Ray Pride

Naughty and overheated, the restoration of Henri-Georges Clouzot's 1946 "Quai des Orfévres" is a sweet marvel. Bernard Blier (father of director Bertrand) plays Maurice, a mousy, balding pianist who lives in constant fear of cuckolding. His wife, who uses the stage name Jenny Lamour, is played by Suzy Delair, simply vulgar and sweating her desperation to rise above her dirty past. She clutches at any possible success, including posing for nudie photos for her friend Dora (Simone, whose quiet sophistication offsets Delair's clutching grubbiness). In the nightclubs, older men seek her attention. She wants the roles; she wants the opportunities. (They might just want a little leg.) Clouzot is pitiless about the troubles the characters cause themselves, telling lies, making excuses, and fabricating unnecessary alibis. All of the film's many characters have an incredibly dense life, with conflict arising from friendships, conflicts, desires, lies. The plot machinations, coming from the director of "Le Corbeau," are a hall of mirrors, particularly after the appearance of the great Louis Jouvet as a cheerfully twisted inspector. The exquisite noir lighting and location work suggest a kind of realism, which Clouzot constantly subverts with near-deranged expressionist elements. To watch Blier staggering down an alley in this film is to recognize the limits of color film. (The title refers to the street where the story's police station and hive of interrogations is located.)

"Quai des Orfévres" opens Friday for a week at the Music Box.

(2002-12-26)

Also by Ray Pride

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What's the smart moviegoer--or the smart filmmaker--to do? Wait for Christmas, it seems, when Hollywood's finally unembarrassed about actually having people with taste in its midst.
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Tip of the Week
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The J-Lo Show
While Wayne Wang doesn't do for Lopez what Steven Soderbergh did in "Out of Sight," the often-indie Hong Kong-born veteran still brings an unlikely combination of romance and working-class verisimilitude to what could have been just another "Pretty Woman" wannabe.
(2002-12-12)

Tip of the Week
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DVD Tip of the Week
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Time regained
(2002-12-04)

My Big Fat Night
(2002-12-04)

Turn into the slide
(2002-11-26)

Perfectly mediocre
(2002-11-20)

Tip of the Week
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Imitation of Life
(2002-11-13)

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