Radiance Films: Solo (1970) - Reviewed

Images courtesy of Radiance Films

Boutique label Radiance Films have been urgently introducing viewers to the work of French actor-writer-director Jean-Pierre Mocky in recent months.  From the forthcoming 4K restored worldwide Blu-ray disc premiere of the 1959 film Head Against the Wall which was written by and starring Mocky though debut directing was entrusted to Georges Franju (Eyes Without a Face) to the likewise 4K restored 1970 Mocky written-directed-starring crime thriller Solo, Radiance is turning the spotlight on this maverick French auteur who saw himself as neither mainstream nor French New Wave.  

A sly social critic who spent years working in the comedy subgenre before redirecting his attention to his true vocation with Solo, effectively his eleventh directorial effort, Mocky’s foray into the satirical crime film in his own words finally gave him the chance to do what he tried and “failed” to do with Head Against the Wall.  Mostly it functions as a morally ambiguous assassin thriller as allegory for growing disdain for political power while providing its lead assassin an avenue for his own involvement in a war that was never his to begin with.
 
Part time violinist and jewel thief Vincent (Jean-Pierre Mocky) leads a relatively easygoing life, that is, until he returns to Paris where it comes to light that his brother Virgile (Denis Le Guillou) and his gang of revolutionaries are behind a series of murders of wealthy elites including but not limited to gunning down an orgy.  Though their relationship is estranged and the man’s girlfriend and partner-in-crime Annabel’s (Anne Deleuze) seductive measures prove fruitless, Vincent while trying to maintain safe distance inexorably gets drawn into his brother’s dilemma in trying to find him before the police do.  Including but not limited to trying to escort and hide the couple from authorities and later engaging in gunfire, for Vincent the journey becomes a personally redemptive one which may cost him his life in a scenario which in some ways predates the premise of Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets. 

 
Simultaneously a colorful, radiant social satire and a straight-laced hard-nosed character study of a bad man who finds some measure of meaning in his previously carefree existence, Solo is one of the brightest, most beautiful looking portraits of the nighttime Parisian street life.  Featuring luminous 1.66:1 cinematography by OSS 117 is Not Dead cameraman Marcel Weiss with colors that pop and bleed amid the otherwise gravely brick-and-mortar night landscape and an effectively moody score by Egyptian-French songwriter Georges Moustaki, the world of Solo is captured briskly and sometimes scrappily which adds to its docudrama aesthetic.  

Driven primarily by a central performance from the writer-director himself in one of his most nuanced and subtle performances yet of a man who comes down from his perch up on high to try and rescue his brother from himself before the police do.  Equally strong are Denise Le Guillou as his brother and Anne Deleuze as his partner in crime, playing in stark contrast to Mocky’s air of professionalism and cool distance who eventually bring the man out of his shell into becoming involved in their cause even as it runs counter to his principles. 

 
Initially going without a theatrical release thanks to the censorship board’s banning of the picture provided Mocky do another comedy film with L'Étalon, Solo which came out a few weeks after his comedy film did had a modest if not smaller commercial success than his comedy works.  It was also met with mixed critical reception who continued to argue about Mocky’s place in cinema as either a mainstream filmworker or a New Wave subverter.  Mocky who considered himself a maverick middleweight trying to make his particular brand of social commentary into a cinematic reality seemed to return to the comedy subgenre he was trying to get himself out from under.  Still he continued to dabble in the crime thriller subgenre over the years including 1978’s The Witness and in later years his crime cinema works became increasingly well regarded and seen as much closer to the actor-director’s own personality. 

 
Radiance Films in their newfound quest to put a spotlight on Mocky’s career have put together a lovely new Blu-ray edition made from a 4K scan by Éclair Classics who also supervised the Radiance release for Head Against the Wall including a collector’s booklet featuring two interviews with Mocky, video interviews with Mocky and actress Anna Deleuze and an interview with Mocky expert Eric Le Roy.  As always, Radiance has included reversible sleeve art with their time-honored Japanese-themed OBI spine on the interior of the cast.  The boutique label continues to be an educational beacon of world cinema which stronger longstanding labels such as Criterion and Arrow Video feel like they’re only just now catching up to. 

--Andrew Kotwicki