This film, usually considered as Becker's masterpiece, is based on police files and court cases in Paris around 1900.
From falling in love to the final tragic outcome, both Signoret and Reggiani play exceptional parts, but for me in a style of performance which today is evidently much dated. Despite the heavy drama of the story-line, one cannot overcome the feeling that one is seeing something extremely quaint in a historical sense; it is as if you are transported to an other-worldliness, so distant it is to film-making today.
For connoisseurs of this genre of European cinema of very bygone days.
You might like to compare with my brief notes on "La Ronde" (1950), also featuring Signoret and Reggiani.
From falling in love to the final tragic outcome, both Signoret and Reggiani play exceptional parts, but for me in a style of performance which today is evidently much dated. Despite the heavy drama of the story-line, one cannot overcome the feeling that one is seeing something extremely quaint in a historical sense; it is as if you are transported to an other-worldliness, so distant it is to film-making today.
For connoisseurs of this genre of European cinema of very bygone days.
You might like to compare with my brief notes on "La Ronde" (1950), also featuring Signoret and Reggiani.