Le faux magistrat

Fantômas (Rene Navarre) has been arrested and is jailed in Brussels, but inspector Juve wants him arrested and sentenced for all his crimes in France...

After all his troubles, will Juve finally get the master criminal? Well now, I cannot reveal that. But I will say that this is an exciting conclusion and is possibly the finest film that was available in 1914. (I am not sure when -- if ever -- this debuted in the United States, but I am sure it would have gone over excellently with an American audience.)

I have nothing but praise for this whole series... how it is not as well known as it should be is beyond me, and I will do whatever I can to promote it to those who enjoy silent film.

...Or else it would have become repetitive and routine.In this movie,Fantomas has lost all his mystery and looks like an unkind Arsene Lupin,another hero famous for his imposture and his humor,a humor Fantomas is completely devoid of.Some scenes are lacking and are replaced by lines on the screen.

In the third and in the fourth movie ,Juve had taken a back sit to what was happening on the screen.In the fifth opus,he is almost absent,and for the first time ,Fandor is not much more present than he is.Fantomas is in the foreground :it's less suspenseful cause we always know what he is up to.

Fantomas is in jail in Belgium .He's got a life sentence but Juve wants him to be guillotined (Feuillade was politically very right-wing)so he helps him to escape so he will get put inside when he crosses the boarder.Of course,you can't think of everything and things do not turn as expected .

"Le Faux Magistrat" involves stolen jewels ,blackmail and ruffians.The scene with the bell in the steeple is really great and is worthy of Hitchcock.

That said ,although I know I 'm going to be torn into pieces,I do not think that the Fantomas saga is made of great films.They are good entertaining flicks ,with ,occasionnally, scenes that are truly excellent.Abel Gance and Maurice Tourneur were already around and they easily surpassed Feuillade.

Based on the book Le magistrat cambrioleur (the burglar magistrate) written by Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre in 1912 (the 12th of the 43 Fantomas novels) , this is the last of the 5 films made by Louis Feuillade about ruthless criminal and master of disguise Fantomas being chased by police detective Juve helped by journalist Fandor. The story takes place in Saint-Calais in France and Louvain in Belgium.

This is a good example of an early thriller with good acting and fast action. As in other Fantomas films, his talent for disguise and make-up is used, allowing him here to play three different characters. The sets are very well done and the filming on location adds authenticity and historical interest to the film, particularly the views of Louvain just before the first world war. This is probably one of the first films shot on location in two different countries. Although it is mostly filmed with a static camera, occasional panning and tracking is used. Shots alternate between wide and medium shots. The narrative is chronological with cross-cutting making it possible to follow simultaneous actions in different places. In addition to inter-titles, different types of documents are used to inform the viewer.

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La faux magistrat (1914)

*** (out of 4)

The fifth and final entry in the Fantomas series, this chapter has Fantomas (Rene Navarre) working a scheme where he's going to sell some jewels for $250,000 but at the same time do a double-take and keep the jewels as well as the money. He winds up in a Brussels prison where Inspector Juve pretty much wants him to escape so that Fantomas can return home where Juve has a plan for him. This film film runs 70-minutes in its current state but there is some footage missing, which is explained during the introduction to the film and when a scene is missing we're given some text to explain what's going on. I'm not sure how much footage is actually missing but perhaps it gives a better reason for some of the events in this film. It didn't make too much sense for Juve to want Fantomas to escape from his jail sentence but there are several twist and turns but in the end they don't add up to too much. With that said, if you've said through the first four-plus hours then you'll certainly want to finish the series off here. The ending is actually pretty good as it adds a nice little punch and we get a terrific sequence inside a bell that appears as if it would have influenced some of Hitchcock's work from the early 40s. As you'd expect by now, both Navarre and Breon are fine in their roles and the supporting players are nice as well. At times the 70-minute running time seems a tad bit slow but things do start to pick up in the final ten-minutes or so once everyone's plans start to take place.

On the whole, this series contains some good movies but none of them are nearly close to greatness. All five are mildly entertaining but if you're not a major fan of silent cinema then it's doubtful these movies will change your opinion on them. I was a little surprised to see such a lack of style from director Feuillade but for the most part he told the stories well enough.

"Le Faux Magistrat" is the final episode of Louis Feuillade's crime serial Fantomas. It is pretty nice ending to a brilliant series although I hoped for more dramatic episode, but still the ending has a very dramatic twist. The Episode starts really well with the jewelery crime and Fantomas escape from prison. Also nice thing about this episode is that it concentrates more on the character of Fantomas than the previous episodes that have focused more on inspector Juve and his journalist associate Fandor.

Fantomas is excellent series by Louis Feuillade that has not gotten the attention that it should deserve. It is exceptionally well made for pre-1920s serial. Recommended for all film buffs, especially those of particular interest for french silent cinema.