Gabin And Ventura: A Review Of Kino’s ‘French Noir Collection II’ Part 1

For their second French Noir Collection, Kino Lorber start things things off with a star turn by Jean Gabin, followed by a confusing vehicle for Lino Ventura. More thoughts on Disk 1 below…

Gilles Grangier‘s Rhine Virgin (1953)

Pietr (Claude Vernier) can’t put his finger on where he’s seen Jean Gabin’s stranger before. Just as he’s being turned away by the foreman (Olivier Hussenot), though, an accident creates a job opening on the barge where Pietr works, and Gabin (in need of a ride to Strasbourg) accepts.

Voiceover, while a noir staple, can be tricky and Pietr’s narration, while initially welcome, then keeps going. Rhine Virgin turns it around, though, because it turns out there’s a reason the voiceover goes on for so long, and what initially was becoming annoying becomes genius again.

Rhine Virgin’s clever like that, and once you realise this noir knows what it’s doing (Jacques Sigurd adapted the screenplay from a novel by Pierre Nord), it’s only a matter of enjoying the ride. This film really has it all — revenge, WWII, a femme fatale (Elina Labourdette) who’s up to no good, a spunky and extremely loyal employee (Andrée Clément who’s ready to help without a moment’s hesitation.

Characters know things other characters don’t, but we, as the audience, know all, so get to relish in these loaded interactions. While Pietr starts out as the main character, the film is ultimately handed to Gabin, whose mysterious past will be revealed as the film goes on. There’s nothing flashy about Gabin’s performance. Where others would run, he walks yet it’s such an imposing walk that you never doubt his resolve. A car chase tagged onto the end feels like outside interference — a producer doubting the vision and thinking the film needed action. It doesn’t, but it’s not detrimental either.

Kino’s Blu-ray comes with a commentary by mystery writer Max Allan Collins and Cereal at Midnight podcaster Heath Holland. Collins gets a little fixated on the appearance of the actress (Nadia Gray) who plays Gabin’s love interest, but they talk about the film’s three act structure and question the meaning of the title.

Maurice Labro‘s The Beast Is Loose (1959)

Rhine Virgin would’ve been a tough act to follow for any movie but The Beast Is Loose is confusing, lacks strong female characters, and is the one film from this box set I would give the boot. Paul (Lino Ventura) runs a restaurant with his wife (Nadine Alari) when he’s approached by a fellow (François Chaumette) from his past. This fellow takes him to the boss man (Alfred Adam), who insists Paul help him find this fuel formula that Paul’s buddy, Raymond (Paul Frankeur), allegedly stole. It’s all done in a very shady, mafia way, and yet it’s really unclear who these guys are. Maybe the subtitles are partially to blame. Like, at one point, they started using military terms like “colonel” so I thought they served together, but are they gangsters? Crooked cops? The government (national defense is brought up as well)? Paul gets called a hero, so maybe he was an informant, or undercover, or a spy? The only thing that’s certain is that he had a criminal past, and now he’s being forced to return to that life to potentially betray a friend.

In their commentary for Rhine Virgin, Collins and Holland debated what it means to be a noir, and this film definitely reads more espionage than noir. It’s a film filled with interesting faces, but figuring out who’s working for whom is thankless (and possibly impossible), which in turn makes the betrayals surprising for all the wrong reasons (who are these people again?).

Also, the set design — one character having lavish taste is believable, but it’s a regular epidemic of busy patterns. Wallpapers that clash with upholstery that clash with curtains. I’m all for maximalism, but this is bad maximalism. Still, anyone curious about Ventura (who is a fantastic actor, even if this isn’t his best effort) can learn a lot about him from film critic Simon Abrams in his commentary track.

French Noir Collection II is available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber. Keep an eye out for my review of Disc 2 soon.