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General entries
L′Ascenseur pour l′échafaud 23 October 04
Section: article
Categories: Film / in-a-cinema
It was exciting and a bit strange to finally see this film, whose powerful music I love and know so well.
L′Ascenseur pour l′échafaud (some English titles I have found: Lift to the Scaffold, Lift to the Gallows, and Frantic in the U.S. in 1961) was Malle’s first film, made when he was 24 years old. He made it after assisting Robert Bresson on Un condamné à mort s’est échappé (A Man Escaped) (my entry→).
There are two complementary stories in the film, a murder related to an intense love affair (this, the murder, is where the elevator comes in), and a reckless joy-ride by a very young couple which results in a double murder. For me, the two story threads were way out of balance to an amusing and even endearing degree which betrayed Malle’s youth: the latter story involving the youths was imbued with life, humor and naiveté, while the former, the passionate love affair which I believe was meant to be the foundation of the film, fell rather flat, also to an amusing degree, albeit unintentionally. (Interestingly, the two lovers never appear together in the same shot.)
But… Jeanne Moreau was in the film: her presence was so powerful that it made the many relatively long-lasting shots of her push over the edge into taking on a documentary quality, which I like, though I don’t think it was Malle’s intention, despite his having worked with Bresson. (In this regard, by the way, Jean-Marie Straub also assisted Bresson on Un condamné à mort s’est échappé.)
Title: L′Ascenseur pour l′échafaud
Directed by: Louis Malle
Written by: Louis Malle, Roger Nimier
Based on the novel by: Noël Calef
Starring: Jeanne Moreau, Maurice Ronet, Georges Poujouly, Yori Bertin, Jean Wall, Lino Ventura…
Original music by: Miles Davis
Cinematography by: Henri Decaë
Year: 1957 or 1958
Cinema: Deutsches Filmmuseum, Frankfurt
- Title: L′Ascenseur pour l′échafaud