This fine film has a lot to answer for: when, in 1949, Jean-Pierre Melville shot it he did so with virtually no formal training in film making and, as a non-union member he employed other non-union members, specifically cinematographer Henri Decae, who went on to enjoy a distinguished career. Finally Melville did not shoot in studio conditions, filming the bulk of the action in author Vercors own home - the home in which, he had in fact written the novella which Melville adapted. The quality of the finished product is beyond dispute but the downside is that he gave the Cahiers crowd the idea that anyone could do it, thus indirectly Melville has to take the rap for foisting the untalented semi-amateur Godard on the world of film. That apart this is a stunning debut - Melville had previously shot only a short about a clown - with three (Howard Vernan, Nicole Stephane and Jean-Marie Robain) exceptional performances, all the more so because the latter two speak less than a dozen words between them. Later Melville returned to the Resistance with L'Armee des ombres, arguably the finest film about the Resistance ever made and taken together they make formidable viewing.
Review of The Silence of the Sea
