Leviathan

In this remarkable movie, based upon Julian Green's novel, we follow Paul's downfall as he is torn between his love for Angele, a local prostitute, as he finds out too late, and Madame Grosgeorge's love for him. In this story of frustration, boredom and the "pangs of unrequited love", three actresses are quite outstanding: Madeleine Robinson as Madame Londe, Angele's procurer, Lili Palmer as Paul's middle-aged employer and Marie Laforêt as the unforgettable linen maid. In the novel, Paul is supposed to be plain, poor and unattractive, whereas in the movie, Louis Jourdan seems to stand as the Latin lover. How can we believe that Angèle should reject such a handsome man ? This is probably the only discrepancy to be found in the movie, which has not been shown on French television for at least twenty years. What a pity !

No I have not seen it yet but I have been looking for it for years. This 1962 French feature stars my favorite actress Miss Lilli Palmer and Louis Jourdan in their second film, the first being NO MINOR VICES in the late 1940s in Hollywood also starring Dana Andrews. Dark Journey, as Leviathan is called in English, also features several top French film actors of the period including George Wilson, Madeleine Robinson and a young Marie La Foret who also became a popular singer and still alive. For some reason this movie has been out of circulation for years and never released on a cassette or on DVD before now.. I believe it has not shown on French T.V. either for years. Miss Palmer was an international star, working in French, English and German and on the stage and television as well for some 50 years. An underrated actress and beauty, one of the screen's most cultivated, intelligent and charming ladies; She had a son with one time husband Rex Harrison, Carey. He lives in New York and is a friend of mine. I will review the movie again here once the DVD comes out.. This is just to let you know it is now available.

This is one extremely intense film about lust and the dangers of its pursuit. Louis Jourdan is given one of his many chances to truly act, and he is superb. He does not merely "coo in a woman's ear," as he put it. The Prince Dino effect is shattered. He portrays a married man whose lust for a young laundress--and prostitute--destroys him. Jourdan is reunited with Lilli Palmer, his co-star in the light-hearted 1948 film "No Minor Vices." Her character's husband is one of the prostitute's regular customers; she develops a lust for Jourdan's character. Her life, too, is destroyed. The young prostitute loves Jourdan's character even after he attacks her. In the end, her life is also in shambles. This is tragedy at its finest. Brilliant.

This movie was so ahead of its time! Thinking of how it was released in the 60s and portraying the "weaknesses" and "faults" of human nature in such a raw and honest way remind us that sometimes it is good to look into the past to find the future. Lilli Palmer in her performance is extraordinary. Her character is not one that we should like but rather pity or relate to in a way. Having watched several of her movies I believe that there could be no character that Mrs. Palmer could not tackle! Her performance here as the cold, sadistic, desperate for all consuming passion and love middle aged married woman is so on point that it steals the scene from the tragic couple of Paul and Angele.

In my opinion the cast of the movie is beautiful although Marie Laforet was not convincing throughout the movie.

The cinematography is superb and the music adds to the drama of this film.

I think it's a classic and should not be missed.

"Leviathan " is a phenomenon ;like Robert Enrico's "Au Coeur De La Vie" ,it cannot be compared to any of the contemporary movies ;neither old school ,nor (fortunately) Nouvelle Vague ,it's really an UFO in the sky of the early sixties in France .

Based on a Julien Green novel,who wrote the dialog ,Keigel's first effort is thus faithfull ,perhaps too faithful in its last thirty minutes in which both Jourdan and Palmer act as though they were on stage .I should add that the book is not a barrel of laughs ,depicting disenchanted pathetic character ;they are not immoral,they are beyond moral ,and their motives revolve around sex: bon vivant sex lover such as Mr Grosgeorge, exacerbated desire (Guéret,who does not want his prey to be a street-walker),Bovarisme (Mrs Grosgeorges ,who feels time is passing her by and is still dreaming of a -pathologic -romantic affair,sexual exploitation (Mrs Londe whose protégées call her "Aunt Augusta" and who in her restaurant is nothing but a respectable madam ), ambiguous young heroine (Angèle knows she attracts men,but she is miserable and under her "aunt's thumb, finding no solace in the church -the scene is more developed in the novel- wants to have her cake and eat it ;although Guéret frightens her,she feels for him more than a physical attraction ,in spite of all the men who have already slept with her)

The cinematography is splendid ,mainly in the first part: these desolate landscapes ,under an ominous sky , create something threatening : filming on location is brilliant : the sad little town ("where did you wind up her?" asks Grosgeorges to Guéret "you who used to live in Paris!),the laundry where Guéret spies on Angèle ,the foot-bridge,the coal depot.In the desirable and maleficent mansion ,there's these stairs Mrs Grosgeorges comes up and down ;in her restaurant ,Mrs Londe uses hers to get to her "nieces" and talk them about the favors she expects from them.

Till the central tragedy ,the movie is close to perfect ;enhanced by Arnold Schoenberg 's impressive and disturbing music, Keigel's directing is masterful : the violent scene near the Sommeillante (=sleeping river;the name is not mentioned in the movie)is French film noir at its best and compares favorably with Duvivier' s "Voici Le Temps Des Assassins " .

The film peaks with the double crime and Guéret's desperate escape ; as I have mentioned above ,the rest is too faithful to the book ;if you have read it,you can predict everything Mrs Grosgeorges will do ; this part needed madness ,and ,in spite of both principals' talent ,it is rather static and the final scene does not make much sense.

A note about the cast : it's a dream ,although the characters have undergone some changes ,particularly Guéret , Mrs Grosgeorges and Angèle :

To write that Louis Jourdan is cast against type is to state the obvious ;one of the most handome actors in the French cinema ,par excellence the French lover in Hollywood movies , he and Julien Green's pitiful hero (who is more frightening than handsome)are worlds apart ; in a laudable attempt to change his image ,Jourdan , unshaven ,bags under his eyes ,dressed any old how, succeeds in this difficult task .

in the book ,Mrs Grosgeorge is an aging unprepossessing woman whose beauty is forever gone ;such is not Lili Palmer's case, she is still strongly attractive ;the actress makes up for it with a restrained hate (and overt sadism when she violently slaps her son),an icy attitude ,devoid of compassion and pity ;if Palmer is not physically Mrs Grosgeorge,she gives a performance which scares the living daylights out of us!

Marie Laforêt ,who was the star of "Plein Soleil" aka "purple noon" ,is less seasoned as her co-stars ;she is more convincing than in Clément's thriller ,and anyway her beauty (her famous golden eyes ) is the only light in this lugubrious country ; in the second part of the book,her character,Angèle ,was disfigured ; the screenwriters sweetened the story : only a big scar on the side of the face

Madeleine Robinson and Georges Wilson are exactly the characters as depicted in the book ,faultless performances .

One may wonder why Keigel started his way at the top (even though it flopped at the box office, artistically ,it was an achievement),followed "Leviathan " quite well with "La Dame De Pique ", then released garbage such as the appalling "Qui?"

Had he continued in the vein of his sophomore effort ,we would have had some French Roman Polanski.Or something like that.