Gérard Philippe is, as ever, great to watch and one is constantly reminded of what a great loss it was that he should have died of a heart attack in 1959 at the comparatively young age of 37.
Otherwise, it is a rather pointless and wishful movie that ultimately saps the musician/artist portrayed by Philippe of any sympathy the public might still have for him. The script appears to go all over the place and one is never sure whether the screenwriter actually sat down and thought it through or just typed it all in one sitting. As for the director, René Clair cannot have been too personally involved if he allowed such a shoddy job to be the result.
I love French culture, and French films and music in particular, but I am afraid this is a most disappointing specimen that -- for its sins -- even manages to suffer from pretentiousness.
I must make it clear that my views on this film have nothing to do with the reviews of Leonard Maltin or anyone else. The movie is so poor that even some great visual moments and Philippe's bravura performance cannot rescue it (though they earn it my very kind 6).
Otherwise, it is a rather pointless and wishful movie that ultimately saps the musician/artist portrayed by Philippe of any sympathy the public might still have for him. The script appears to go all over the place and one is never sure whether the screenwriter actually sat down and thought it through or just typed it all in one sitting. As for the director, René Clair cannot have been too personally involved if he allowed such a shoddy job to be the result.
I love French culture, and French films and music in particular, but I am afraid this is a most disappointing specimen that -- for its sins -- even manages to suffer from pretentiousness.
I must make it clear that my views on this film have nothing to do with the reviews of Leonard Maltin or anyone else. The movie is so poor that even some great visual moments and Philippe's bravura performance cannot rescue it (though they earn it my very kind 6).