"Fievre" (
Fever) is a fine silent movie of
Louis Delluc (
14 October 1890 -- 22
March 1924). an Impressionist
French film director, screen writer and film critic.
Delluc was born in
Cadouin in 1890. His family moved to
Paris in 1903. After graduating from the university, he became a literary critic. During the
First World War, he was married to the
Belgian actress
Ève Francis, who acted in many of his films.
In
1917, Delluc began his career in film criticism. He went on to edit
Le Journal du Ciné-club and Cinéa, begin film societies, and direct seven films. He was one of the early Impressionist filmmakers, along with
Abel Gance,
Germaine Dulac,
Marcel L'Herbier, and
Jean Epstein. His films are notable for their focus on ordinary events and the natural setting rather than on adventures and antics. Many of his early film writings for
French newspapers were collected in the volume
Cinema et cie (
1919). He also wrote one of the first books on
Charlie Chaplin (
1921; translated into
English in
1922). Delluc directed his seventh film, L'Inondation (
The Flood), in 1924. Filming took place in very poor weather conditions and Delluc contracted pneumonia. He died in Paris several weeks later, before the film was released. The
Louis Delluc Prize, created in
1937, is named in his honour.
"Fièvre" it is one of his most significant films in which we can see Delluc's previously mentioned talents put to good use. It is a melodramatic story that happens in one of those typical and dangerous harbour bars ( the aristocracy has enough risk drinking the ball's beverages ) , and in which a gallery of misfits will pass an evening that will end up in a tragic way. Two remarkable aspects in this film are Delluc's efficiency displaying in that small and unique décor ( the film includes harbour images and some flashbacks ) such different characters perfectly harmonized in the same sequence and many times, in the same shot. The visuals involving the different stories are skilfully composed. The film is also very well paced with an "in crescendo" film narrative that will have its climax when at the end of the film the bar atmosphere becomes unbreathable ( and not due to non-stop smoking clients
... ) as the resentments, jealousies and thoughts of vengeance build to a feverish pitch among those bar customers. (
Ferdinand von Galitzien)
Director and
Writer Louis Delluc
Ève Francis
Sarah Topinelli (Eve was the real wife of
Deluc)
Edmond Van Daële Militis
Gaston Modot Topinelli
Elena Sagrary L'
Orientale
George Footit L'homme au chapeau
Yvonne Aurel
La femme à la pipe
Resources: wikipedia.org
New soundtrack and dubbing: CinemaHistoryChannel
Music:
Kevin Mac Leod (www.incompetch.com) licensed under
Creative Commons licence http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/ .
Attribution 3.0 Unported (
CC BY 3.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
3.0/
- published: 07 Apr 2013
- views: 12604