Elevator to the Gallows (1958)

 Louis Malle's "Elevator to the Gallows"

There is one thing for certain that every film historian or critic agrees with about Louis Malle's debut directorial effort, 1958's "Elevator to the Gallows:" that its significance and place in film history is far more important that the film itself. The film itself is still an entertaining and engaging watch, mind you. However, what's even more interesting is the film's approach to filmmaking and the varying stylizations and aesthetics that Malle uses to tell his story. 

The story itself plays off American film noir. A man, Julien Tavernier, assassinates his boss with the planning of the victim's wife, Mrs. Carala, as the two of them are secret lovers. However, after getting stuck in an elevator with his car running outside, Mrs. Carala is left waiting at the diner they agreed to meet at. After a street punk and a local flower shop girl steal Julien's car, Mrs. Carala sees them drive by believing that Julien did not complete his task and left her for another woman. Mrs. Carala wanders the streets of Paris in a daze while Julien continues to be stuck in his elevator. While the two young car thieves get involved in a murder that Julien gets blamed for, there is not much anyone can do about the law closing in around all parties. 

What people will probably discuss most about his picture is Miles Davis' incomparable soundtrack. The style of jazz that Davis was playing for the film, modal jazz, was just being developed by Davis, along with contemporary players in the jazz scene. On top of this, Davis improvised the sounds we hear. As Mrs. Carala walks down the street in a malaise, Davis' modal jazz score invigorates the scene with deep melancholy and sadness. This effect was so mesmerizing, many consider Davis' score to be even better than the film itself.

What was just as groundbreaking as the musical accompaniment was the film's position and aesthetic between two disparate filmmaking periods. Firstly, the film aesthetically acts as a film noir in the traditional American standard. It is a pitch black film that demonstrates a level or amorality between all its varying characters. As we watch the film unfold, it becomes readily apparent to the viewer that tragedy awaits them all, as they are digging their own holes to their own demise through their corrupt actions. Its mood, its attitude, its bleak outlook, and its criminal aspect all direct the film into the noir category. However, Malle takes these elements and completely modernizes them through his direction. The new narratives that are introduced, the cinematography, and the editing techniques all point to a more modernist cinema, along with inching its way towards French New Wave. The reason I think people consider this film proto-New Wave is the blend of stark realism that Malle employs accompanied by stylized editing and cinematography. The is a scene of the two young lovers whom have just stolen Julien's car and we ride in the backseat as they nonchalantly play criminals for a day that is shot with the same experimental freedom as Godard's "Breathless." Along with this, there are scenes of Mrs. Carala walking down the streets at night that have a sense of stark realism. This stark realism was achieved through Malle placing the camera in a baby carriage and having is roll down the street as it filmed her. Malle lit Mrs. Carala only using the available light that was emanating from street lights or shop windows. On top of this, Jeanne Moreau, who plays Mrs. Carala, was filmed without the heavy makeup that is traditionally used in cinema, along with the extreme lighting. The lack of extreme lighting, along with the visual realness of Moreau's face creates a visual modernity to the images. This visual modernity, along with the DIY street shooting of the camera, creates this proto-New Wave vibe that revolutionized cinema.

Overall, these elements of the film and the techniques used to capture them are far more engaging, interesting, relevant, and important to cinema itself than the actual storyline of the film. It is certainly not a bad story, by any means. But, it does feel like a story we've all seen before, with sprinkled elements of surprise throughout. The elevator sequences bring to mind Robert Bresson's 1956 film "A Man Escaped." The cold and uncaring amoral behavior of the characters are ripped straight from a Lang film. The anxiety-inducing "accused of the wrong crime" and "crime gone wrong" elements of the film seem to be lifted straight from a Hitchcock classic. All of these storyline elements are inspired by pre-existing cinematic conventions that still make up an engaging and interesting story. But it is the techniques and innovations of the film that many will look back on as a progressive point in cinema history.