Film Noir must
be one of cinema’s most idiomatic genres. The name alone conjures up images of
the femme fatales, cynical detectives and hardened criminals, inhabiting a world
both equally stylish and gritty. Part of noir’s attraction lies in its raw darkness.
But we are also drawn to its sinister elegance, to the sharp writing, smart
dialogue and tightly constructed plots as best displayed in gems such as Double Indemnity (1944), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), The Big Heat (1953), Sweet Smell of Success (1957) and Touch of Evil (1958).
However noir was not an exclusively American domain. France for instance contributed a number of masterpieces, including 1958’s Ascenseur pour l’echafaud (Lift to the Scaffold). In many ways Ascenseur retains the classic tropes of a noir film. The femme fatale, the unsavoury murders, even the incomparably cool soundtrack of Miles Davis all contribute to this film’s obvious designation as noir. Yet in one respect it breaks from all its predecessors. For this is a film centered on the perfect murder, planned down to every last, minute detail. But instead of exploring what takes place after the crime, as in Double Indemnity or The Postman Always Rings Twice, Ascenseur instead considers the perfect murder gone wrong. It is this rejection of noir’s carefully constructed narratives which makes Ascenseur so radical.
The film begins as a routine noir creation, the male protagonist speaking to his adulterous lover on the phone, seeking resolve before murdering her husband. The protagonist, Julien Tavernier, then climbs into this man’s office and murders him, before arranging the scene to resemble a suicide. Climbing back down and confident that his plan will succeed, he is about to drive off and meet his lover, Florence Carala. Unfortunately he notices that he has left the rope he used to climb in dangling alongside the building. So he decides to run inside and retrieve it. But once in the lift the power to the entire building is switched off (as the staff have all left), trapping him within. Julien’s entire plan has stalled. So what happens now?
Noir is a style associated with excitement and thrill, brimming with immorality and murder. Yet what does Julien do for the majority of the film? He remains trapped in a lift, making several vain attempts to escape. This is hardly the stuff to keep audiences on the edge of their seats and yet it is a vital component of the film’s plot. So why would director Louis Malle incorporate such a tedious story? He doesn’t just show Tavernier being trapped in the lift as the power goes off, he returns to his predicament repeatedly throughout the film. Is this just lazy writing? I believe however that there is a good reason why Malle decided to trap his protagonist in a lift, to which I shall return later.
With Julien trapped the entire narrative explodes. Just as his perfect plan has faltered so does the delicately constructed noir plot. While Julien sits in darkness his lover Florence wanders the streets of Paris, convinced that she has been abandoned. Earlier she saw his car drive off with a man and woman inside. However the driver was actually criminal delinquent Louis, with his girlfriend Veronique. Louis had seen the keys in Julien’s open-top car and eagerly seized the opportunity to steal it. He and Veronique drive into the countryside and the plot increasingly focuses on their escapades. As this unfolds we the audience are left confused. We understand that Julien and Florence are important as there are still shots and scenes of them interspersed throughout the tale of the young couple. But they do nothing. Julien remains trapped in his lift while Florence dawdles down the boulevards, inquiring after him in bars and cafes. We wonder ‘where is this film taking us’?
This seeming loss of plot makes Ascenseur unique. Why does Malle allow his creation to swerve so dramatically off the path of contemporary film-making? I believe that he is making a comment on cinema of the era. The late 1950’s witnessed the emergence of a new realism in film, as exemplified by the Kitchen Sink dramas of Britain and the Nouvelle Vague in France. Directors across Europe sought to portray life in all its grittiness. Up to this point cinema had generally avoided depicting the ugly brutalities of life, instead conjuring up escapist fantasies for the masses to indulge in. The Neorealist films of late-1940’s and early-1950’s Italy had been among the first to show the harshness of life for the poor and destitute. By 1958 it was clear tastes were changing and the escapism so beloved in previous decades was becoming dated. Film Noir might have superficially appeared gritty, with its avaricious, twisted characters and ruthless killings, but beneath the grime it too was very much an escapist fantasy, albeit of a darker variety. Femme fatales always resembled goddesses, clad in the latest fashions and coated in make-up. Stories were fast-paced and exciting, characters being required to act quickly in the face of danger. This was what audiences wanted. And Malle begins his film in the conventional way. Florence and Julien murmur lovingly on the phone, cooing and whispering their dreams for the future. Then Julien murders his boss, the atmosphere soaked in nail-biting tension. But then he sits in a lift. Florence wanders Paris. And a couple only tenuously connected to the plot drive off into the country and stay in a motel. Though Louis does commit a double murder in the course of the night, that scene is an anomaly. The bulk of the film is frankly dull. Just as the majority of life is too. In life we often are bored, and even our best-laid plans are undone. No-one ever plans to be trapped in a lift and yet it still happens. It is this recognition of the chaos and anarchy of life that makes Ascenseur such an innovative film. Ascenseur is not afraid to alienate its audience, a concept brought to maturity two years later by Hitchcock in Psycho, featuring the protagonist’s murder. Ascenseur is a noir that understands that life doesn’t go according to plan.
The lift has an important symbolic role also, representing Tavernier’s emotional state. Traditionally in noir a character’s fear and guilt was expressed via the external world. Even if not being hunted down by the police then the suspicions of others created a claustrophobic atmosphere of apprehension. While Phyllis Dietrichson in Double Indemnity says ‘I can’t stand it anymore, what if they hang me?’, Ascenseur opts for a more symbolic approach. So Julien remains stuck in the lift. His claustrophobia and inability to escape represent his remorse and terror of being caught. Rather than fearing other people he fears his own mind as the darkness of his thoughts press down on him. After all, there is no prison more inescapable than our own heads.
Malle does
not completely jettison the conventions of noir. In the final scene of Ascenseur Florence is confronted with
the murder of her husband, having been discovered in the most unanticipated way.
This conforms to one of the basic principles of the genre, that justice will be
served. But justice only comes about here in the most roundabout manner. While
searching Julien’s car, following Louis’ killing of a couple at the motel, the
police discover some compromising photos of Julien and Florence in the glove
compartment. Putting two and two together they realise that the adulterous
couple must have been responsible for the death of Florence’s husband. If
Julien’s car hadn’t been stolen though then the two might have escaped
scot-free. But of course life rarely goes according to plan, a fact
acknowledged by Malle in his masterpiece.
