The noirish beauty of "Elevator to the Gallows"

Thats a beautiful poster. About time they re-realeaed this movie cause it was out of print on VHS for a long time. Jeanne Moreau you the definition of beauty. The print was exceptional, Cinema 21 is a nice theater to be showing this movie. Enough, let's get to the movie. Louis Malle was young when he made(of course he was) and made an awesome debut predating even "A Bout De Souffle'"(Jean-Luc Godard's "BReathless", I don't even know why I used the FRench title. I don't speak French but I love the FRench title). The trademarks are their that pushed the FRench New WAve taking a simple noir story and turning it on its ear. Instaed of using jump cuts and camera movements behind the head the protagonist when their driving: Trademarks evident in Godard, but really its not all about him. Let's talk about Malle's style and where he got it from. Malle renders storytelling using close-ups in favor of Robert Bresson, the humanistic quality quos Bresson and using supense storytelling like Hitchcock or Sam Fuller. More on Malle, he is the most forgotten of the FRench New WAve and would never be in that category. While Jacque Rivette, Claude Chabrol, Francois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Eric Rohmer, Alain Renais and Agnes VArda are in that category, no one mentions Malle. It's like the rest are having junior high dance bumpin to "Mystikal", while Louis Malle is playing Magic the gathering by himself on the side of the cafeteria. Or probably that's just me, because he is most provocative of the group. The thing I' ve notice is that he is the only out of the French New Wavers to leave France and do commercial work for Hollywood from"Pretty BAby", to "Crackers"(Featuring a pimp named Boardwalk). The NW film center did a whole festival on him that was touring from the east coast to here to promote "Elevator to the GAllows". It was called "Risk and Reinvention", I like that title, theirs truth to that. He left an impressive resume, but always allowed himself to do a different movie everytime. i saw as much Malle films as I could during that festival. I would later review some on this site. Now back to "Elevator to the Gallows", the story Jeanne Moreau playing a wife of a rich business plotting to kill him and make it look like suicide. With the help of a lover she as an affair with to do the killing. THe execution goes smooth and you think it will a movie about them running and getting into adventures, but instead the plan goes awry ending into one hell of a night. Leaving Jeanne Moreau alone while she looking for lover on the streets and he's actually stuck in an elevator. The story takes on mutiple characters and multiple stories ending in a humanistic ending wiht a little help from Miles Davis. The score alone just makes you love the movie and respect the setting while Moreau is walking the streets all cute and fine!!!!!!!!! I love that girl. Moreau was in another movie by Malle I saw at the festival called "The Lover", the movie was beautiful and featured a setting that would seem cheesy but executed so elegantly by Moreau and Malle. Then check "Madamoseille", that movie will drive you insane. If wanna see Jeanne Moreau and all her cutenes than watch "Touchez Pas Au Grisbi", eng. translation, "Hands Off the Motherf**kin' Loot". (That's my version of it because I love the movie so much that I wish it was called that). Now back to "Elevator to the Gallows", the trademarks that helped established the FRench new Wave that was evident in this movie was the use mise en' scene. I never knew what that meant, but always loved the term and loved it when Godard used. I always wanted to use it and now I can. YEAHH!!!!!!!! Well, I'm not Godard, but to use it in this pretext I always took it as cinema of randomness. The movie turns its story into that concept and allows the atmosphere to flow into the audience. No doubt that it still tells a story, but exemplifies concepts the French New Wave wanted to make. Overall the movie is as close to perfection as perfect can get. I say that all the time, but I just love this movie. We'll miss you Louis Malle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! R.I.P. playa