Erreur tragique

Erreur tragique (1913)

** (out of 4)

Disappointing thriller from Feuillade about a husband (Rene Navarre) who goes to the movies one day and sees what appears to be his new wife (Suzanne Grandais) in the arms of another man. The husband keeps it to himself but the agony begins to build so he rigs her carriage so that she'll suffer a horrible death but then there's a twist. Going through the Gaumont Collection I've come to learn that the director is going to have everything running a tad bit too long and that trend continues here. At 24-minutes this thing goes on way too long and especially when you consider that it's not all that original even by 1913 standards. There are a couple plot twists along the way but I'm sure most people will pick up on them early on. That's not the reason this film is a major disappointment. The biggest issue is that this movie looks like it was made in 1905 and not 1913. When you consider what was going on by Griffith in America and the epics in Italy, there's really no excuse for this film to look the way it does. Just take a look at the scene where the carriage is out of control. The thing shows so little that we don't get any suspense but the director doesn't even do any cross cutting to try and build any tension. The entire ending has the husband wondering if he's made a terrible mistake and we see him ride off the save the day yet the director never goes for any tension. Instead we just see the aftermath without any build up, which really shocked me because other countries and directors were already doing so much more. The performances are good but the lack of direction really kills this thing. Even the psychological drama of the husband beating himself up over what to do with his wife doesn't work because the style is just so weak and nothing is done with it. A real disappointment in what should have been a better film.

Frau Suzanne und René de Romiguières are a young and happy French bourgeoisie couple who live in a "château" at the foothills of Cévennes. Herr René must go to Paris in order to properly attend to business.

Staying two days alone in a big city like Paris without your wife is certainly an excellent opportunity to enjoy the pleasures of France's capital city,... so the young marquis decide to enjoy himself by going to... ehem… a cinématographe!.

During the show of "Onésime Vagabond", Herr René was deeply astonished by this "Gaumont" film production but not for its artistic merits; rather because during a scene his wife appears walking arm in arm with an unknown man! From this time forward, the monsieur le marquis will be consumed by jealousy. His state of mind worsens when his wife receives a mysterious letter in which a rendezvous with a man is arranged. Absolutely deranged by this, le marquis decide to make an attempt on his wife's life.

"Erreur Tragique" is a notorious short film directed by Herr Louis Feuillade in the silent year of 1912, in which the mastery the French director is evident regardless of the genre. The film's dramatic intensity goes "in crescendo" until a thrilling and, fortunately, happy ending that puts relief into what it is an early and desperate portrait of human and masculine nature.

The film is absolutely valid and modern today because unfortunately some things have not changed a lot since the film was made a century ago ( actually, that people are continuing marrying among themselves! ). These most primitive human impulses are still suffered today by jealous and obsessed husbands (e.g. deception, jealousy, mistrust ). Terrible consequences are seen in the film such as morbid feelings and conduct that affects and drives crazy even the most reasonable and distinguished persons. On the other hand the film is modern nowadays too in its technical aspects, film narrative and direction. Just change the elegant horse-drawn carriages for noisy automobiles, handwritten letters for modernen e-mails or viewing "Onésime Vagabond" as le monsieur le marquis does for a "Netflix" on-demand video and you'll have an absolutely contemporary film.

And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must go to Paris but not precisely in order to watch silent pictures

Good acting, great camera work and directing more than make up for the truncated script. intertitles last too long and too much of the story is told off screen or by intertitle, but the quality of acting and the mobile camera will keep any viewer watching. The print at YouTube is also astonishingly good, and the music behind it is appropriate and adds to the movie rather than intruding. I highly recommend "Erreur tragique" to, especially, fans of movie history.