After being mesmerised by The She-Wolves,I took a look at the credits of Jeanne Moreau's 3 other 1957 films. Finding his collaborations with auteur co- writer/director, and most often the star, Robert Hossein to be magnificent, I was excited to see Frédéric Dard team-up with Moreau, (for this non-Hossein title) which led to me meeting Monsieur Steve.
View on the film:
Looking incredibly uncomfortable in his own skin, Philippe Lemaire gives a pitch-perfect performance as meek Villard,a Film Noir loner with such a weak spine he folds in from the merest shake of Steve's fists,and a lone kiss from Florence. Backed by Lino Ventura's blunt "heavy" Denis, Armand Mestral is gives a wicked, dastardly performance as Steve, who Mestral has strong-arm Villard into following all his orders with strong-arm charms. Tangling Villard up with Steve,Jeanne Moreau gives a seductive twist as Femme Fatale Florence, via Moreau making each chance she gives Villard to get closer,being an underhanded way to trap him in Florence's web.
For their adaptation of Marcel Prêtre's novel, writers Raymond Bailly and Frédéric Dard criss-cross genres in a transfixing style, as Florence and Villard's first encounter has the spark of a light comedy, which bubbles up to a break-neck heist that Villard is placed at the centre of the planning, until it fizzes out into Villard's tense attempt to change his Steve and Florence cards. Gripping onto a theme cast across Dard's Noir's, the writers sharply play the ambiguity in Florence's "romance" with Villard, that turns from an initial burst of passion to a simmering sinister atmosphere. Casting Philippe-Gérard's silk Jazz score over the film, Bailly & cinematographer Jacques "The Rules of the Game" Lemare subtly squeeze Villard into the corner of the screen, and drill the Film Noir tension with a thrilling heist set-piece, where Villard has to follow the orders of Monsieur Steve.
View on the film:
Looking incredibly uncomfortable in his own skin, Philippe Lemaire gives a pitch-perfect performance as meek Villard,a Film Noir loner with such a weak spine he folds in from the merest shake of Steve's fists,and a lone kiss from Florence. Backed by Lino Ventura's blunt "heavy" Denis, Armand Mestral is gives a wicked, dastardly performance as Steve, who Mestral has strong-arm Villard into following all his orders with strong-arm charms. Tangling Villard up with Steve,Jeanne Moreau gives a seductive twist as Femme Fatale Florence, via Moreau making each chance she gives Villard to get closer,being an underhanded way to trap him in Florence's web.
For their adaptation of Marcel Prêtre's novel, writers Raymond Bailly and Frédéric Dard criss-cross genres in a transfixing style, as Florence and Villard's first encounter has the spark of a light comedy, which bubbles up to a break-neck heist that Villard is placed at the centre of the planning, until it fizzes out into Villard's tense attempt to change his Steve and Florence cards. Gripping onto a theme cast across Dard's Noir's, the writers sharply play the ambiguity in Florence's "romance" with Villard, that turns from an initial burst of passion to a simmering sinister atmosphere. Casting Philippe-Gérard's silk Jazz score over the film, Bailly & cinematographer Jacques "The Rules of the Game" Lemare subtly squeeze Villard into the corner of the screen, and drill the Film Noir tension with a thrilling heist set-piece, where Villard has to follow the orders of Monsieur Steve.