed in mists. The show is continually stolen by Francine Berge, as the criminal - she seems a not-too-distant relation of Diana Rigg in television's "The Avengers", at least in dress sense - and this highlights a slight problem. The hero, played by American magician Channing Pollock, is bland by comparison, as is Edith Scob's heroine-in-distress. It seems that the bad girls get all the fun! Overall, this is the type of film that doesn't get made any more, yet doesn't seem dated. Franju's more famous "Les Yeux Sans Visage" is, in terms of mood, very similar, as is Cocteau's breathtaking fairy tale, "La Belle Et La Bete". The sixties British horror, "The Haunting", also pulls the same trick of showing little by achieving everything through mood alone. Do try to see all of these if you get the chance.

a decent film. not great, not good, not convincing. seductive for its flavor and for beginning. for the references. and for few scenes. action, drama, justice, the silhouette of good guy are old ingredients and that reduced the surprises. the atmosphere is well , not bad for remind the Edgar Poe's Red Death . but something missing. too predictable, with few characters in wrong places, without a remarkable acting, it is only nice and, maybe, useful for remember the spirit of old French cinema. but, despite the story, it has the sin to seems almost boring. and that could be all. without great virtues or ambitions, it is a decent movie. and that status could be enough for viewer.

Georges Franju is an unfairly neglected director - overshadowed by Godard and Truffaut, he fell quickly out of favour as a filmmaker, although he is revered as co-founder, with Henri Langlois, of the Cinematheque Française in Paris shortly before World War 2.

The influences to be seen in Franju's films are not those of New Wave directors: Hollywood film noir and trashy American novels. He is more in tune with German Expressionism and, as perhaps befits a film archivist, with silent cinema.

So JUDEX is a very affectionate tribute to Louis Feuillade, and shares its title with a 1916 serial. As the title character Franju cast a magician - Channing Pollock - and other actors include the wonderful Edith Scob (unforgettable in Franju's EYES WITHOUT A FACE), Andre Melies (son of Georges) and Theo Sarapo (one-time lover of Edith Piaf). The music is by Maurice Jarre, and adds to the dreamlike nature of the whole story.

JUDEX may not be a great film, but it is a truly wonderful film. Just let it wash over you, and the memory of it may haunt you for a surprisingly long time!