Sunset Blvd
Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Noirsville Bonus - List of French Noir 1931-2016
List of French Noir (by director)
UPDATED December 14, 2020 by Jean Cottraux (additions by Noirsville)
This is a subjective selection of the French noir films belonging to the pre classic period or the classic period with the addition of some transitional noir color movies.
Some suggestions from the “All film noir list” aficionados have been taken in account.
Many forgotten good movies and directors have been added along with three updates.
Jean Renoir
La chienne (1931)
Le crime de Monsieur Lange (1936)
La bête humaine (1938)
The woman on the beach (1947)
Marcel l’Herbier
Le bonheur (1934)
Robert Siodmak
Mister Flow (1936) : a curiosity of Siodmak’s French period : not very good
Pièges (1939)
Sacha Guitry
Le roman d’un Tricheur (1936) : first use in the movie history of the voice over to tell a story
La poison (1951)
La vie d’un honnête homme (1953)
Assassins et voleurs (1957)
Jean Boyer
Circonstances atténuantes (1939)
Julien Duvivier
Pépé le Moko (1936)
Un carnet de Bal (1937)
La fin du jour (1939)
Lydia (1941) : American remake of « Un carnet de bal »
Tales of Manhattan (1942)
Flesh and fantasy (1943)
L’imposteur (1944)
Panique (1947): from Simenon “Monsieur Hire”
Sous le ciel de Paris (1951)
Voici le temps des assassins (1956) : may be the best noir by Duvivier
L’homme à l’imperméable (1957)
Marie-Octobre (1959) : A Resistance movie but noirish in style
Marcel Carné
Le quai de brumes (1938) : Port of shadows
Hôtel du Nord (1938) : from Eugene Dabit
Le jour se lève (1939) : Daybreak
Les portes de la nuit (1946) (music Joseph Kosma : autumn leaves)
Thérèse Raquin (1953) : from Emile Zola
Trois chambres à Manhattan (1965) : from Simenon
Christian-Jaque
L’enfer des anges (1939)
L’assassinat du père Noël (1941) : Who killed Santa Claus ?
Voyage sans espoir (1943)
Un revenant (1946)
Souvenirs perdus (1950) : Lost souvenirs
Louis Daquin
Le voyageur de la Toussaint (1943): from Simenon
Albert Valentin
La vie de plaisir (1944)
Jean Dréville
Copie conforme (1947)
Carlo Rim
L’armoire volante (1948)
Henri Decoin
Entre onze heure et minuit (1948)
La vérité sur bébé Donge (1951)
Razzia sur la chnouf (1955)
Pourquoi viens-tu si tard ? (1958)
Maléfices (1962)
Henri Georges Clouzot
L’assassin habite au 21 (1942)
Le corbeau (1941) : the Raven
Quai des orfèvres (1947)
Le salaire de la peur (1952)
Les diaboliques (1955)
La vérité (1960)
La dame d’onze heures (1948)
Guy Lefranc
Une histoire d’amour (1951)
Jean Delannoy
Obsession (1954)
Maigret tend un piège (1958)
Maigret et l’affaire Saint Fiacre (1959)
Jacques Daniel Norman
120 Rue de La Gare (1946)
Yves Allégret
Dédée d’Anvers (1948)
Une si jolie petite plage (1949)
Manèges (1949)
Claude Autant-Lara
Fric Frac (1939)
L’auberge rouge (1951)
En cas de malheur (1958) : from Simenon
Jean Grémillon
Lumière d’été (1942)
Pattes blanches (1949)
Daniel Gélin
Les dents longues (1952)
Michel Gast
J’irai cracher sur vos tombes (1959) : from a novel by Vernon Sullivan AKA Boris Vian. The depiction of the USA fully lacks of realism, but the story is good
Jean Sacha
Cet homme est dangereux (1953) : Lemmy Caution
Bernard Borderie
La môme vert de gris (1953): Lemmy Caution
Les femmes s’en balançent (1954) : Lemmy Caution
Comment qu’elle est (1960) : Lemmy Caution
Lemmy pour les dames (1962) : Lemmy Caution
A toi de faire mignonne (1963) : Lemmy Caution
Ces dames préfèrent le mambo (1957)
Le gorille vous salue bien (1958)
La valse du gorille (1959)
John Berry
Ça va barder (1955)
Je suis un sentimental (1955)
A tout casser (1968)
Pierre Chevalier
Vous pigez ? (1956): Lemmy Caution
Jean Laviron
Votre dévoué Blake (1954)
Michel Deville
Lucky Jo (1964)
Luis Saslavsky
La neige était sale (1953)
Les louves (1957)
Etienne Périer
Meurtre en 45 tours (1960)
Henri Verneuil
Les amants du Tage (1955)
Des gens sans importances (1956)
Le clan des Siciliens (1959)
Mélodie en sous-sol (1963)
Le corps de mon ennemi (1976)
Peur sur la ville (1975)
I comme Icare (1979)
Gilles Grangier
Gas-oil (1955)
Le rouge est mis (1957)
Meurtre à Montmartre (1957)
Trois jours à vivre (1958)
Le désordre et la nuit (1958)
125 rue Montmartre (1959)
Le cave se rebiffe (1961) : parody
Maigret voit rouge (1963)
José Benazeraf
Le concerto de la peur, la drogue du vice (1963)
Joë Caligula. Du suif chez les dabes (1969)
Gérard Pirès
Fantasia chez les ploucs (1971) from Charles Williams
Victor Merenda
Sursis pour un vivant (1959)
Denys de la Patellière
Retour de manivelle (1957)
André Cayatte
Nous sommes tous des assassins (1952)
Piège pour Cendrillon (1965)
René Clément
Au-delà des grilles (1949) with Jean Gabin and the old port of Genova as background
Plein soleil (1960) from Patricia Highsmith
Le passager de la pluie (1969)
La course du lièvre à travers les champs( 1972)
Georges Franju
La tête contre les murs (1958)
Les yeux sans visage (1960)
Pleins feux sur l’assassin (1961)
Judex (1963)
Jacques Deray
Symphonie pour un massacre (1963)
Borsalino (1970)
Un homme est mort (1972)
Borsalino and Co (1974)
Un papillon sur l’épaule (1978)
Flic story (1975)
On ne meurt que deux fois (1985)
Roger Pigaut
Comptes à rebours (1971)
André Téchiné
Barroco (1976)
Bertrand Tavernier
Coup de Torchon (1981) : from Jim Thompson : « Pop 1280 »
L.267 (1992)
Robert Enrico
Pile ou face (1980)
José Giovanni
Un aller simple (1970)
Dernier domicile connu (1970)
La scoumoune (1972)
Jacques Rouffio
Sept Morts Sur Ordonnance (1975).
Jean Herman
Adieu l’ami (1968)
Jeff (1969)
Claude Miller
Garde à vue (1981)
Mortelle randonnée (1983)
Claude Berri
Tchao Pantin (1983)
Jean Becker
Un nommé la Rocca (1961)
L’été meurtrier (1983)
Robert Hossein
Toi le venin (1959)
Pierre Granier-Deferre
La métamorphose des cloportes (1965)
La horse (1970)
La race des seigneurs (1974)
Adieu Poulet (1975)
Une étrange affaire (1981)
Yves Boisset
Un condé (1970)
Le saut de l’ange (1971)
Le juge Fayard (1977)
Bleu comme l’enfer (1986)
Radio Corbeau (1989) : remake du « Corbeau » de Clouzot
Claude Chabrol
Les cousins (1959)
La femme infidèle (1968)
Que la bête meure (1969)
Le boucher (1970)
Juste avant la nuit (1971)
Le noces rouges (1973)
Les fantômes du chapelier (1981)
Poulet au vinaigre (1985)
L’ivresse du pouvoir (2006)
Bellamy (2008)
François Truffaut
Tirez sur le pianiste (1960) : shoot the pianist. From David Goodis
La sirène du Mississipi (1969): from Cornell Woolrich
La mariée était en noir (1968) : « the bride wore black » from Cornell Woolrich
Vivement Dimanche (1983): from Charles Williams
Jean Luc Godard
A bout de souffle (1960) : Breathless
Alphaville (1965)
Louis Malle
Ascenseur pour l’échafaud (1957) : Elevator to the gallows (Miles Davis music)
Jacques Becker
Touchez pas au Grisbi (1954) : don’t touch the loot (Jean Wiener music : the touch)
Le trou (1960)
Jules Dassin
Du rififi chez les hommes (1955)
Raymond Bernard
Un homme viendra ce soir (1946)
Le septième ciel (1958)
Jean Pierre Melville
Bob le flambeur (1955)
Deux hommes dans Manhattan (1959)
Le doulos (1962)
L’ainé des Ferchaux (1963)
Le deuxième souffle (1966)
Le samouraï (1967)
Le cercle rouge (1970)
Un flic (1970)
Edouard Molinaro
Le dos au mur (1958)
Des femmes disparaissent (1959)
Un témoin dans la ville (1959)
Claude Sautet
Classe tout risques (1960)
L’arme à gauche (1965) from Charles Williams
Marcel Ophüls
Peau de banane (1963)
Alain Corneau
Police Python 357 (1976)
Série noire (1979) based on the novel A Hell of a Woman by Jim Thompson.
Le choix des armes (1981)
Le cousin (1997)
Le deuxième souffle (remake) (2007)
Crime d’amour (2010)
Jean Jacques Beinex
La lune dans le caniveau (1983) : « the moon in the gutter » from David Goodis
Robin Davis
J’ai épousé une ombre (1983) : from Cornell Woolrich
Georges Lautner
Le septième juré (1962)
Les Tontons flingueurs (1963) : parody of “don’t touch the loot”
Mort d’un pourri (1977)
Jean Pierre Mocky
La cité de l’indicible peur (1964)
Solo (1969)
L’albatros (1971)
L’Ibis rouge (1975) from Frederic Brown : Knock: three one two
Noir comme le souvenir (1995)
Claire Devers
Max et Jérémie (1992)
Guillaume Canet
Ne le dis à personne (2006)
Olivier Marchal
36 quai des orfèvres (2004)
Les lyonnais (2011)
Carbone (2017)
Roman Polanski
Lunes de fiel (1992)
The ghost writer (2010)
Paul Verhoeven
Elle (2016)
Costa-Gavras
Compartiment tueurs aka The Sleeping Car Murder (1965)
拳銃は俺のパスポートaka - A Colt is My Passport (1967) Japanese Yakuza Noir
Directed by Takashi Nomura.
Writen by Hideichi Nagahara and Nobuo Yamada and based on the novel by Shinji Fujiwara. The Cinematography by Shigeyoshi Mine, Music by Harumi Ibe.
The cast has Jô Shishido as Shuji Kamimura a professional hitman. Jerry Fujio as his partner Shun Shiozaki. Chitose Kobayashi plays Mina the truckstop motel waitress/cleaning girl. Shoki Fukae as Funaki. Hideaki Esumi as Senzaki a mob boss, Jun Hongo as Kaneko, Akio Miyabe as Miyoshi, Toyoko Takechi as Otatsu, Zenji Yamada as barge captain, Kanjuro Arashi as mob boss Shimazu, Ryōtarō Sugi as Shimazu's successor, Kojiro Kusanagi as a hitman, Takamaru Sasaki as Otawara, Asao Uchida as Tsugawa a neutral mob boss, Zeko Nakamura as apartment building receptionist.
A Spaghetti Western- ish, guitar, base, and whistling soundtrack by Harumi Ibe accompanies the titles. The tale reflects both French New Wave and the popularity of the Italian/Euro Westerns on world cinema which really caught fire after Sergio Leone took Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo, the story of a ronin who played both factions of a town's criminal element against themselves and reimagined it as A Fistful of Dollars. In this story Takashi Nomura takes Leone's tale about rival bounty hunters in For A Few Dollars More and uses its old pro/new pro dynamics in his story about a professional hit man Kamimura and his understudy Shun. You can also see elements of Yojimbo and A Fistful of Dollars i.e. the Nui/Maria story in the barge/waitress/cleaning girl Mina sidebar.
The Story
Kamimura is hired by the Senzaki yakuza clan to assassinate rival boss Shimazu before he leaves Japan in 24 hours to broker a new deal with foreign crime syndicates. The minion gives Kamimura half his fee in advance plus passports and airline tickets for himself and Shun. Shun is Kamimura's protege who does research. and prep work.
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| Jô Shishido as Shuji Kamimura |
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| Jerry Fujio as Shun Shiozaki |
Shun gives Kamimura a breakdown tour of Shimazu's daily routine. He brings him to all the likely hit spots detailing the negatives of each location i.e. The route he travels is in a heavily armored 1960 Dodge Dart Phoenix limousine with bulletproof glass. An exposed skyscraper office also, is protected with bullet proof glass.
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| Kanjuro Arashi as mob boss Shimazu |
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| heavily armored 1960 Dodge Dart Phoenix |
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| Bullet proof windows |
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| Tail Fins |
Shun has their 1965 Datsun Bluebird getaway car engine souped up and instructs the mechanic to add a second brake pedal behind the front seat. It's concealed beneath a floor mat.
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| 1965 Datsun Bluebird |
The only deviation in Shimazu's daily routine is when he meets the next day with Senzaki at his home before his trip. Kamimura takes advantage of that, by posing as a man wishing to rent an apartment overlooking the backyard meeting place.
The from a window using a high powered rifle with a scope and silencer he whacks Shimazu and his bodyguard right in front of Senzaki, to Senzaki's chagrin. While an ambulance and police converge on Senzaki's, Kamimura and Shun make a clean getaway. Senzaki and his crew are hauled off to the police station.
Kamimura and Shun head to a bank and as pre arranged to pick up the rest of the hit money. They stop at an auto salvage yard to dispose of the rifle in a car about to be crushed, then head to the airport to catch their Air France flight.
At the airport, in a bar/lounge they are captured by Shimazu's men who have been staking out all the departing flights. Shimazu's men put Kamimura and Shun into the back seat of their Datsun Bluebird.
The man in the passenger seat leans over the backrest holding a gun on Kamimura and Shun, while the driver heads off at high speed towards Shimazu's headquarters. When he gets a chance, Shun signals to Kamimura and Shun steps on the brakes hard sending the two of Shimazu's men smacking violently into the windshield breaking their necks.
Kamimura and Shun dispose of the bodies by driving the Bluebird off the end of a wharf. They then call their contact man Senzaki's lieutenant Nozaki for new instructions. They are told to go to the truck stop and motel, called the Nagisakan in Yokohama.
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| Checking out the Nahasakan |
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| Dumping the bodies and the Bluebird |
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| Nagasakian Motel |
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| Kamimura and Shun checking in |
Senzaki's men bribe Yokohama yakuza boss Tsugawa into helping them locate the hit men. Tsugawa tips them off. When the Senzaki hit men arrive, Mina the waitress/motel maid who has taken a shine to Kamimura is able to warn them in time. They escape out a back entrance way and bribe a departing truck driver to give the a lift to another motel.
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| Senzaki hit men arrive |
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| Kamimura and Shun at the new hideout Motel |
There at the new motel they get new instructions to catch the ship's tender/water taxi that visits all the ships anchored off shore. With that they can get aboard the next freighter leaving the port.
Another ambush is arranged at the boat launch by the Shimazu gang from more information dropped by Tsugawa. Kamimura and Shun "borrow" a truck to get to the rendezvous and when they get fired upon by the assassin they run him over and knock him and his car into the harbor.
Kamimura and Shun then head back to the Nagisakan Truck Stop. However now the three gangs Senzaki, Shimazu, and Tsugawa have now formed a truce and eliminating Kamimura and Shun is part of the deal. Mina tells Kamimura and Shun that she grew up in a barge family and she can get a barge captain to take them out to a freighter and away from Yokohama.
It all goes Noirsville when Mina returns to the motel to find Shun captured by the new united yakuza gang. Kamimura proposes an exchange. He will meet the gangs for a showdown at the landfill at 7:00 AM tomorrow as soon as they put Mina and Shun on the departing freighter today.
Noirsville
The film is well made with an exciting climax. It's an interesting mashup that works. If you've never seen it you are in for a treat. A fun watch, 8/10.
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