Bel ordure

"Bel ordure", the first feature directed by Jean Marboeuf in 1973, is an ambitious film. Which is not good news, for an ambitious film that fails is much worse than light fare fizzling out. Grasp all, lose all, that is in fact what happens here to Marboeuf who aims to tell at the same time a realistic noir story, to mix stark realism and the tricks of cabaret acts, to make an anarchist commentary on French society, to handle the problem of French exactions during the Algerian war, to examine the hardships of living as a couple, to denounce the corruption in the police forces and the excesses of show business … This is too much for a fledgling director who has designed his film as a jigsaw puzzle. Why not, but the trouble is that a standard viewer like me remained … puzzled! As a matter fact, while watching the film I could never figure out what was going on … until I read a summary on a website that finally enlightened me! That takes the cake, doesn't it?

Terribly confused and confusing, "Bel ordure" is anything but captivating. How can you relate to the characters when you do not understand what is happening? To make matters worse, the action proceeds at a listless pace. Yawns guaranteed.

The superior cast (Claude Brasseur, Jean Rochefort, José Artur, Fernand Ledoux) is wasted, which is too bad. The exception which proves the rule is Bulle Ogier as the young cabaret singer. She has a lot of unaffected charm. In addition, the original songs she performs are offbeat and incisive (to be fair, the chilling lyrics are signed Marboeuf). For sure, Ogier and her anarchist songs will be the only things I will remember of this otherwise boring mess.