Événement

Elevator to the Gallows @ Robert Classic French Film Festival

Saturday, March 5, 7:30 p.m.
Elevator to the Gallows/Ascenseur pour l'échafaud
Louis Malle, 1957, 92 min., B&W, 35mm projection source

In his mesmerizing debut feature, 24-year-old director Louis Malle ("Au revoir les enfants," "Atlantic City") brought together the beauty of Jeanne Moreau, the camerawork of Henri Decaë, and a now-legendary score by Miles Davis (whose much anticipated biopic, Don Cheadle's "Miles Ahead," premieres in April). A touchstone of the careers of both its star and director, "Elevator to the Gallows" is a richly atmospheric thriller of murder and mistaken identity unfolding over one restless Parisian night.

Britain's Daily Telegraph writes: "Few debuts come punchier, cooler, and more influential than Louis Malle's 1958 thriller about a Parisian murder plan unravelling, scene by fateful scene. Claude Chabrol's 'Le beau serge,' released later that year, is generally considered the first film of the French New Wave -- why not this? (Malle's) tight, resourceful, location-shot film, composed superbly with natural light by Henri Decaë, and achieving plenty of contemporary zing with its famous Miles Davis score, is a very clear precursor of the work of Godard and Truffaut."

With an introduction and post-film discussion by Renée Hirshfield, adjunct professor of film studies at Southwestern Illinois College.