La banque Nemo

"La Banque Nemo", is a genuine forgotten gem René Chateau gave everybody access to. Thanks for that, René !

The basis of Marguerite Viel's biting comedy is the Louis Verneuil play of the same title. Lucid, relevant, caustic, committed , brilliant (whether it concerns characters, situations, dialogues or comic devices), the play is very well transposed to the screen by Marguerite Viel, a creative filmmaker, unsurprisingly blamed by lazy minds for sticking too much to its theatrical source. The usual parrots just fail to notice all the dynamism that she has put in her film as well as her cinematic ideas (especially in the first part). Sorry, but this is not mere filmed theater! And what an actor director she proves: Victor Boucher 's performance is surprisingly modern and René Bergeron excels in the role of a grumbling mediocre bank clerk who can show, as in the last part of the story, a singular courage. With his scowling face, his endless nose and his sad mustache, he composes an anthology Larnoy. The women, on the other hand, are more subjected to the standards of the time, but both Mona Goya (very piquant) and Alice Tissot (a plain-looking pleasure-seeker) manage to amuse us.

The censors of the time (1934, the year of all dangers for democracy) did not appreciate this virulent denunciation of financial scandals, of crooked business and of its collusion with politicians (remember the amazing sequence of the cabinet meeting, not far from Bunuel's "The Exterminating Angel"). Quite understandable from their point of view, wasn't all that (and isn't it still) too close to reality? I am afraid it is. At any rate, the film's "moral lesson", "When you steal a handkerchief you are sent to prison, when you steal 100 millions, the theft is legitimate" is valid at any time of history, and particularly these days; just remember the 2008 crisis, when the banks, responsible for the said crisis, were bailed out with the money of the taxpayer! Were the irresponsible speculators sent to jail? No, rather the whistleblowers!

By cutting the council of ministers sequence, the censorship commission members shattered the exploitation of the film and sent the director back to anonymity (what a feat !) but did they really clear the bad citizens targeted by "La Banque Nemo"? Of course not. You can't solve a problem by denying it.

A last remark in passing, Viel and Verneuil have the courage not to attack the Jews, as was customary at the time. Congrats to them.

"La Banque Nemo, A hithorto forgotten landmark in film history that will not remain forgotten. Justice is done.

One of the very few movies of the thirties which was directed by a woman ;but like Marie Epstein for "La Maternelle" (1932) which was made by a co-director ,"La Banque Nemo" was supervised by Jean Choux (who directed "Un Chien Qui Rapporte).A woman was not to be trusted in those years when they did not even vote in France.

Based on a play ,"La Banque Nemo" does not look like filmed stage production though;it's a pleasant ,and thoroughly immoral (mainly for the time) story.

A street vendor meets an army pal , a cashier in the bank Nemo (a nod to Verne's captain ,"nemo" means "nobody" or "anonym") and his lovely lover .It's not long before this would be friend steals the job and the girl ;but he does not want to be a simple clerk ;with a little help from his mistress,and the involuntary support of the ugly wife of the boss (Alice Tissot)with whom he reluctantly sleeps,he climbs the career ladder quickly and becomes the senior banking executive.While the boss is away,he multiplies the swindles,protected by members of the government.The ending was unusual for the time,for the villain is rewarded ,taking it all,and his former friend,who tries to unmask him ,is arrested one more time after spending several months in jail.

Probably because of its hints at the Stavisky affair,the movie ran into difficulties with the censorship;its "happy end" was also rather risqué;the scene of the Cabinet meeting does not spare the politicians ;and the hero's hypocrisy and cynicism are incredible!

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Stavisky ,Alain Resnais ,1974