955 Panique

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domino harvey
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Re: 955 Panique

#26 Post by domino harvey » Tue Sep 25, 2018 9:13 pm

Watched my copy of this and didn't care much for it. I thought the film's portrayal of mob violence was ludicrous and too tied to its symbolic post-war meaning. I easily can believe in a world in which the majority of a town could turn on Simon's character. I don't buy a version of the world where literally every occupant of a town, major or minor, does so, and in such a broad, near-farcical fashion (the butcher bribing a young girl to unambiguously lie about molestation in front of others is truly a low point in the film-- I get this is representative of the perceived hypocrisy, but on what plane of existence does this scene play out in the open air of a butcher shop with a half-dozen witnesses who are totes A-OK with it? Gimme a breaksville). Even the most small-minded, self-serving French towns produced Resistance fighters during Occupation... Honestly, I think Lang's Fury is the only mob mentality movie I've seen that registers as plausible, which is probably why it endures so well. Maybe/hopefully I'll like the remake more when I get to it in my Cesar Awards rounds

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tenia
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Re: 955 Panique

#27 Post by tenia » Wed Sep 26, 2018 5:15 am

I never realised that but except Panique, it seems like all the Duvivier movies I preferred are pre-1939 : La belle équipe, Un carnet de bal, Pépé le moko, and most especially La fin du jour, which is by far my favourite Duvivier (while my GF preferred La belle équipe, because of how pessimistic and cynical La fin du jour is).

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NABOB OF NOWHERE
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Re: 955 Panique

#28 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Wed Sep 26, 2018 5:36 am

tenia wrote:
Wed Sep 26, 2018 5:15 am
I never realised that but except Panique, it seems like all the Duvivier movies I preferred are pre-1939 : La belle équipe, Un carnet de bal, Pépé le moko, and most especially La fin du jour, which is by far my favourite Duvivier (while my GF preferred La belle équipe, because of how pessimistic and cynical La fin du jour is).
Surely with that prerogative you could choose almost any Duvivier to not prefer. Did she watch the 'optimistic' version?

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tenia
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Re: 955 Panique

#29 Post by tenia » Wed Sep 26, 2018 6:08 am

We were shown the pessimistic one. We saw it in 2014 at Lyon Lumière festival, so that was the recent Pathé restoration, in which the pessimistic ending has been restored as the default one (the optimistic one is an extra on the video release).

However, I have forgotten a contextual detail about her : she rather disliked La fin du jour because of how pessimistic and cynical it was, but because we watched La belle équipe and La fin du jour back to back, that gave the edge to La belle équipe instead already by sheer comparison. She saw Panique, and it fared inbetween, though she was rather positive towards it. I don't think she saw any other Duvivier.

I would however argue that Voici le temps des assassins is even more pessimistic and cynical than La fin du jour, which, through Michel Simon's character, still shows some lightness. Voici le temps doesn't, it's relentlessly dark about human nature, but as a whole, it also seemed superficial with its characters precisely because of that, to my overall dislike (especially since it's a rather long movie).

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NABOB OF NOWHERE
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Re: 955 Panique

#30 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Wed Sep 26, 2018 7:52 am

I was going to mention Voici le temps as perhaps the bleakest of all Duvivier's work irrespective of the era. However in the later stuff I do quite like L'affaire Maurizius because it balances the pessimism with an air of tragedy

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Rayon Vert
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Re: 955 Panique

#31 Post by Rayon Vert » Wed Sep 26, 2018 9:25 am

Along with Panique, of the post-war work the other (only) one I (really) liked was Pot-Bouille - vivid characterizations and strong acting.

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FrauBlucher
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Re: 955 Panique

#32 Post by FrauBlucher » Tue Nov 13, 2018 10:49 pm


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FrauBlucher
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Re: 955 Panique

#33 Post by FrauBlucher » Sun Dec 23, 2018 10:32 pm


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DarkImbecile
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Re: 955 Panique

#34 Post by DarkImbecile » Sun Dec 23, 2018 10:41 pm

Svet toes right up to the line of declaring the film a parable about liberal media unfairly stoking an ignorant mob to persecute an innocent Trump, but doesn’t quite make it explicit. Classic.

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tenia
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Re: 955 Panique

#35 Post by tenia » Mon Dec 24, 2018 6:38 am

Which is an interesting take since he considers that the ignorant mob is composed of delusional simpletons and conspiracy theorists.

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jsteffe
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Re: 955 Panique

#36 Post by jsteffe » Mon Dec 24, 2018 3:31 pm

I read the review in question and am convinced that this passage is a surrealist language game:
The legitimization of the witch hunt that is chronicled in the film, however, remains critical because the social environment in which it emerges isn't manufactured. Basically, it is a mirror image of an 'open-minded community' that, under very simple conditions, instantly becomes tolerant of external manipulation and intolerant of its own definition of justice. Quite predictably, the individuals leading the witch hunt -- in this case a pack of delusional simpletons and conspiracy theorists -- declare that they are the only ones that can identify the killer and all hell breaks loose.
It is designed to seduce the reader into thinking that she or he can interpret it, but frustrates all attempts to do so.

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Re: 955 Panique

#37 Post by Robespierre » Mon Dec 24, 2018 7:28 pm

I really tried to come up with a translation that makes sense but I got nothing. I don't know why this guy can't just write simple sentences without going too verbose because his reviews are making less and less sense as time goes on. I don't know if at this point he's just intentionally trolling this forum with his nonsensical political ramblings or if whatever he writes actually makes sense to him.

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CSM126
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Re: 955 Panique

#38 Post by CSM126 » Mon Dec 24, 2018 8:11 pm

Or maybe he’s just a pompous ass who thinks using a thesaurus justifies his stupid ”””Doctor”””” honorific.

(Is he a doctor of blurayology?)

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MichaelB
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Re: 955 Panique

#39 Post by MichaelB » Mon Dec 24, 2018 8:17 pm

His doctorate is in musicology.

And English isn’t his native language, which means that I’d normally be inclined to cut him some slack, but since he’s never, ever been wrong about anything ever, I can only assume that every mangled clause is intentional and that us mere mortals are too stupid to grasp his Joycean genius.

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CSM126
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Re: 955 Panique

#40 Post by CSM126 » Mon Dec 24, 2018 8:34 pm

MichaelB wrote:
Mon Dec 24, 2018 8:17 pm
His doctorate is in musicology.
If only they would limit him to music blu ray reviews and let someone coherent handle films.

Also, do doctors just always walk around mentioning they’re a doctor without context? How is a doctorate of musicology relevant on a home video website?

“Excuse me, I’m a doctor!”

“Of medicine?”

“No, law.”

“Sir, this is a hospital.”

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DRW.mov
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Re: 955 Panique

#41 Post by DRW.mov » Wed Dec 26, 2018 3:04 pm

I always picture Svet as Kenneth Mars from What’s Up Doc?

“Get your hands off me, I’m a doctor!”

“Of what?”

“Music.”

“Can you fix a hi-fi?”

“No.”

“Then shut up.”

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knives
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Re: 955 Panique

#42 Post by knives » Tue Aug 13, 2019 3:17 pm

I pretty firmly agree with Domino, but would like to add that the first act just goes on forever. Duvivier makes his point about the nature of M. Hire and the two youths overwhelmingly clear by the thirty minute mark at which point it is already becoming tiring only to continue it on for what feels like the majority of the film. It strikes me as a horrible judgment in pacing.

That said it is pretty enough of a film to be enjoyed as a set of images. The back to back shots of Simon watching through the window like a mannequin and Romance in bed are some of the most effective I've seen this year.

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TMDaines
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Re: 955 Panique

#43 Post by TMDaines » Wed Apr 08, 2020 6:38 am

Loved the subtitling extra on this. Glad that most of my approach to fan subtitles chimes with the thoughts of the professionals!

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RPG
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Re: 955 Panique

#44 Post by RPG » Mon Oct 24, 2022 8:55 am

TMDaines wrote:
Wed Apr 08, 2020 6:38 am
Loved the subtitling extra on this. Glad that most of my approach to fan subtitles chimes with the thoughts of the professionals!
This is one of the all time great extras. So entertaining and informative.

I'm a little surprised at the lukewarm response to this film. Maybe it's just because I love me some Michel Simon, I dunno, but I found this engaging throughout and just a lot of fun to watch. And
SpoilerShow
the end shocked me. Just when you think he's gonna be saved in the nick of time, BAM, he dead. The real villains still get caught, but at the expense of the death of the (kinda-sorta creepy) hero. Went against convention in this type of story, which I liked.
I'd be interested to see the 1989 version of this story. Blanc does seem to play it very differently than Simon.

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