Le Crime de Monsieur Lange (1936)
Directed by Jean Renoir

Film Review

Of all Jean Renoir's films, Le Crime de Monsieur Lange is arguably the one that captures the mood of its time most vividly. Whilst it is by no means the director's most accomplished and accessible work, it represents a significant milestone in his career, marking the beginning of his close involvement with left-wing politics and an abrupt departure from the bourgeois concerns that had predominated in much of his earlier work.  An unashamedly pro-Left political comedy, the film tapped into the leftwing fervour that was sweeping France at the time, cheerfully anticipating the Front Populaire's triumph in the country's legislative elections in May 1936.  The film was shot in just 28 days on a modest budget of one million francs.  Following its Paris premiere on 24th January 1936, it was broadly well-received by the critics (even some whose sympathies were towards the right of the political spectrum) and it proved to be a moderate commercial success.

Le Crime de Monsieur Lange was originally to have been directed by Renoir's former assistant, Jacques Becker, from a script provided by the Spanish painter Jean Castanier, who had worked on the set design for Boudu sauvé des eaux (1932). Producer André Halley des Fontaines was not prepared to back the film unless it was directed by an established filmmaker, so Renoir replaced Becker, resulting in a temporary rift between the two men.  Dissatisfied with Castanier's lacklustre screenplay, Renoir invited his friend Jacques Prévert to redraft it.  In making the film, Jean Renoir allied himself with the October Group, a left-wing theatrical troupe that operated on cooperative lines.  Prominent members of the group included the writer Jacques Prévert, the composer Joseph Kosma (who provided the film's musical number), and actors such as Florelle, Sylvie Bataille, Jacques Brunius, Marcel Duhamel and Maurice Baquet, all of whom appeared in the film.

What is perhaps most striking about Le Crime de Monsieur Lange is how unstintingly light and cheerful it is.  There is none of the doomladen introspection that impinged heavily on French cinema towards the end of the decade (Renoir's films included).   Whilst it deals with serious themes (notably the conflict between capitalist and socialist ideology), the film is upbeat and exuberant, reflecting the prevailing mood in France at the time it was made.  Fears that the country would succumb to a Fascist takeover, of the kind that had already happened in neighbouring Germany and Italy, had abated and most of the French people were enthusiastic, if not euphoric, at the creation of a (supposedly) powerful leftwing alliance.  France was basking in the warm glow of a Socialist-Communist spring, oblivious to the dark storm clouds that were beginning to amass just over the horizon.  Within a year, the Popular Front government would be in deep trouble, having failed to come to grips with the country's political and economic problems, and meanwhile Europe was heading inexorably towards outright war.  Le Crime de Monsieur Lange was made in the brief happy interval when, to quote the socialist militant Marceau Pivert, tout est possible.

In keeping with the subject of the film, Le Crime de Monsieur Lange was very much a collaborative venture, and Renoir allowed his actors considerable freedom to improvise.  (In the case of its star Jules Berry this was just as well, since the actor found it impossible to remember his lines and was prone to ad lib virtually everything he said.)  Jacques Prévert was constantly on hand during the filming to assist with any last minute refinements to the dialogue, with the result that the film is as much his as it is Renoir's.  Complemented by some wildly unpredictable camera movements and rough-and-ready editing, the improvisational style of acting gives the film a spontaneity and feeling of naturalistic bonhomie, a sense of what is referred to in France as sur le vif.

Rather than use a real courtyard, Renoir instead chose to have a full-size set built at the Billancourt studio, specifically so that he could have much greater freedom over camera positioning and movement.  As on Boudu sauvé des eaux, Renoir was eager to explore the possibilities of the continuous take and deep focus photography, which allowed for activity in different areas of the field of view to be captured in the same shot.  By switching the focus from the foreground to the background (and vice versa), Renoir could avoid having to make a cut and thereby achieve a far stronger feeling of cohesion and continuity.  This not only emphasises the apparent solidarity among the protagonists as they embark on their cooperative venture, but it also makes them appear complicit in the crime on which we are invited to sit in judgement.

It is interesting to compare Le Crime de Monsieur Lange with the film that Renoir made immediately afterwards in collaboration with various leftwing activists, La Vie est à nous (1936).  Both films are blatant leftwing propaganda pieces that were intended to improve the chances of the Front Populaire in the 1936 elections.   La Vie est à nous may be more vociferous in its anti-bourgeois, anti-capitalist sentiment, but it is less effective in arguing its case (and in any event it was banned because it was deemed to be too overtly political).   Le Crime de Monsieur Lange adopts a far less strident tone and champions the cause of the working class man and woman much more effectively and in a far less Utopian vein.  It is not anti-capitalist as such, but rather militates for a kind of capitalism which properly rewards the efforts of the workers rather than merely benefiting the narrow self-interest of a greedy minority.

Batala - magnificently played by Jules Berry at his villainous best - represents the very worst kind of capitalism, the kind that exploits the workers, defrauds investors, takes foolish risks and contributes little of value to society.  What makes Batala particularly dangerous is his seductive charm (a villain without charm would of course pose no threat at all) - see how easily he cons a newsvendor into giving him money for a taxi ride.  Batala's worst enemy is himself, evidenced by the way he reacts when he suspects the police are on to him (the telegram that sends him into a panic is actually from a retired policeman who is merely looking for a job).  It is greedy speculative vermin like this that caused the 1929 Crash which led to the Great Depression.  Batala is a public menace, and society is best rid of his kind.

By contrast, Monsieur Lange personifies a more benevolent kind of capitalist endeavour, someone who creates the circumstances by which workers can prosper by their initiative and hard work.  Lange is aptly named, L'Ange meaning The Angel in French.  Monsieur Lange is not only an angel in the conventional sense, a virtuous soul who brings only good to his fellow man; he is also an angel of judgement, sent by Divine Providence to bring Batala to account.  Lange's killing of his former employer is not murder but a morally justified execution - the crime is exonerated by the greater social good that will result from the death of a truly bad man.  It is fitting that Lange should be portrayed not as a conventional screen hero but as a rather weak and indecisive dreamer - René Lefèvre was presumably chosen for the part because of his unassuming, everyman persona.  If we condemn Lange's act, do we not also condemn what he represents - a vision of free enterprise where the workers get to taste the fruits of their endeavours?  Lange's real crime is not that he murders Batala, but rather that he squanders his creative talents on pulp fiction of the most execrable kind.  Appropriately, it is by playing the part of the comicbook hero that Lange manages to extricate himself from his penny dreadful scribblings and is able to embrace true artistic freedom, beginning a new life in another country, supported by his one true love.  Yes, while the sun is shining, tout est possible.

Film Synopsis

Amedée Lange is a modest employee at Monsieur Batala's publishing house, which is teetering on the brink of ruin.  In a last ditch attempt to stave of his creditors, Batala decides to publish Lange's fanciful Wild West stories, altering the text to promote the products of his sponsors, such as Ranimax Pills.  When he learns that the police are on to him, Batala decides to cut his losses and goes on the run.  As luck would have it, the train which Batala takes to make good his escape crashes, but he survives.   He fakes is own death by changing clothes with a clergyman.  In the meantime, Batala's former employees have formed a workers' cooperative and the printing firm is soon a thriving business, thanks largely to Lange's "Arizona Jim" stories.  When Batala learns of this, he decides to return from the dead.  Lange is appalled when Batala shows up unexpectedly to take back his business, so appalled that he shoots him dead...