Le meurtrier

Discovering "le Meurtrier" directed by Claude Autant-Lara was an immense pleasure for a film noir fan like me. This Patricia Highsmith's novel is well adapted by Jean Aurenche and Pierre Bost. There is a lot of tension between the two husbands who simultinuously lose their wives by murder or suicide, the situation becomes more and more complex for the inspector who investigates till the climax ending. The cinematography by Jacques Natteau (who worked mostly for Claude Autant-Lara and lightened very few movies) is rich with long shots and expressionist night scenes. The cast is absolutely perfect : of course, the main two characters played by Maurice Ronet and Gert Fröbe (special cinematography for him), but also Robert Hossein (yes indeed, he is brilliant and speed as the inspector trying to discover the truth, almost a pre inspector Harry). I really wish this invisible nugget gets released on dvd.

I confess I have never read Patricia Highsmith's novel "The Blunderer" and wondered why the film title was rendered as "Le meurtrier" (The Murderer). The correct translation is "Le gaffeur", which is not as commercial as The Murderer although when the film was released to English-speaking audiences it became "Enough rope". Oh well!

The important thing is that we are talking about an excellent film dynamically directed by Claude Autant-Lara, featuring Jacques Natteau´s creative cinematography and magnificent performances by a very special cast. I am not going to comment on the suspenseful plot since other reviewers have done so very well; however the only fault I found on this rare film is how Mark (Maurice Ronet) makes the connection that it was Kimmel (Gert Fröbe) who murdered his own wife and starts stalking him. Why? Maybe I missed something since the copy I saw was in German with a lousy English translation in subtitles. Pity! I really wish for "Le meurtrier" to be released in DVD, or better yet on Blu-ray, in its original French with lots of extras.

If I sound excited about this film is because I really am, and wish that many people will be able to experience it the way it was conceived by Mr. Autant-Lara.

"Enough Rope" (1963) is the third Patricia Highsmith film adaptation which I have watched recently, after "This Sweet Sickness" (1977) and "Glass Cell" (1978). Unlike the other two, the pyschological dimensions are downplayed (with the exception of a few scenes) in favor of a more straightforward mystery, which turns out to be not much of a mystery anyway. The film opens with an attention-grabbing sequence, but gradually drowns in an excess of talk, which later develops into a succession of shouting matches between Gert Frobe (the worst offender), Robert Hossein and Maurice Ronet. And what's worse, shouting matches in German, which seems to be the only version available right now, even though the film is set in Nice and was apparently shot in French. ** out of 4.

Based on Patricia Highsmiths novel „The Blunderer", this rarely seen black and white crime movie deserves to be screened more often. It's the story of two men whose fate links them together by accident – or is it by plan? Separate of each other and at this point without connection, two women are killed. Their husbands are prime suspects, though police cannot prove their guilt. When they are confronted with each other, a strange combination of alliance and hostility is forged, while each one thinks of his opponent as a murderer. The psychological game unfolds. For one of them, the rope around his neck gets tighter, but he still has a card to play… It's no brilliant material, but the clever screen play and the good performances make it an enjoyable film for all "Highsmithians" and the likes.

There are two French movies based on Highsmith novels with Maurice Ronet. René Clément's 1960 thriller "Plein soleil" aka "Purple Noon" (based on "The Talented Mr. Ripley" is one of them. For me that's the best French thriller from the 1960's. Definitely a 10 stars movie. "Le meurtrier" aka "Enough Rope" mise en scène by Claude Autant-Lara is the other one and for me it comes close, 9 stars. This suspenseful crime story was filmed in 1963 in Nice, Côte d'azur, France. The soundtrack/score is very engaging and adds to the suspense.

The remake "A Kind of Murder" with Patrick Wilson and Jessica Biehl was released in 2016. As much as it creates atmosphere and has beautiful winter scenes and overall beautiful cinematography, the suspense which is so evident in "Le meurtrier" is missing in the remake. But the remake is still worth being watched.

I wish Criterion who releases so many French master pieces in their collection would finally add "Enough Rope" with a nice booklet...it's about time.