blogging by Andrew Wickliffe


Judex (1916, Louis Feuillade), Episode 12: Love's Forgiveness


The title of the episode is Love’s Forgiveness so there’s not much in the way of surprises.

René Cresté risks it all by reuniting Yvette Andréyor with father Louis Leubas, then discovers mom Yvonne Dario has already told Andréyor all and she–Andréyor–is in love with him–Cresté. The multiple deceptions and whatnot don’t bother her.

There’s the cute moment when René Poyen meets Marcel Lévesque’s girlfriend, Lily Deligny, but not as cute as it could be.

And Judex does provide some resolution to Musidora, though only barely. Poor Gaston Michel gets to finish the episode, the only person who isn’t happy.

Even though Forgiveness resolves all of the outstanding plot threads and problems, it doesn’t really feel like much of an ending. Michel’s finale–and Michel is the one who started Judex in many ways–doesn’t do much to connect to the front. Except in terms of showcasing his continual loses.

There’s still the epilogue for Feuillade to further wrap things up, but it seems like this episode could’ve easily been combined with the previous one. Yes, it’s the final resolution for the open subplots, but there’s literally nothing else to it.

CREDITS

Directed by Louis Feuillade; written by Arthur Bernède and Feuillade; directors of photography, André Glatti and Léon Klausse; production designer, Robert-Jules Garnier; released by Gaumont.

Starring René Cresté (Judex), Yvette Andréyor (Jacqueline Aubry), Musidora (Diana Monti), Louis Leubas (Favraux), Marcel Lévesque (Cocantin), Jean Devalde (Robert Moralés), Édouard Mathé (Roger de Tremeuse), Olinda Mano (Jean), René Poyen (The Licorice Kid), Gaston Michel (Pierre Kerjean), Lily Deligny (Miss Daisy Torp), Juliette Clarens (Gisèle), Georges Flateau (Vicomte de la Rochefontaine), and Yvonne Dario (Comtesse de Tremeuse).


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