More Skies in Paris

Although they are different films, the final scene in Rififi reminds me of the title sequence in The 400 Blows. Shots of the sky, rooftops and monuments in Paris. I love the way this movie opens, the music is so sweet and leads into one of my favorite and poignant stories in cinema.

Ex-Patriot Noir

As I've said before, I love urban location shoots in old movies. A lot of Film Noirs were shot on location in LA. Although Film Noir is primarily an American art form, some Noirs were shot overseas, especially in France. Film Noir was well received by French film critics, it was the French who coined the term "Film Noir"- évidemment. Bob le Flambeur, Elevator to the Gallows and Breathless all have some Noir elements. And as for location shoots, I love the Parisian footage in these films. J'adore. One of the earlier French Film Noirs came about after an American director had ended his career in the US.

Jules Dassin's directing career was put on hold during a ridiculously dark period of American political history.  He was part of the Hollywood Blacklist and was barred from working after he shot Night and the City. A few years later, he was living in Europe and he was given the opportunity to direct Rififi.  At the time Rififi had been in development for a couple of years and Jean-Pierre Melville was going to direct it. I suppose the production team were excited at the chance to have a real American Film Noir director helm the picture. Rififi is gritty, dark and bleak. Dassin only shot at night and on overcast days, no sun shines in the film. There is a thread of betrayal and regret that runs through the story. Dassin was still working through his blacklisting, and the lead actor Jean Servais accepted the part for lower wages after his career had stalled due to his alcoholism.  Dassin loosely adapted a script from the novel Rififi. The story moves and leads up to an awesome 30 minute silent jewel heist. My favorite part of the film is at the end when the mortally wounded Tony (Servais) gets in the car with a little boy and they drive through Paris. The little boy happily tumbles around the car, blood drips down Tony's legs and a useless suitcase of loot bobs around the backseat. As Tony looses consciousness he looks at the sky and we can see the trees and rooftops in Paris. The feeling is frightening but dreamlike.

I found the scene on youtube! Someone recorded it off the Sundance Channel-the end scene starts at 5:43

- Melville supported the choice of Dassin as the director of Rififi. Melville later used some of his work and research he did for Rififi in his awesome movie The Red Circle (Le Cercle Rouge). The Red Circle also includes a silent jewel heist.  In my post about Asphalt Jungle I mentioned the silent jewel heist in there too-

She was breathing deeply, she forgot the cold, the weight of beings, the insane or static life, the long anguish of living or dying. After so many years running from fear, fleeing crazily, uselessly, she was finally coming to a halt. At the same time she seemed to be recovering her roots, and the sap rose anew in her body, which was no longer trembling. Pressing her whole belly against the parapet, leaning toward the wheeling sky, she was only waiting for her pounding heart to settle down, and for the silence to form in her. The last constellations of stars fell in bunches a little lower on the horizon of the desert, and stood motionless. Then, with an unbearable sweetness, the waters of the night began to fill her, submerging the cold, rising gradually to the center of her being, and overflowing wave upon wave to her moaning mouth. A moment later, the whole sky stretched out above her as she lay with her back against the cold earth.

Albert Camus 


image- Édouard Boubat

Some words about Kodak

My brother Brennan, who lives in Japan, came home for a month around the holidays. It was great to see him (it had been three years). We had both studied film and made a lot of projects but we had never worked together. So we decided to make a project while he was home. And we decided we'd shoot on film. I had made a couple of projects that were influenced by Douglas Sirk's melodramas, but I'd shot everything digitally. Sirk's films were shot in Technicolor and he really took advantage of the medium, his films were rich, saturated color. So we decided to shoot a one reel melodrama. We were visiting our parents up in Milwaukee so we had to make sure we had everything do it. I got the Bolex out and cleaned it. I went to Xav Le Plae's Riverwest Film Video and bought a roll of Vision stock. The film was tungsten balanced and since we were shooting outside I needed to find an 85 filter. I used to have some tucked in my camera case but they're long gone. Thankfully North American Camera had some and Bob, the proprietor asked, "Did you just wake up and decide to shoot a film?" We basically did. My friend Heather Vernon took the train up from Chicago to act in our little production. And together with a powder blue dress, we shot some emotive stuff in the park There were some blowing leaves and everything (WOTW). It was a great day and I look forward to seeing our finished product. The roll is in the fridge awaiting processing (an old habit...).
Last month Kodak announced plans to file for bankruptcy. It was sad to hear but not surprising. When I worked at Helix I would get memos from Kodak regarding which products and stocks they were discontinuing. It was tough when they discontinued the slide projector. I never was too interested in a film/video debate. I enjoy and appreciate the facets and practice of shooting on both mediums. I'm planning on shooting my upcoming noir on Super 16 and I know it's going to be super pricy but I want to shoot my noir on film. And I'm happy I still have the option to.

Wardrobe inspiration

Wardrobe inspiration-Jil Sander for Uniqlo, Helmut Lang, Jil Sander, Giorgio Armani, -Kingdom of  Style, an Ungaro pantsuit Melinda thrifted. Still pondering...

Style Within Style

 

While I'm writing a science fiction noir, I need to concentrate on the story and character through-lines, but I am also mulling over aesthetic choices. & both the Noir & Science Fiction genres can be very stylized. I find working within a genre can be helpful because it feels as if there's a compass for your course as a writer. There are components for a style and I am going over them with my own brush. I'm trying to step away from some of the old conventions. Science fiction can be very polished, cold and...masculine. I want the woman protagonist in my film to be warm, approachable. I want the setting to be urban, lived-in and familiar. The characters are professionals so they will be wearing suits but we're going to try to stay away from the 1940s. Melinda Snyder, our wardrobe lady, has some great ideas about where we will go for suits. We're looking towards 1980s and 90s cuts, dark greys. Fun.

Image-Steven Klein Vogue Italia

Distopian Noir

 

 

images- Steven Meisel for Vogue Italia, Blade Runner, Blade Runner, Brazilian cover of Neuromancer, Brazil, Brazil, Alphaville, Theirry Mugler by Helmut Newton