Sans espoir de retour

These reviews have lots of bad things to say about Carradine in this, but for me, he really made the film.

He is called bland here. One person says he acts like he doesn't know what he's doing in this.

I believe this is the point. This is a guy who was a rock star and then hit the skids and is a bum. And he doesn't really realize why.

And then he becomes embroiled as a witness to a race riot, is suspected of a killing, and is generally tossed about, and he reacts to all of this as a person who doesn't quite understand, and yet is driven by a desire to get revenge on those who are ill-using him.

This is the last film by a legendary director who never rose above B movies, but injected a quirkiness of his own. This isn't his best, but it is mesmerizing. It certainly is a violent film, but it isn't mindless. See it when you are in the mood for ridiculous plotting exquisitely directed.

Director Samuel Fuller's films SHOCK CORRIDOR and THE NAKED KISS are among my all-time favorites. His attempts to achieve a kind of gutter-level truth through expressionistic exaggeration make his films completely unique. This film takes the classic noir novel STREET OF NO RETURN by Davis Goodis and turns it into a strange cinematic vision that is intense and brutal, yet otherworldly and cerebral. First of all, the film exists in no particular time--like RUMBLEFISH, it blurs elements from different eras so that it exists in some kind of alternate reality. Also, while the film supposedly deals with American issues, it looks so foreign (it was shot in Lisbon, Portugal, a city that has a unique look, but not a familiar look, as Paris or London or Rome or Berlin would have) that the whole thing seems to play out on an allegorical level. Even the music by Keith Carradine is odd--Carradine (known for his 70s hit "I'm Easy") is rooted in a kind of 70s folk-pop in the James Taylor vein, but his music is given an 80s Euro dance feel, and he looks like glam-era Kim Fowley (in the earlier times in the story) or trashed-out hippie-punk Kim Fowley (in the later times in the story). And while the film deals head on with racial issues, the Black actors in the smaller roles look nothing like African-Americans, which again takes the film away from any realism. Bill Duke is excellent as the harried police inspector, Keith Carradine is impressive as the protagonist (quite different from the book, but not attempting to be like the book, but like the screenplay), and once one gets into the "feel" of the film, it carries the viewer along for a wild ride. This is a memorable last film for the great Samuel Fuller. It has all of his good qualities and visually it's pure Fuller. The strange look and European feel to the film remind us that the man could not get a film deal in his own country and, like Orson Welles, was forced to put together overseas projects wherever he could. The Fantoma DVD presentation of the film is superb as are the extras (commentary by Carradine, documentary about the making of the film, etc.). The women in the film--Valentina Vargas as the woman who Carradine desires, and Andrea Ferreol as the woman who has nurtured him and who loves him but who he sees as a maternal figure (the line about "you've always been like a mother to me" is painful to hear!)-- are both incredibly sexy in a raw, animal-like way that we don't often see in films nowadays. If you've ever enjoyed a Samuel Fuller film, you should seek out this DVD. If you want to try something different, buy or rent this rather than going to see some empty Hollywood product at the multi-plex.

An unkempt bum (Keith Carradine) after witnessing a riot and getting hit in the process, wonders through the streets where he thinks back to his life when he was somebody. When he was a successful singer and bedded Celia (Valentina Vargas, who didn't need to speak to make her part in "The Name of the Rose" to make it highly memorable), a nightclub dancer with a mobster boyfriend. Samuel Fuller's swansong, is interesting, despite Carradine's horrid songs.Not the best Fuller film by a long shot, but still watchable.

My Grade: C-

DVD Extras: commentary with Keith Carridine; a 32 minute Behind the scenes featurette; Text interview; and Theatrical Trailer

Eye Candy: Valentina Vargas shows it all

After having watched a few Fullers, I found this DVD. One must admit that it is partly a wonderful movie, with a feeling of film noir or is it a " blue film" since the lightning is always dark and bluish? On the other hand, the music sounds terrible to my hears, and Carradine's character as a rock star looks incoherent, it blocks all possibilities of identification and empathy. Some "adults" bits are quite acceptable esthetically, namely those which actually happen; however, Mikael's ( Carradine's) fantasies and remembrances about his video clip gave me the impression that I had unconsciously changed channels and was watching a bad quality X movie. I think the bum part of Carradine's role is convincing; the stance Fuller takes at riots and racial issues is more complex than in "China Gate". Ideological issues are difficult to assess since there is theatrical edge to the film, at some point it resembles a musical, which soothes a little the otherwise unbearable violence.

A popular actor/musician who like many genuine rock stars can't keep it inside his trousers, crosses the wrong person and ends up with his throat slit, an injury intended to punish and ruin his career rather than kill. After refusing to name his attacker, he gets up from his hospital bed, and heads for skid row where after an indeterminate time he is framed more or less by accident for the murder of a police officer.

Escaping from custody in a unique fashion he somehow stumbles upon his assailant, who just happens to be involved in a plot to take over the city if not the world, and by a serendipitously circuitous route, justice is served. There is quite a bit more to it than that, none of it any more believable, but it shouldn't take the viewer long to realise this film was never intended to be taken seriously.