Pépé le Moko – Im Dunkel von Algier (1937)

Pépé le Moko – Im Dunkel von Algier: Directed by Julien Duvivier. With Jean Gabin, Gabriel Gabrio, Saturnin Fabre, Fernand Charpin. A wanted gangster is both king and prisoner of the Casbah. He is protected from arrest by his friends, but is torn by his desire for freedom outside. A visiting Parisian beauty may just tempt his fate.

“Some say Renoir.Some say Carné.Some say Clouzot.Some will say..yuk ..Godard..u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI say Duvivier.His career spans half a century,from the silent era to the sixties,full of detours and retreats.But when he broke through -and his epiphanies were many and various, (there are masterpieces all along his career;never until the very end he produced anything mediocre)he made brilliant films.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut those precious years just before WW2 were justly looked upon as the best French cinema that had ever been.And Duvivier was among the creme de la creme ,producing during this golden era a chef-du0026#39;oeuvre a year (la belle equipe:1936;la fin du jour:1939).But 1937 was Duvivieru0026#39;s year:he made not one but two classics :u0026quot;un carnet de balu0026quot; and u0026quot;Pepe le Mokou0026quot; both rated four stars by Leonard Maltin.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Pepe le Mokou0026quot; u0026#39;s screenplay is so simple itu0026#39;s a wonder Duvivier could make such a masterwork from such a script.More than the story itself,itu0026#39;s the atmosphere which matters ,and a bevy of colorful characters surrounding the hero,played by the directoru0026#39;s favorite actor Jean Gabin :one often forgets that itu0026#39;s Duvivier who launched Gabin,the most famous French star of the era (and maybe of all time)in such works as u0026quot;la banderau0026quot; (1935)and u0026quot;la belle equipeu0026quot; (1936).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Pepe u0026quot; takes place in Algiers ,in some kind of ghettou0026quot; la casbahu0026quot; .the hero is a gangster who reigns in this underground world ,but we soon discover he is actually a prisoner:a cop,like a spider on its web, is waiting for him to leave his refuge to arrest him.Duvivieru0026#39;s camera work is dazzling ,using panoramic shots which depicts la casbah as a maze ;when Pepe finally leaves the place ,the background behind him becomes blurred ,then merges with the sea,the gate of freedom.More than a gangster story ,itu0026#39;s a tale of nostalgia.Pepe falls in love with a woman (Mireille Balin) u0026quot;from the outside worldu0026quot; while talking with her about different places in Paris,ending with la place blanche where they both belong.There u0026#39;s the harrowing sequence where a has-been chanteuse (Frehel) plays one of her records on a gramophone ,thinks of her glorious past,and sings the chorus with her youthu0026#39;s voice as her tears fall down.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThere are also exciting film noir sequences:the informer (Charpin) ,more and more terrified ,as the room fills with men ready to kill him;his death against a player piano ;Pepe behind the gates in the harbor.All the final scenes had probably a strong influence on Carol Reedu0026#39;s u0026quot;odd man outu0026quot; (1947)u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eRemade as u0026quot;Algiersu0026quot; by John Cromwell(1938) ,Charles Boyer taking on Gabinu0026#39;s part.”