Der Dieb von Paris

Just saw this forgotten gem by Louis Malle today on Starz. I absolutely loved it. I admit I have a huge bias towards movies about thieves: the artistry of their trade fascinates me (and explains why I can't get enough of playing "Thief" the computer game series).

Nevertheless, this was an engrossing turn of the century period piece which is filled with brilliant, subtle characterizations of extremely interesting and complex characters. It's exciting without needing to be fast paced and it doesn't sacrifice depth of emotion (which is repressed but fully present under the surface as these characters must constantly re-evaluate their involvement in their chosen lifestyles).

The film is beautifully structured so that by the end of it we, who have been voyeuristically caught up in the romance of suave criminals, must, like them, take stock of what has been lost.

Recovered and digitized versions of old movies are often a joy for movies fans. We have the opportunity to see films made 40, 50, 60 years ago in conditions similar to those at the premiere and sometimes even in better conditions. The curtain of fog and the degradation of the media are eliminated, which allows us to see the faces of the actors, to hear their voices and the soundtrack clearly, to enjoy costumes and decorations in colors and with refreshed contours. We can enjoy the qualities of the films, but the flaws can also be seen more clearly and the problems highlighted. This is also the case of the film 'Le Voleur' (the English version was titled 'The Thief of Paris') by Louis Malle, made during the period of maximum success and popularity of the director. The recovered version released a few years ago reveals to us as an elegant but old-fashioned film, with a content in which light entertainment is combined with a fringe ideology which I believe was already old-fashioned in 1967 when the film was released, and which seems even less plausible today.

If we look at this film as pure entertainment, we can include it in the category of French films that tried in the 60s and 70s to revive the tradition of police literature sprinkled with justice heroes (like Fantomas) or charming thieves. The latter category also includes Georges Randal, the hero of the film played by Jean-Paul Belmondo - a burglar with a gentleman's costume and manners, who accidentally became a villain, remaining in the profession by vocation. The story of the film is based on a novel by Georges Darien, an anarchist writer and activist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who shrouded his book in enough mystery to suggest that it was an autobiography (which it is not sure it was true).

As an entertainment film, 'Le Voleur' works acceptably. Jean-Paul Belmondo, who was then at his peak, acts with self-assurance and pleasure, anticipating his memorable role in 'Borsalino' three years later. Belmondo is surrounded by charming feminine presences, giving us the opportunity to remember some of the beautiful and talented stars of French cinema of that time. Geneviève Bujold did not impress me too much, instead Marie Dubois and Marlène Jobert are delicious. One performance I cannot skip mentioning is that of Julien Guiomar, as Abbot Felix, a Catholic prelate who knows as much about burglaries and stolen objects as he does about the Bible. The atmosphere of the time and especially the interiors of the bourgeois houses in Paris, Brussels and London are excellently revived. The less successful part of the film seemed to me to be the one in which to the personal motivations of the hero are added social elements, trying to make of the thieves' profession kind of a likeable righteous guild. No matter how repugnant are the bourgeois portrayed in the film, this attempt is not convincing, and not for moralistic reasons, but because even the actors, including Belmondo, fail to portray the characters' dilemmas. However, 'Le Voleur' is a more than acceptable entertainment, and not just for reasons of nostalgia.

... and those gorgeous eyes to look at. The film would be a lot better if it were 30 minutes shorter, and if Malle didn't lovingly photograph those rich interiors, that gorgeous furniture that Belmondo treats so brutally with his burglar tools. Jacques Saulnier did the production design, and this is a really handsome film to watch. It is a precursor to Stavisky..., the Resnais film that Belmondo starred in some years later, another Saulnier production. The solitary nature of the crimes Randal commits does not allow the idea of a confederation of criminals against the bourgeoisie to develop--this is one of the themes of the script that fails to work.

The acting is always good. Guiomar as the crooked priest is always effective; you may remember him longer than you do Belmondo. Paul Le Person as a thief has some good scenes, as does Jacques Debary as the politician Randal robs while he's making a speech. The best scene for me was the Guiomar-Marie Dubois encounter, when she recounts a bogus story to the feigned surprise of the priest.

Louis Malle was one of the greatest French directors, along with Resnais and Chabrol, yet he didn't always make the films that his talent should have let him do. Le Voleur is just too ripe, too pretty, too focused on surfaces to work for me.

If I had watcehd this film without seeing the director's name on the opening credits, I would have bet my last shirt on Claude Chabrol, because of the subject, atmosphere - bourgeoisie, upper middle class critism - and actors directing. Yes, Claude Chabrol could have done this; after all, he did LANDRU, which takes place in the same period as this one, costume drama. Very brilliant movie, where Jean Paul Belmondo is absolutely great, complex, ambivalent.

I finally got around to watching a tape of this movie I'd made awhile back, and frankly, I was very disappointed. Jean-Paul Belmondo at the peak of his international fame, Louis Malle ("Atlantic City") directing - how could it go wrong? But regardless, this is just a simple comedy without much depth.

Belmondo plays a French thief around the turn of the century, and the joke is that he and his fellow thieves are robbing the bourgeois and making off with their women. No new ground is broken, and to be honest, even with this simple plot, it isn't particularly well-executed.

Even fans of Belmondo might be bored with this film - instead of his usual droll demeanor, he's dull and just floats from one scene to another without making much of an impact.

So-so entertainment, that's all.