Du haut en bas

Due to a confusion and against my expectation to see a Wes Anderson movie, I found myself in a french comedy of 1933. Because this isn't one of my favorite genres at all the rating can't be much higher than 6 stars. Nevertheless I don't regret my mistake. The movie wasn't able to convince me of its idyllic world story about an apartment building where the most dramatic incidents are a poorly faked suicide and a foreseeable and completely irrelevant mistaken identity. But it was able to satisfy me with its cinematographic aspects. Except some focus problems it is technically flawless and comes up with some really good shots and dolly scenes, although the camera could have been a bit more dynamic for my liking. Unintentionally "Du haut en bas" was my first G.W. Pabst movie, but it won't be the last.

If you love old French cinema, the fact that this includes Gabin and Simon (not to mention Peter Lorre as a tramp) will be reason enough to watch it. The start has some of that quavering music I associate with old "Little Rascals" episodes, but mercifully that doesn't last long. Much of the intrigue is predictable farce in the style of what the French call "Theatre du Boulevard", but there are some bright moments of early feminism ("What is a fossil?" "A man who thinks a woman needs him".) Since the whole premise is to follow the lives of various residents of an apartment building, the film by design shifts perspectives quite a bit, so one has to pay attention. It is very strange to have set this in Austria since the feel is so French, but not an issue ultimately. This is certainly not for everyone and not the best of early French-language film, but it has its charms, especially for completists of the genre.

Although the director is very famous,this is one of the most obscure of all Gabin's movies.Who knows in his native France that he was directed by Pabst? The movie is supposed to take place in Germany but everything sounds French,except maybe the Concierge in uniform.The plot is very simple but the treatment is quite good and "De Haut En Bas" is a charming comedy:the title (=from the top downwards) hints at the tenants of an apartment building ,among them Pauline Carton and Michel Simon ,who does not know the " rent-is-always-due" rule.Gabin portrays the Concierge's nephew, a football champ who's got a few things to learn.A girl -who has a PhD in geography and who has still not found a teacher job (at the time,however ,there were probably not many girls with such a degree!)- works as a servant upstairs .Her employers are not very nice: the woman is mean and sour-tempered,the man wants to sleep with the young maid and he is always making advances to her.

This is a must for Gabin's fans ,one of the best movies of his pre mega-stardom days.