The Law

The Law (1959) is many films in one: a metaphorical, occasionally disturbing social drama, a lurid comedy with musical interludes, a Euro sex romp, and an atmospheric slice of sun-drenched, southern Italian life. It's also a star-studded international affair, with the Italian stars Gina Lollobrigida and Marcello Mastroianni, the French Yves Montand and Pierre Brasseur, and the Greek Melina Mercouri -- with directing by the American Jules Dassin from an award-winning French novel by Roger Vailland. The film was shot on location in Italy, with dialogue in French. The mixed tones of the story and the many nationalities of the artists involved mesh together more or less successfully, resulting in something unique and memorable, if a bit over the top at times. While it may not rank as one of director Jules Dassin's very best films, The Law is still criminally underrated, and its debut in Region 1 DVD is most welcome. At the heart of The Law is "the law" -- ostensibly a drinking game in which the winner imposes his rule over the losers. He can ask them embarrassing questions they must answer, even if it affects their honor; he can insinuate things that normally would provoke a violent response; he can make them perform humiliating actions, and he can insult them all he wishes. The losers must endure the taunts and obey silently. They are not allowed to question or challenge the law. (The game exists in real life in certain parts of Italy and was banned in Rome because it often led to violence. In northern Italy it is known as the "passatella.") When we see the game played on screen, it starts out as funny, grows disturbing, and finally becomes sadistic and cruel. But the film takes "the law" and turns it into much more than a drinking game. It becomes a metaphor for the greater theme of characters exerting their wills over one another. We see this done in family relationships, in love, in issues of law and order, in sexual situations -- all unfolding in a coastal Italian village. At the center of it all is Gina Lollobrigida as Mariette, the unbearably sexy and gorgeous housekeeper to the local godfather Don Cesare (legendary French actor Pierre Brasseur). Every single man in town lusts after her; every single woman in town resents her. Mariette herself is strong-willed, impulsive, and full of heightened emotions, which seem to infect the other characters and the film as a whole. An agricultural engineer named Enrico (Marcello Mastroianni) comes to town to drain the local swamps to reduce the risk of malaria, and Mariette falls for him and tells him she wants to marry him. He says he's too poor, so Mariette attempts to steal a huge wad of cash. Meanwhile, a local gangster named Brigante (Yves Montand, superb) sets his sights on shutting Enrico out so he can take Mariette for himself -- which is not to say that she wants him. Brigante's son, Francesco (Raf Mattioli), starts a clandestine affair with the much older Donna Lucrezia (Melina Mercouri), the wife of the local judge, incurring the anger of Brigante, who publicly humiliates him. There's a lot going on here plotwise, which has the effect too often of making the movie feel unfocused, but there are some mesmerizing individual scenes. The astonishing opening sequence -- in which Dassin's camera starts on a man talking to a pigeon before gliding and craning around a town square and along a row of windows, while Gina Lollobrigida's voice sings a haunting melody from across the way -- elegantly introduces many of the characters and a comic tone while establishing a palpable, sensual atmosphere. One can feel the lazy summer heat. When Lollobrigida is finally revealed, she doesn't disappoint. She is out on a balcony, shining her employer's boots and singing so sexily that it's only a minute or so until she is literally swatting away a man. Other memorable scenes: the main sequence of "the law" drinking game, so intense that one feels violence could erupt at any moment; an electric moment where Brigante confronts his son on a crowded bus; a fishing sequence that feels like a piece of neo-realism; a scene where Lollobrigida oversees the dismantling and theft of a bicycle by a gang of local kids. Lollobrigida's earthy sensuality is marvelous. Dassin emphasizes it right off the bat, with her singing, and continues to stress it in scene after scene, giving her bits of solo business like rolling in a pile of cash and making a crown out of the bills. In a directing joke that runs through the film, Dassin costumes and frames her in almost every scene so that her cleavage is on full, prominent display -- so much so that it should have received its own credit. Dassin takes things to the limit with a jaw-dropping, outrageous (and wonderful) scene in which Lollobrigida is strapped to a table, her head resting in a bowl of jalapenos, and whipped by her mother and two sisters for being a "slut." Ironically, Lollobrigida wasn't even supposed to be in this film. When the financing arrangements shifted at the last minute and new producers insisted on casting the bombshell, Dassin was forced to rewrite what he considered one of his best scripts in order to suit her. The director of fine films noirs like Brute Force (1947), Thieves' Highway (1949) and Night and the City (1950), Dassin had been blacklisted in 1952 and resettled in France and then Greece, where he remained for the rest of his life and career. He went on to make some very successful European films like Rififi (1955), Never on Sunday (1960) and Topkapi (1964). Melina Mercouri, one of the stars of The Law, worked with Dassin several times, and the two married in 1966. The Law was first released in America in 1960 as Where the Hot Wind Blows!, dubbed in English and edited for the censors. Three years later it was re-released uncut with subtitles and its original title (and condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency), but this was a limited and brief reissue designed to capitalize on the success of Never on Sunday, and The Law thereafter disappeared with nary a trace. In the summer of 2010 it was resuscitated and restored by New York indie distributor Oscilliscope Laboratories, a new company launched by Beastie Boys founder Adam Yauch. Oscilliscope has already established itself as having great taste, with an eclectic slate of new films and the occasional DVD release of an unheralded classic like The Law. The Law and some other recent DVDs, in fact, have made it clear that Oscilliscope is a cream-of-the-crop DVD distributor. Everything about this release of The Law is on a par with Criterion: the exceptional dual-layer transfer, the expert commentary, the plentiful and genuinely engaging extras, and the packaging, which is beautifully illustrated with images from the film and includes two essays about it (one from a 1958 film magazine, the other a new piece by Harvard Film Archive director Haden Guest). The featurette extras include a fascinating 1958 French TV show which traveled to the set of The Law and interviewed Montand, Dassin, Mercouri and Lollobrigida. We also get a 1957 French TV interview with Roger Vailland, the author of The Law novel. The movie was not yet going at the time of this interview; Vailland simply discusses the themes of his story and how and why he explored them. Finally, there is a new 40-minute documentary about the game of "the law" as it's played in southern Italy today. Time Out film critic David Fear's audio commentary is quite good (despite some early moments of over-enthusiasm that get the better of him). He is extremely knowledgeable about the film, Dassin's personal history, and the major players involved. For more information about The Law, visit Oscilloscope Laboratories. To order The Law, go to TCM Shopping. by Jeremy Arnold

In Tribute to director Jules Dassin, who died Monday, March 31st, at age 96, TCM is changing its evening programming on Sunday, April 20th to honor the actor with a double-feature salute. Sunday, April 20th 8:00 PM Naked City 9:45 PM Topkapi TCM REMEMBERS JULES DASSIN (1911-2008) Jules Dassin gained experience in theater and radio in New York before going to work in Hollywood in 1940, first with RKO (as assistant director) and then with MGM. Dassin hit his stride in the late 1940s with such dynamic (and still well-regarded) film noir melodramas as "Brute Force" (1947), "The Naked City" (1948), "Thieves' Highway" (1949) and "Night and the City" (1950), starring Richard Widmark who died this past Monday, March 24th. After being blacklisted he moved to Europe, where he scored his greatest international successes with the French-produced "Rififi" (1955) and the then-scandalous "Never on Sunday" (1959), starring his second wife Melina Mercouri. For the most part, his later films--such as "Up Tight" (1968), an ill-conceived black remake of John Ford's 1935 classic "The Informer"--have been disappointing and inconclusive. Dassin, however, maintained that among his own films, his personal preference was "He Who Must Die" (1958), starring his wife Melina Mercouri. It is one of his least known films and is rarely screened today but here is a description of it: "Greece, in the 1920's, is occupied by the Turks. The country is in turmoil with entire villages uprooted. The site of the movie is a Greek village that conducts a passion play each year. The leading citizens of the town, under the auspices of the Patriarch, choose those that will play the parts in the Passion. A stuttering shepherd is chosen to play Jesus. The town butcher (who wanted to be Jesus) is chosen as Judas. The town prostitute is chosen as Mary Magdalene. The rest of the disciples are also chosen. As the movie unfolds, the Passion Play becomes a reality. A group of villagers, uprooted by the war and impoverished, arrive at the village led by their priest. The wealthier citizens of the town want nothing with these people and manipulate a massacre. In the context of the 1920's each of the characters plays out their biblical role in actuality." Family DAUGHTER: Julie Dassin. Actor. Mother, Beatrice Launer. SON: Joey Dassin. Mother, Beatrice Launer. SON: Rickey Dassin. Mother, Beatrice Launer. Companion WIFE: Beatrice Launer. Former concert violinist. Married in 1933; divorced in 1962. WIFE: Melina Mercouri. Actor, politician. Born c. 1923; Greek; together from 1959; married from 1966 until her death on March 6, 1994. Milestone 1936: First role on New York stage (Yiddish Theater) 1940: First film as assistant director Directed first stage play, "The Medicine Show 1941: Directed first short film, "The Tell-Tale Heart" 1942: Feature directing debut, "Nazi Agent/Salute to Courage"