American-born John Gearon wrote his first novel 'The Velvet Well' in 1946 before adopting the pseudonym John Flagg. More that thirty years later and eight years after the author's demise we have this version directed by Jacques Deray, best known for his films with Alain Delon. Another of Deray's regular collaborators, the brilliant Jean-Claude Carriere, has written the screenplay.
To call this a 'loose' adaptation would be an understatement and it is futile to dwell on the differences as they are considerable. It is no less effective for that and I would have to say that of this director's output, with the exception of 'Un Crime', this is the one that had me gripped from the outset.
It really belongs to the 'neo-polar' genre in which one never knows who the villains are or whom to trust. Here the man living the Kafkaesque nightmare is the Roland Feriaud of Lino Ventura. He happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time as a result of which he is severely concussed and awakes to find himself in a 'clinic' staffed by one doctor and one nurse. The doctor seems less concerned with Feriaud's health than with the whereabouts of a certain suitcase. This suitcase becomes the MacGuffin, the contents of which are never revealed but which various parties will go to any lengths to obtain, including the kidnap of Feriaud's wife.
The tempo is lento throughout and there is very little music so it takes a very special actor with enormous presence to hold our attention and here Lino Ventura fits the bill perfectly. Excellent support from Nicole Garcia, Claudine Auger and Laura Betti with a marvellous turn by Paul Crauchet whose character's surreal obsession gives the film its title.
By all accounts the novel once attracted the attention of Hollywood. Heaven only knows how it would have turned out but one thing is certain. The bizarre elements of Carriere's screenplay and the film's final scene would have been inconceivable to American film makers of that time. Vive la différence!
