Die Millionen eines Gehetzten (1963)
5KDie Millionen eines Gehetzten: Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. With Jean-Paul Belmondo, Charles Vanel, Michèle Mercier, Malvina Silberberg. Broke French ex-paratrooper turned amateur boxer Michel Maudet becomes bodyguard for the fugitive corrupt banker Ferchaux.
“Even though I have always enjoyed Melvilleu0026#39;s films, I had never heard of u0026quot;Lu0026#39;Aine des Ferchauxu0026quot; until it was on TCM this past week. Iu0026#39;m bowled over. It was amazing!u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe American title is u0026quot;Magnet of Doom.u0026quot; Before I saw the film, I thought, u0026quot;This is the best movie title ever. Thereu0026#39;s no way the film can live up to it. And not only does it live up to it, but it exceeds it in every way!u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDown and out boxer Jean-Paul Belmondo is hired to drive a disgraced, on-the-run, banker Charles Vanel across the backroads of the US, from NYC to New Orleans, in Kennedy-era 1962, kind of like a proto-u0026quot;Green Booku0026quot;… except u0026quot;The Green Booku0026quot; sucks and u0026quot;Lu0026#39;Aine des Ferchauxu0026quot; is amazing!u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI loved seeing the cold/stoic characters of French Film Noir thrown into the over-the-top world thatu0026#39;s also occupied by American films like u0026quot;Cool Hand Luke,u0026quot; u0026quot;Midnight Cowboy,u0026quot; u0026quot;Easy Rider,u0026quot; Tennessee Williams, and even u0026quot;Hurry, Sundown.u0026quot; Itu0026#39;s film noir, itu0026#39;s a road trip, and itu0026#39;s also a fantastic widescreen/color travelogue of JFK-era US in 1962. Belmondo even visits Sinatrau0026#39;s home in Hoboken, and he brawls with toughs in a diner, like Rock Hudson does in u0026quot;Giant.u0026quot; Much of the dialogue is in English, too.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eEuropean directors sometimes pick up on little nuances of Americana that American filmmakers miss. Here, Iu0026#39;m thinking of this film, but also of Wim Wendersu0026#39; u0026quot;Paris, Texas.u0026quot; This film is full of small details that only a European outsider would notice (Melville is definitely fetishizing Chevrolets, roadside motels, lady hitchhikers, and American rock and roll), plus a few comedic set-pieces that seem to be right out of David Lynch or John Waters.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe score by Georges Delerue is excellent, and it stays in your head, long after the film is over.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis film is sometimes left out of Melville retrospectives, because itu0026#39;s less somber than some of his other films, and I guess Melville purists donu0026#39;t like it. I enjoy the directoru0026#39;s other movies, but I also really liked this one a lot. Entertaining and fun, from beginning to end.”
