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It's soft and gentle, a film on tip toes, an acoustic film like no other, without doubt a film of birdsong, and otehr ambience, but eh music when it is musical is absolutely choice, the ambient quiet drone and deep distant trills during he good versus evil white body suit versus black body suit combat mani a manin on the dark French provincial rooftop is unmissable film chic. You know this film has some heavy dark chords too, beneath the word FIN au fin they clang in death march time baby.
Every mode and moment of sound is terrific in Judex (1963) a most fully acoustic 60s sensibility of film noir and fantasy, so like Les Yeux Sans Visage, with its masks, its dogs, its dogs in the night, its masks in the night.
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Georges Franju's her-described noir neo-noir noirish revenge adventure thriller Judex (1963) emerged from an unexpected opportunity. When Francis Lacassin was researching French film, a production manager approached him about making a new version of the 1916 serial.
The project came to Jacques Champreux, grandson of original "Judex" creator Louis Feuillade, who brought it to Franju despite knowing the director actually preferred to remake "Fantômas."
The film's plot does make as its central focal centre focus a corrupt banker, Favraux (Michel Vitold), who receives a threatening letter demanding he return his ill-gotten gains from the Panama Scandal to his victims.
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After ignoring the warning, he apparently dies at midnight during a masked ball, only to awaken in an old castle as the prisoner of the mysterious Judex. The narrative expands to include Favraux's daughter Jacqueline (Edith Scob), the villainous Diana Monti (Francine Bergé), and detective Alfred Cocantin (Jacques Jouanneau).
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Marcel Fradetal's black-and-white cinematography creates a distinctive visual style, particularly evident in the opening masked ball sequence where a bird-masked figure moves through frozen dancers. Robert Giordani's art direction and Maurice Jarre's atmospheric score further enhance the film's dreamlike quality.
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The casting process revealed interesting industry dynamics of the time. Channing Pollock, already established as a famous cabaret magician, was cast as Judex because producers hoped to transform him into a Rudolph Valentino-type star. Franju and Champreux adapted the role to incorporate Pollock's magical abilities, making Judex more of a mysterious illusionist than a traditional avenger.
For the role of Diana Monti, originally played by Musidora in Feuillade's version, the producers initially pursued Brigitte Bardot. After seeing "Les Abysses" at Cannes, they chose Francine Bergé instead. Franju regular Edith Scob, who had worked with him on "Eyes Without a Face" and "Thérèse Desqueyroux," was cast as Jacqueline. The cast also included André Méliès, son of pioneering filmmaker Georges Méliès.
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The film compressed Feuillade's five-hour serial into 94 minutes while maintaining key plot elements. The opening masked ball scene drew inspiration from French cartoonist J.J. Grandville's illustrations depicting people with animal heads. Franju and Champreux deliberately mixed surrealism with realism, creating what critics called "Lunacy restrained."
Judex premiered in France on December 4, 1963. French critics generally praised its homage to silent film while noting issues with pacing. L'Express called it "pure entertainment, pure charm, a total success," while Les Nouvelles littéraires criticized its "lazy" pacing and "laborious" direction. Claude Mauriac of Le Figaro littéraire argued the film's focus on visual beauty prevented audience engagement with the action.
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U.S. reception proved similarly mixed. Variety praised it as "a successful homage to French film serials" that captured their "essential simplicity, adventurousness and innocence." Time noted its "low-key carm and seriousness," while The New York Times criticized its ambiguous tone.
The film features several elaborate set pieces, including a rooftop fight between Diana (in catsuit and nun's habit) and circus performer Daisy (Sylva Koscina) - a character Franju reportedly claimed he "could have done without."
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Another notable sequence involves a night-time burglary at a country house shrouded in mist, a huge amount of visual fun.
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Beyond its surface narrative, Judex connects to broader developments in French cinema. Unlike his New Wave contemporaries who drew from American noir and pulp fiction, Franju looked to German Expressionism and silent film traditions.
This approach aligned with his work as co-founder of the Cinémathèque Française, where he and Henri Langlois had helped resurrect Feuillade's reputation.
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The film's attention to period detail extended beyond visual elements. The technology shown in the film deliberately mixed eras, with Judex possessing capabilities more reminiscent of Buck Rogers than early twentieth-century France.
This anachronistic approach aligned with the serial tradition while creating a unique temporal atmosphere.
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Key sequences paid direct homage to Feuillade's work, particularly in the black-clad figures and insect-like wall climbing. The character of Marie explicitly references Musidora's iconic Irma Vep character from "Les Vampires." These references made Judex particularly rewarding for viewers familiar with early French cinema while maintaining accessibility for general audiences.
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Franju would revisit similar territory in Nuits rouges (1974), another collaboration with Champreux that more aggressively pursued the pulp elements of Feuillade's work. The later film centered on the Knights Templar's treasure and featured Champreux himself as a Fantômas-like villain called "The Man Without a Face."
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Judex remains significant as both a bridge between cinematic eras and a unique artistic achievement in its own right. Its careful balance of homage and innovation, combined with its distinctive visual style and atmospheric storytelling, creates a work that transcends simple categorization as either remake or tribute.
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Judex (1963)
Directed by Georges Franju
Genres - Action-Adventure, Crime, Drama, Thriller | Release Date - Dec 4, 1963 | Run Time - 104 min. | Judex (1963) Wikipedia
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