Manon

Summary

A couple years ago Arrow Video released the film Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno. The documentary detailed the struggle that the great director Clouzot had realizing a film that had the potential to be a masterpiece but was derailed and led to Clouzot suffering from a heart attack. I loved that documentary and it sparked an interest in Clouzot’s other films. When I saw that Arrow Films would be releasing an earlier work by Clouzot, Manon, I was happy to view the film. While it is a more minor work, I still enjoyed seeing the techniques used by Clouzot on the film.

As the film begins, a large group of people join a ship at sea. They are Jewish Palestinians seeking passage. The war is over and they hope to reach their homeland. Two extra passengers are discovered in one of the holds of the ship – a man and a woman. When they are interrogated by the captain, their names are discovered. He is Robert Desgrieux (Michel Auclair) and she is Manon Lescaut (Cecile Aubry.) Robert is a fugitive for a murder he had committed. The captain plans to drop them off to the authorities in Alexandria. As they begin to explain their story to the captain the film flashes back. In war time, Robert fought alongside the Americans. The beautiful teenager Manon was accused of cavorting with the Germans at her mother’s bistro. Robert and his supervisor interrupt the townspeople who plan to shave off her blonde locks, tar, and feather her. They take her to be held until she can receive a fair trial. She woos Robert while she is in his ward. He helps her to escape at the risk of receiving punishment. He would receive a stiff punishment, but bombs go off in the town and he desserts the army. Fleeing to the city where her brother Leon lives, Robert marries Manon. Robert can not get the nice things that Manon desires, and Leon wants her to get money from the slovenly and wealthy Paul. Paul offers a job to Robert so that he may sleep with Manon while Robert is away for work. When Robert finds out, he strikes Paul in anger. They move and Manon gets a job as a model. She secretly gets a job as a prostitute for a madam. The relationship continues in this manner until the murder occurs that Robert and Manon were fleeing at the beginning of the film.

Manon is a beguiling film. It is an adaptation of a classic French novel by Abbe Prevost named Manon Lescaut. Having never read the novel, I am not in the best position to judge the work put into the adaptation. I did find it interesting that Clouzot set the film during the Second World War and also added in the plight of Palestinian Jews into the film. This decision seemed to annoy another reviewer that I read, but I could only judge the film by what I saw. For myself, there are some really great aspects of the film and some aspects that would not make it particularly likely that I would revisit the film.

The finer aspects of the film start with the direction itself. Clouzot was an immensely talented director and could draw powerful performances from those that worked with him. He employed his trusted cinematographer Armand Thirard and the imagery in the film is definitely striking. The performances in the film are also well appointed. Cecile Aubry is beautiful and perfect in the role of Manon. She is incredibly sexy and makes it believable that someone would be willing to forgive her for all of her transgressions despite her obvious selfishness and vanity. Michel Auclair is great in the role of Robert. The finale of the film brings him to an emotional crescendo that may have been laughable in another actor’s hands. Serge Reggiani is always a welcome addition to any film and he does great work as the vile Paul.

The problems I experienced with the film are based largely in my difficulty in watching somebody continue to wallow in a terrible relationship. Anybody that has ever been in a terrible relationship will find themselves unable to stop rolling their eyes as Robert falls prey to Manon’s selfishness repeatedly. Maybe it just hits too close to home for those of us who have been through similar drama? Unfortunately, that aspect may be too infuriating to make this film something that I would revisit any time soon. The other aspect that may lead other viewers to grow upset is the ending of the film that I will not spoil here, but I can see viewers having very different readings on the finale.

Overall – I enjoyed Manon, but I don’t see myself returning to the film in the near future.

Video

The transfer provided by Arrow Films looked pretty good to my eyes despite some minor issues. Here is what the booklet details:

“Manon is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1 with 1.0 mono audio. The master was prepared in High Definition by Les Films du Jeudi and delivered to Arrow Films.”

The video transfer for much of the film is of a very high quality. Unfortunately, there are some moments where the quality dips. I can;t say for certain, but these momentary lapses in quality seem to be when the film must rely on a secondary source based on print damage of the primary source. Overall – I think fans will be incredibly pleased by how lush most of the presentation looks due to the beautiful black and white cinematography by Armand Thirard.

Audio

The LPCM Mono track that Arrow provided sounds good. Dialogue is clear and the score for the film works. This is very dialogue driven but the score comes through nicely during the more dramatic scenes. Range is limited but fans should enjoy the track.

Supplements

• Bibliotechque de poche: H.G. Clouzot – this archival documentary features Clouzot in discussions primarily about literature. Fans of the director will definitely find this piece of interest.
• Woman in the Dunes – critic Geoff Andrews discusses Clouzot and Manon.
• Image Gallery

Overall Scores:

Video – 4/5 

Audio – 4/5

Supplements – 3/5

Overall – 3.5/5

Manon is a good, but frustrating, film by the exceptional director Henri-George Clouzot. Featuring strong performances and beautiful cinematography, there is a lot to like about the film. On the other hand, the relationship between Robert and Manon is so exhausting that I am not likely to revisit it in the near future. Arrow Academy has provided a  good looking transfer and a couple solid supplements. Recommended for fans of the film.