Wanting to see as many films by Julien Duvivier, (who has taken the joint top spot with Giallo master Dario Argento in being my number one directors) as possible,I went looking round fan sites for Duvivier's most obscure credits,and an offering with a cast that looked like a devilish dream come true.
The plot-Note: due to this being an anthology,I am going to give each story a separate section.
Story 1/Wraparound story:
Standing out in the priesthood with his "blue" language, Jérôme Chambard goes full-on when he meets an old friend whose become a senior priest,and they (loudly) catch up on old times. Threatened with being thrown out the church, Chambard pledges to learn the Ten Commandments,but the devil has other plans.
Story 2:
Getting stripper Micheline Allan as a piece of arm candy, Françoise Beaufort finds out that she is married,and that her husband is unaware about the type of her "dance" occupation. Receiving a diamond necklace from Beaufort,Allan try's to find a way to wear it under her husbands nose.
Story 3:
Loyally following his religion, Denis Mayeux suffers a loss of faith when his drug addicted sister dies in the arms of big time gangster Garigny. Told that Garigny might (if at all) only serve a short time in jail over assisting to kill his sister, Mayeux begins preying to get his revenge on Garigny.
Story 4:
Appearing in a farming village,a man claims to be God.Finding himself on a farm whose workers have lost all belief in god,God is asked to perform miracles to get them out of darkness.
Story 5:
After believing all his life that Germaine is his mum, Pierre Messager finds out that he is an orphan,and that his real mother is big name actress Clarisse Ardan.Meeting Ardan, Messager soon finds out what effect fame has had on her.
Story 6:
Witnessing all the cash from his workplace get taken by thief Didier Marin right in front of him,a worker decides to turn the tables on Marin.
View on the film:
Bringing in almost every major star of French cinema,co- writer/(along with Henri Jeanson/Pascal Jardin/Maurice Bessy/René Barjavel & Michel Audiard) unleash a spellbinding work more than worthy for the talent on offer.Keeping the devil hissing on the floor,the writers pull the veins from the ten Commandments for pessimistic tales. Loosely linking each commandment to a segment,the writers (who unofficially "borrow" Roald Dahl's "Mrs Bixby" story) finely spilt the stories between jet-black Comedy and merciless Film Noir. Limiting the wraparound to just the beginning and the end, Duvivier superbly makes his auteur Film Noir heart the major thread, whipping the comedic first and second stories with a lush cynical smirk,and the other tales with a deep Film Noir gaze,where any sign of light is masked by the impending fire of a Noir commandment being lit.
Faced with a running time of 2 hours spanning 6 largely self- contained segments,director Julien Duvivier and cinematographer Roger Fellous strikingly link the tales with subtle motifs. Coming to the front of the screen when Mayeux goes biblical on Garigny, Duvivier lines the screen with shimmering rows of shadows,that slowly transform into unrelenting darkness,as the commandment takes hold of the unlucky soul. Offering some hope in the comedic tales with a light score and shiny diamonds, Duvivier tears the optimism down,via blistering the shots of light from the edges.
Breaking the first commandment, Michel Simon gives a hilarious flamboyant performance as Jérôme Chambard,whilst the stylish Danielle Darrieux eats up the screen as Diva Clarisse Ardan,and the wonderful Madeleine Robinson holds on to hope that her son will returning. Appearing from the darkest pits of the movie, Charles Aznavour gives an excellent worn down Film Noir loner performance as Mayeux,who is caught in a struggle with Lino Ventura's hard-nosed gangster Garigny,as Alain Delon gives a playful performance as the unlucky Pierre,as the ten commandments of Julien Duvivier are set in stone.