The Fire Within (Le feu Follet) Louis Malle 1963

There is something so stark about the film, The Fire Within. It opens with a sad and perfunctory sex scene with the Alain Leroy narrating to himself about his partner. It’s not hot in the least, except maybe in a black and white French way. The episode over, he goes back to a clinic where he is trying to be sober after losing himself to drink. He wanders in and around Paris seeing old friends and trying to grasp something that keeps slipping away. What is he looking for? Is it something external? His friends try to help, but no matter who you are you can’t see inside someone’s heart and mind. I don’t think even Alain knows what he wants, until the final scenes when you see what his true intentions are. It is a marvelous performance by Maurice Ronet. I love that at the end he had to finish his book. Louis Malle really knows how to show Paris.

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