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| Jean
Gabin, Mireille Balin, Gabriel Gabrio, Gilbert Gil, Marcel
Dalio |
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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.1 |
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DTS |
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Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
/ storyboards |
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Multi-angle
feature |
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text
The Algiers police use notorious gangster
Pépé le Moko's Parisian romance as bait to lure him
out of the Casbah and arrest him.
 The
style, setting and theme of French classic Pépé
le Moko were so readily adapted by Hollywood, its influence
in world cinema can hardly be exaggerated. Not only was the film
swiftly followed by a near-verbatim American remake titled Algiers,
but the film's exotic locale, abundanace of eccentric characters
and accent on doomed romance came to full fruition with Casablanca
and the other imitations that were soon to follow. The character
of Pépé himself, played to perfection by the irresistibly
suave Jean Gabin, not only became the template for every other ironically
detached hero in each romantic thriller up to the 1950s, the concept
of the soft-spoken, romantically inclined Pépé character
became such a well-known cultural icon - a cliché even -
that he also served as the basis for Warner's cartoon skunk Pepe
le Pew. |
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Available for Region 1 from the Criterion
Collection. A French Region 2 release carries similar supplements
but (reportedly) an inferior transfer. The Criterion release served
as the basis for this review.
The fullscreen image is framed
at its original aspect ratio of approx. 1.33:1. The transfer is
one of the most variable I have ever seen. In parts, the restored
and cleaned-up print is one of the finest black-and-white DVD presentations
ever, with terrific contrast, abundant detail and a flawless source
print. Unfortunately, the transfer as a whole however is marred
by two major problems: several scenes were damaged beyond repair,
exhibiting scratches, debris and extreme graininess, which makes
for some distracting transitions. Another odd problem is that many
shots are only in focus at the center of the frame, with hugely
blurry edges. The end result was clearly the best possible presentation
spliced together from the surviving materials of very old picture,
but one that remains too distracting to qualify for highest marks
for image quality.
The mono sound mix has been nicely cleaned up, offering a clean
and mostly hiss-free soundtrack without any major distortion.
The supplemental matieral on this
release is handsomely presented and nicely informative about the
production's background, but doesn't quite live up to the high expectations
set by more feature-heavy releases. The most glaring absence is
an audio commentary, which could have shed a lot more light on many
of the film's more incidental pleasures and numerous trivia tidbits
surrounding the production.
What we do find here is an interview with Julien Duvivier
from 1962 French television, investigating the director's methods
and techniques. This ten-minute addition is interesting, but also
dated and rather superficial, not nearly as interesting in any case
as the video comparison between Pépé Le
Moko and its 1938 American remake Algiers, which is almost
a shot-by-shot remake. There is also an essay by film critic
Michael Atkinson included, along with the film's original theatrical
trailer.
The other extras aren't quite as meaty, especially as most are thinned-down
versions of longer material. A collection of excerpts from the TV
documentary Remembering Jean Gabin gives an interesting glimpse
into the life and career of iconic French movie, but does make one
hungry for more. Excerpts have also been included from Ginette Vincendeau's
BFI Classics book on the film. The author's comments are
excellent background material, but would have been preferable as
printed inclusion in the booklet rather than these less convenient
on-screen text pages. Not a bad collection of extras all told, but
not quite up to the Criterion Collection's usual Special Edition
standards. The main menu screen is nicely animated,
with footage from the film playing in a Casbah-style window.
Dan
Hassler-Forest
Reviewed:
2002
Click
here for IMDB info on Pépé
le Moko.
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to return to the front page.
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