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La Bandera

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La Bandera is an earlier pairing of actor Jean Gabin and director Julien Duvivier prior to their much-imitated classic, Pepe le Moko. In La Bandera, both Duvivier and Gabin show flashes of their later brilliance in Pepe, but never quite hit the same level.

Bandera tells the story of Pierre Gilieth (Gabin). The film opens with Gilieth killing a man in Paris. The scene quickly shifts to a cheap boarding house in Barcelona, where Gilieth is hiding from the law... He is robbed one night and joins the Spanish Foreign Legion just to eat. His Legion unit is stationed in North Africa, and this is where the film shines. The African scenes were all filmed on location at actual Spanish Foreign Legion forts and towns. Locals and tribesmen are constantly sniping at the soldiers, but Duvivier makes these seem larger than life by never actually showing them. You never see the enemy in any of the combat sequences, and somehow this makes them seem more threatening.

Once in Africa, Gilieth and his mates start to frequent a brothel and Gilieth falls in love and marries a local girl. He also develops a conflict with another soldier, who may or may not be a real threat to him...

If you see the amazon.com trivia section, you'll notice that this film was originally dedicated to Spanish General Franco, and that this was removed after the Spanish Civil War. Its interesting as this film had to be made just prior to the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, and in fact uses scenes of real Spanish Legion soldiers. These soldiers were in fact Franco's shock troops of the civil war and his real power base both prior to the conflict and during it. I suppose its nothing more than historical trivia, but in a way it accounts for the way La Bandera has been generally forgotten. I know this film has also been compared (a little unfavorably) with Beau Geste, but I suspect the way it glorifies the Spanish Legion just prior to the Spanish Civil war and the Legion's role in the fascist victory accounts for the film's relative obscurity...

Regarding the dvd, I'm a bit disappointed. The film is watchable, for sure, but the transfer is nowhere near the quality of something Criterion or Kino would produce. There is plenty of dirt and noise, and the print itself is quite soft (usually indicating a bad attempt at cleaning it). The soundtrack has plenty of noise and hiss, and is obviously untouched. Compared to some recent Criterion releases from similar dates that look like they were produced yesterday, the La Bandera transfer is a disappointment. Perhaps worse, the English subtitles are not great, and are non-removable, so even if you can understand the French you are stuck watching the film with bad subtitles.

In any case, La Bandera is a pleasant diversion for anybody who enjoys older adventure films or early French cinema. It provides a chance to see two famous stars, director Duvivier and actor Jean Gabin before they completely hit their stride, and yet the result is sill entertaining and energetic. Gabin in particular really shows flashes of his later charm! You won't be disappointed!

"La Bandera," ("The Regiment"), 1935, is, in its 96 minutes, an odd, little-known adornment of French cinema. It's a black and white war picture/drama/romance/men's adventure film that brings together the great French actor Jean Gabin (Le Quai des Brumes (Port of Shadows); La Bete Humaine (The Criterion Collection);Essential Art House: Le Jour se Lève), and the director Julien Duvivier at the outset of their careers, shortly before they made the greatly admired and influential Pepe Le Moko (The Criterion Collection) together in 1937. Apparently, at this time in the 1930s, the French were newly fascinated by their African colonies and the exoticism thereof; at any rate, both LA BANDERA and PEPE were largely set and filmed in the French colonies of North Africa, and many critics consider the first picture a dress rehearsal for the latter. Duvivier is considered one of the big five of the classic French film directors, though he is largely neglected today; still, he is an honored maker of world-class cinema. LA BANDERA is based on the novel by Pierre Dumarchais.

Gabin plays Pierre Gilieth, a Parisian murderer. He flees to Barcelona, Spain, where he's robbed by some Frenchmen he meets in a nightclub. He's penniless, can't pay his rent nor eat, so he joins the Spanish Foreign Legion for a cot and three hots. Gilieth meets two more Frenchmen there in the barracks, Marcel Mulot, played by Raymond Aimos; and Fernando Lucas (played by Robert Le Vigan), who befriend him. But Gilieth soon becomes suspicious of Lucas, who seems entirely too curious about him. So Gilieth and Lucas become enemies. The regiment is sent to North Africa, the parched deserts of Southern Morocco, to fight the Rieff, who are in revolt against their Spanish masters. Gilieth and his chums begin to frequent a brothel, where he meets, falls in love with, and marries an absurdly over made-up Arabian dancing girl, Aischa la Slaoui, played by the actress Annabella,(13 Rue Madeleine), a stunning French actress who was married to Tyrone Power. Pierre Renoir (Children of Paradise (Les Enfants du paradis)), son of the world-famous French impressionist painter Pierre-August Renoir, plays the regiment's commanding officer, le capitaine Weller, who lacks an eye and an arm. Gaston Modot turns in a calorie-rich supporting performance as Le legionnaire Muller.

In an example of location filming that was unusual for a French movie at the time, this adventure movie was made using actual Spanish legion troops at various cities and forts in mainland Spain, and in North Africa. Gabin turns in a sturdy performance, giving hints of the sexy, roguish charm that would characterize his later roles; both he and Duvivier show flashes of their brilliance to come in PEPE. The picture certainly illustrates the beginnings of the poetic realist movement that was to dominate French cinema.

This film was originally dedicated to the Spanish General Francisco Franco, a fascist who rose in revolt against the democratically elected government of that country, and defeated it, in the Spanish Civil War that broke out just after the picture's release. The Spanish Foreign Legion was, in reality, Franco's shock troops; they were the power base that he used wherever needed. This dedication was removed after the Spanish Civil War, but its existence probably goes a long way toward explaining the film's fall into obscurity. LA BANDERA may deserve its neglect, but it may be worth seeing as an early foreign legion romance, and a precursor of great things to come from its star and director.