Bartleby

If you are in a bad mood, depressed, or ready to commit suicide, for instance because of the emptiness of your life, please, don't watch this movie. This tremendous and terrific film is directed by a very sensitive man: Maurice Ronet. It is a real gem, a powerful indictment against bureaucracy and an awful system destroying the weakest and loneliest people. This character of Bartleby is so poignant, so gripping, that you can feel deep inside yourself a real grief, a deep pain. Not destined to wide audiences, it is adapted by a short novel from Herman Melville, the author of MOBY DICK. Don't miss this movie, you won't regret.

This French film adaptation is, surprisingly, the best that I have seen. Maxence Mailfort as Bartleby brings an arresting pathos to his interpretation unlike the stolid and vacuous portrayals I have seen. Film veteran Michael Lonsdale as the Employer matches him in emotional resonance and artistry, imbuing the texture of his relationship to Bartleby with an originality of empathetic perplexity that creates a bond between the two that is exquisitely moving. It is quite unlike any other portrayal I have seen of this character, even Paul Scofield's in one of the other attempts to bring the story to the screen. Never before have I experienced such a tender, yes I use that word, realization of this work. The trappings of stock bewilderment I have characteristically seen actors recreating the Employer resort to are not here in any archetypal fashion. I have come to expect such an interpretation because every other depiction I have ever watched utilizes it, but never really transcends it. There is one point at the end of the famous scene on the stairs where the camera slowly approaches Bartleby to mid close-up, and the moment coalesces into an articulation of sadness so stunning that I caught my breath. It was the culmination of sympathetic wonder and sensitivity that Maxence Mailfort brought to his portrayal. I have a copy of this film and I return to it on occasion to marvel at the freshness of both performances, definitely not the usual reaction I have had to any other film adaptation of the story. The film needs no subtitles or dubbing, and I am so glad that my copy has none. I recommend watching it solely in French even if you do not speak the language. As a non-speaker, I found it eminently surpassing any other film version of Melville's story by a mile. Highly recommended. Ironic perhaps that the best adaptation, at least to me, is in French. (Sort of like the best feature film of America's history of slavery, 12 Years a Slave, was brought to the screen not by Americans but by the British.)

Maurice Ronet was one of the most talented actors of the late fifties,sixties and seventies and his premature demise was a major loss for the French cinema.His best part,in a brilliant career,might well be that of " Le Feu Follet" from Drieu De La Rochelle,an extremely pessimistic work which tells the last hours of a man about to commit suicide.

"Bartleby" came aside as a shock in the seventies;it was virtually ignored,being too "different" to gain the audience's favor,but the critics were enthused and in 2015,it has a strong cult among cine-buffs. It's Ronet's third effort ,after a first film and a short,both very obscure and it is the movie the actor threatened to make after a work such as Malle 's "Feu Follet" ."Bartleby ",based on a Herman Melville's short story ,appears like a suicide at a slower pace:the hero has always been an outcast,looking for a place he can call his own,or too disgusted by the nine to five routine the clerks "enjoy" in their office to feel like being part of them;the most important moment in the close-up on Bartleby's eyes ;his look does not accuse,judge or rebels against the raw deal he's got.He simply looks at us,our "happiness" ,our "normality".

Apart from Lonsdale ,the actors are cast against type :Biraud and Deschamps were ,by and large,used in (sometimes coarse) comedies;Dominique Zardi was given numerous very small parts in many a Claude Chabrol movie ;as for Maxence Mailfort (Bartleby) ,he is relatively obscure,and it gives more strength to his character;all are masterfully directed and give their best.

Ronet would continue his work on the American literature with a series of Poe's short stories for TV (notably a very original "gold-bug").

Like this ? try these.....

"La Vie A L'Envers " Alain Jessua,1964

"Le Locataire" aka "the tenant" Roman Polanski ,1976.

This isn't an easy one to find. Near impossible in fact, which is a real shame as it's a great version of the classic Bartleby. I've found this French version with English subtitles thanks to The DVD Lady, who deserves a shout out. Have a look at if you're struggling to find that obscure film you're hankering to see. So would my efforts be rewarded? How would this compare to the beloved 1972 version? Well it's very French, I'll say that for starters, but it's tone feels remarkably similar to its predecessor, London replaced by 1970s Paris. L'Huissier is played by Michael Lonsdale, who looks like Dan Akroyd mixed with Nick Cave. Right from the outset it's clear he's going to carry this. He's the company boss character, who gets a name in this adaptation. He's very particular. A neat freak, everything in its place. It's this that warms him to Bartleby (Maxence Mailfort) I think. He's a much more endearing character than I've seen before, with a frailty to him, worrying about his hair and the bags under the eyes. The bailiff business must be stressful. There's always an honesty and humbleness to this character though. Hard working if not overly successful, L'Huissier's office window is in the process of having its view being slowly bricked over throughout the opening scenes, another detail each of the three adaptations shares. Not dissimilar to the 2001 US version, the office is compromised of three slightly warring characters. Already dysfunctional, Bartleby's entrance almost seems like a stabilising presence. L'Huissier does all the heavy lifting as expected. Bartleby near mute from the get go. This confuses his boss, who's taken aback by his new employees hardworking yet unfriendly nature. One of the main things I enjoy about the original is it's starkness. This though does away with that. The characters are much more well rounded, fleshed out and part of the narrative. But it does feel like padding, making the pacing feel a little stunted somehow. It takes the light off Bartleby in the first act. That's quickly resolved with his first refusal, but it's the the relationship between the two leads that's most important, they feel almost inseparable. L'Huissier is suitably perplexed. The co-workers aggravated, but Bartleby is shown compassion. It's too late though, the walls are up, figuratively matched by the complete brick wall now outside the window. L'Huissier seems as lost and lonely as Bartleby here. Spending his Sunday idley wandering the streets. Perhaps he recognizes something of himself in Bartleby. We get another interesting twist as the other workers threaten to leave if Bartleby isn't reprimanded. It's an unusual power shift, not present in the other films, maybe it's simply a French thing. The office errand boy is another intriguing character. He has no particular presence, but is ever present, a pair of eyes, much like our own watching on in wonder. All these things add up to what is undoubtably the richest interpretation of Melville's novella and probably the most accessible, even if French isn't your first language. The empathy we feel for L'Huissier only increases as Bartleby orchestrates his demise. It that it though? Bartleby by his nature does very little, it's L'Huissier's frustration at his perfect world being altered even subtly that brings him to a blithering wreck on his office floor. There's heart to it. Making it more upsetting, but I prefer the style of the original and that remains my favourite. Perhaps even more so having now, finally seen this.

8/10