"It's all caused by the elevator"

America 2022-01-12 08:01:24

On February 8, 2007, a rainy afternoon, I watched this long-awaited French New Wave masterpiece.

Taken in 1957, this film is the first film directed by Louis Mahler when he was 24 years old. It incorporates elements of crime, suspense, and horror. The first scene at the beginning of the film caught my eye. A close-up of a woman's face appeared: sad, silently weeping, telling the heartfelt words.

Without making any preparations, it directly led to the incident.

The combination of two clues in the film resulted in two murders by accident. The low-level mistakes of the protagonist at the beginning led to the exposure of the originally perfect plan.

There is a scene in the film that impressed me very deeply: the heroine has not been able to wait for the return of her lover for a long time. She is disappointed and helpless, desperate, and wandering on the bustling street like a walking corpse. The background is accompanied by Miles Davies' sentimental jazz trumpet solo, which embodies the sentiment in the scene, and appropriately brings out the mood of the heroine at the time. Jeane Moreau's performance is in place. This scene is a classic. (French Pavilion at Expo I saw a few screens, a lot of French logo and slogan to be clipped into a film, among them the fragments, I'm impressed!)

The film is one of the highlights is to plan the murder of a couple As the protagonist, he has meticulously portrayed the heart of the criminal, using unexpected factors to cause things to develop in the opposite direction, emphasizing contingency. It also highlights the eternal theme that people who do bad things will be punished, and everything comes to light in the end.

The title of this film is so wonderful, it is the fault of the elevator!

View more about Elevator to the Gallows reviews

Extended Reading
  • Dolores 2022-03-17 09:01:06

    94/100, as the forerunner of the new wave, based on the film noir style, the text arranged with unexpected events is great. We can also see infinite energy and charm, jazz and inner monologue, in the firm steps of Jeanne Moreau in the night, God! Is there a more intoxicating match than this? Top ten choices of film history.

  • Alford 2022-03-25 09:01:15

    This film is the feature film debut of the left bank veteran Louis Mahler, which won the Louis De Luc Award in 1957, starring Jeanne Moreau. The film tells the story of the murder of a husband in a Parisian building that, by countless coincidences, becomes a completely uncontrollable and absurd situation, a brilliantly scripted noir that lavishly uses Miles Davis' jazz is used as a soundtrack to bring out the complex psychological changes of the protagonist.

Elevator to the Gallows quotes

  • Simon Carala: Honestly, my dear Tavernier, you often keep me waiting. During the Indochina War, it didn't matter. What was one defeat more or less? But now you're in big business. This isn't a dream.

  • Simon Carala: I needed a hero in my business.

    Julien Tavernier: A retired hero.

    Simon Carala: This kind of work doesn't call for ragpickers but for angels. A paratrooper is a good angel.