ReaderKenka
Let's be realistic.
Leoni Haney
Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.
Dr00gle
This film is most certainly worth a watch if you're at all interested in classic film. Highly stylized and full of fun and suspenseful moments, Judex is a jem amongst crime thrillers. There are quite a bit of issues that keep it from being a perfect film though, not the least of which is how dated it is. As some shots and practical effects are less than stellar, almost comical at times. At points as the story goes on you'll likely find yourself thinking "Well that's convenient" or "What, how?". But a lot of that can be chocked up to the already ridiculous nature of the plot, and aren't necessarily due to negligence from the screenwriter.The acting from some characters can be a bit off putting at times as well, but there's enough great performances in there to offset that.However despite its flaws this is a good early film for the genre.
morrison-dylan-fan
Nearing the end of ICM's French film challenge,I started searching for DVDs that I've been meaning to check for ages. Despite getting it after seeing the magnificent Eyes Without A Face,I somehow have not got round to seeing Master of Cinema's double bill from auteur Georges Franju,which led to me deciding to finally witness Franju's first take on Judex.View on the film:Abridging the 12 hour run-time of the 1916 original in their modern adaptation, the screenplay by Jacques Champreux and Francis Lacassin brilliantly keep to the spirit of the films roots,with the ransom demand, the kidnapping of Jacqueline and the end of reel heroic rescue by Judex hitting the frantic atmosphere of classic cinema serials. Keeping close to the pace of a serial, the writers struggle to get out of a disjointed tone,as the plan by the baddies becomes stretched out,and Judex is saved to appearances at the end of acts. Lovingly paying tribute to Feuillade with Silent-movie style fade-ins and a classy dedication, director Georges Franju & cinematographer Marcel Fradetal build upon the Fantasy stylisation of Eyes Without A Face,with the bird mask intro of Judex and the climbing up of walls by him and his gang. Whilst the cast have more alluring costumes, Franju twists his visceral horror of Eyes into the serial origins with the return of a bird cage as a motif, Diana's kidnapping of Jacqueline holding tension on a knife-edge,and an astonishing shot following someone falling to their death.Eyeing another collaboration with Franju, Edith Scob gives an excellent,expressive performance as Jacqueline,whose face gets caught in a wide-eyed state of fear. Creeping around dressed as a nun, Francine Bergé gives an outstanding performance as Diana,who is given a ruthlessness by Bergé which shines each time she pulls a knife out. Swinging into action at every end of act, Channing Pollock gives a dashing performance that keeps the heroic Judex flying in the air.
Dalbert Pringle
The plain and obvious truth is - I just cannot get into French (nor Italian) films from the 1950s & 1960s.Believe me, I've tried my damnedest to learn to appreciate these pictures for what they're supposedly worth, but, time & again, French cinema just bores me something awful. And, I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why so many viewers seem prone to heap piles of praise on these films and give them unreasonably high ratings.If you ask me (considering all of the French films that I've watched in the past year), I'd say that this is certainly one nation of movie-makers who are almost clueless about producing really worthwhile and entertaining motion pictures.1963's Judex (directed by Georges Franju) is exactly the sort of "dullsville" French film-making that I'm ranting about here.Dry, drab and shallow - Judex contained awful violence, terrible acting, idiotic situations, and brain-dead dialogue, all wrapped up in an asinine tale concerning a bunch of bungling criminals who couldn't get the job done right even if their very lives depended upon it.At numerous times throughout its 90-minute running time I came mighty close to turning Judex right off, for good.And, that's that!
Oslo Jargo (Bartok Kinski)
Preposterously inane film directed by Georges Franju, it barely reaches above average. There's no story, it's all just 'action' between the banker, a shadowy Judex, the banker's former governess and the banker's dull daughter. It's got some art leaning which saves it from tedium.It's a homage to Louis Feuillade who is known for the serials Fantômas, Les Vampires and Judex and his films made between 1904 and 1926.Also has an overblown fifty-minute program "Franju le visionnaire" where an overestimated and pretentious Georges Franju's bloats over his films, he even states that he "hates fairy tales because they 'bore' him". Well, I loved them as a kid. Anyone who didn't like fairy tales is a highfaluting snob I think.Still, it's a nice package put together by The Criterion Collection.
