The plot is simple. Moreau (Jean-Pierre Melville), a French news reporter, is assigned to find out what happened to a French official who was discovered missing from a United Nations vote. Moreau rustles up Delmas (Pierre Grasset), his boozy paparazzo pal, to see if together they can get the scoop before law enforcement or anyone else.
Where to look first? As a courtesan in the film says matter-of-factly: "Cherchez la femme" -- look for the woman.
At his apartment, Delmas has a few photos of the missing man. Taken while the latter was roaming around New York City, in each picture he's accompanied by a different woman. The two "investigators" go around to various venues high and low, seeking answers and trying to locate people of interest (all women): an assistant, a jazz singer, an actress, a dancer, a prostitute, a wife and a daughter. Most of the investigation takes place at night.
Sweeping pans and montages of Manhattan are a joy to see -- compare with the wonderful opening sequence in Woody Allen's Manhattan (1979) -- all set to music that's crackling with jolts of "bright lights, big city" excitement.
Melville's Manhattan, like Allen's, is informed (apparently) as much by imagination and idealized desire as by realism, and so Two Men in Manhattan serves as both a cool social document and a testimony to the artist's eye.
I have two more Melville films to see in order to cover his entire ouvre. He made a baker's dozen in all before dying of a heart attack at age fifty-five.
Today's Rune: Journey.
4 comments:
Look for the woman. Good advice!
Manhattan was always better at night anyway.
Erik, and that woman is wearing the coolest coat!
Hi, Erik!
I think that was the only film that Melville recorded in the US. Of course it is a tribute to the Noir genre, but not exactly a. I was willing to see it again!
Good weekend !!
beijus,
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