The Crime of Monsieur Lange (1936)

Jean Renoir's "The Crime of Monsieur Lange"

In 1936, Jean Renoir was approached by the Communist party asking him to make a film denouncing fascism. Renoir was quick to take the opportunity as the political climate of Europe was starting to become more acquainted with fascist ideologies. In regards to his reasons for making the film, Renoir stated, "I believed that every honest man owed it to himself to resist Nazism. I am a filmmaker, and this is the only way in which I could play a part in the battle." The film enacts Renoir's vision of a world built by the community - rather than ruled by one alone. 

The film is rife with political context of France in 1936. The Popular Front, a left-wing political movement founded that year, was a reaction to the rising right-wing authoritarianism presented by the German Nazis. The purpose of the movement was social reform which included workers' rights against capitalists' control over enterprise. This anti-fascist organization won the general elections in France and ushered in a new hope for the country becoming a socialist state. Due to this increased socialist and anti-fascist sentiments felt throughout the country, filmmakers like Renoir would find their ways to contribute. 

The Crime of Monsieur Lange follows the events of Mr. Lange, a mild-mannered author who writes Westerns for a publishing company.  The publishing company's owner, Batala, in an unlikable man who takes advantage of all his employees. He steals from them, sexually harasses them, and even places obvious ads in Lange's stories - effectively ruining their artist merit (something that probably felt appalling to an artist like Renoir). Batala seems to represent the authoritarian and/or evil capitalist in the political context of the film. When everyone believes that Batala dies in an train accident, they decide to form a cooperative. After forming it, things really start to open up for all of the characters - they become happier and their business flourishes. 

One way in which Renoir visually demonstrates this transition is through his use of space in the story. At the beginning when Batala is egotistically desaturating the life of his employees and his business, Renoir uses tight and complex spaces for the characters to navigate. The visual congestion creates a sense of feeling trapped and uncomfortable. However, after forming the cooperative, the visual spaces really start to open up. There is even a scene in which Lange opens up a bolted-up window to allow light and fresh air into the room. Renoir's use of space plays into the comfortability of the characters to be their freer selves in their story. 

At the end of the film, however, it is learned that Batala escaped the train accident and has made his way back to the business. Due to the contract Lange signed earlier in the film, the roaring financial success of his Western stories that took off when forming the collective are still in the hands of Batala, who threatens to take it all from him. Rather than having this happen and ruin everything the publishing company had worked so hard for, Lange kills Batala and flees. This element of the story may seem like Renoir's realistic look at the current political climate. Perhaps he felt that the only way to secure this future was to kill the authoritarian oppressors standing in the way. Or perhaps this final dark tone of the film is Renoir realizing that this way of thinking is all a dream, and that the only way to kill this oppression for good is in the dramas of the film screen. 

The character of Lange is often described by the people around him as a dreamer - and that's exactly what this film is. Renoir's dream scenario for a new political France, a story about a cooperative business flourishing due to the death of the capitalistic and authoritarian figurehead. The last image of this piece give us hope for the future. Even if Lange is now a murderer and a criminal, he and his love interest Valentine are able to walk off in the sunset. This shot demonstrates Renoir's final use of space - as the two lovers now have all the space in the world, away from those who wish to oppress them.