Bordwell / Thompson : Carte Blanche
Le Crime de Monsieur Lange
Jean Renoir, France 1936, René Lefèvre, Florelle, Jules Berry ⁄ B&W ⁄ 79' ⁄ ST - OND: NL
La règle du jeu goes on my list of the top ten masterpieces of world cinema. But Monsieur Lange is a delightful film that should not be overlooked. I have fond memories of David and me teaching it in an introductory film class in the mid-1970s. Now it is virtually forgotten in the USA, where it is no longer available for viewing in any format, apart from short clips on YouTube. Luckily this seems not to be the case in Europe. I was recently able to purchase an imported French DVD and finally see it again. As critic and theorist André Bazin, wrote, “In any case it is, along with the sublime A Day in the Country, one of the most ’charming’ of Renoir’s films." – Kristin Thompson