A small gem, polished to perfection by an unassuming professional. Time Out
(Le feu follet). "Life moves too slowly in me," muses the protagonist of this early Malle work, but the same certainly cannot be said of this film, its fatalistic theme offset by the fire in Malle's direction. Released from a Versailles sanitarium, past-his-prime playboy Alain returns to Paris to search for ex-friends and lovers, hoping to find someone to give him a reason to live, with only old friend Jeanne (Moreau) willing to help. Part Proustian musing on lost love, part Fitzgeraldian treatise on the malaise of the moneyed, The Fire Within paints an acidic portrait of Parisian society. Jason Sanders
Written by Malle, based on a novel by Drieu La Rochelle. Photographed by
Ghislain Cloquet. With Maurice Ronet, Jeanne Moreau, Alexandra Stewart, Lena
Skerla. (107 mins, In French with English subtitles, B&W, 35mm, From Janus/
Criterion Collection)
$5.50
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