Well! This film was disappointing. Jacques Feyder's Le Grand Jeu is to Julien Duvivier's Pépé le Moko (1937) as John Brahm's The Brasher Doubloon (1947) is to Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity (1944). It might have all of the bits and pieces that define the Poetic Realism film movement, but they are arranged so haphazardly and poorly that the film collapses in on itself. The film is woefully directionless, meandering for most of its run-time until around the 55 minute mark when the protagonist meets the woman who will captivate him and ultimately spell his doom. Their relationship is rushed to the point of parody, going from their first drunken fling to full-fledged spousal abuse in the span of a couple of minutes. Subplots are picked up and dropped at random (what was up with Clément subplot about getting left behind by the legion?). I had a difficult time following the plot of this film even when I had the wikipedia plot summary sitting in front of me! It is undeniably beautiful. Documentary-like exteriors and chiaroscuro interiors give the world of North Africa a kind of alien veneer. But I was too confused by the story to fully appreciate any of it.
5/10
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