One from the Archive : Mauprat.

During the French lockdown, the Cinémathèque Française is putting vault items on it’s “Henri“ Site. Jean Epstein’s 1926 Mauprat was still there the last time I looked. This one is ripe Cinémathèque material. It’s been restored since 2003 but I’ve never previously got a look at it.

Mauprat is an Elaborate and handsomely produced costume drama made by Epstein following his departure from the Russian émigre company Albatross, after directingThe Lion of the Mongols there, what must be Ivan Mozjoukine’s worst film. You’ll find little connection with maritime subjects like La Belle Nivraise  and Finis terrae that are the director’s best work.

The Russian link is still firmly in place with cameraman Albert Duverger and star Sandra Milovanoff, appearing between her touching Fantine/Cosette in Henri Fescourt’s 1925 Les Miserables & in René Clair’s 1925 Le fantôme du Moulin-Rouge & 1927 La proie du vent. She registers as an engaging presence, even with her habit of addressing her lines straight into the camera. Admiring Mlle Milovanoff, you can ponder whether Gal Gadot will seem as winning in ninety six years?

Mauprat is derived from a 1836 George Sand romance and shot in the author’s original Saint Sévène district - also the village that Tati used to film Jour de fete. The noble Mauprat family diverges into branches headed by an upright nobleman and his dissolute brother, both played by Maurice Schutz. Despite the efforts of the honest brother, one of his nephews has been raised by the rogue uncle surrounded by a band of grotesque outlaws.

The nobleman’s niece Milovanoff loses her horse out riding and takes shelter in the bandit’s castle where she is protected by now grown Mauprat heir Nino Constantini. Smitten, he extracts an oath of marriage from her in return for his aid - compare Lon Chaney in Benjamin Christensen’s 1927 Mockery along with the other violated promise movies of the day.

Troops and peasants besiege the outlaw strong hold but Constantini gets Milovanoff to safety. The attackers are all set to hang him but upright Schutz reclaims his lost nephew. “Now I can finally make him a gentleman” Comic scene of Constantini being dressed and powdered. Milovanoff’s fiancé Knight of La Marche Halma shows concern.  

Mauprat : Schutz & Constantini

Returning to his bandit clothes after discovering he is unable to have the object of his desire (“Je me tueras plutot” Sandra objects) from putting together the pieces of her torn letter, Constantini goes off to the war accompanied by forester with a fake beard Alex Allin (later in Le chapeau de paille d’Italie and Jean Renoir’s Les bas fonds) who leaves his loveable dog with Milovanoff, after she despatches the retainer to protect Constantini.

When Constantini returns he is involved in the machinations of the vilainous uncle but Allin has spotted the village girl supplying a fake monk who steals Milovanoff’s jewels. He exposes the plot. The lovers are united.

This one can hold it’s own with comparable period pieces like Epstein’s Robert Macaire or Renoir’s Le tournoi dans la cité. Top marks for settings and particularly costumes. The performances are quite modern but the hokey plot denies the piece any real impact. The war happens off screen and the siege is a muddled affair. Characters carry and occasionally wave their swords but we never get a duel. The most striking elements are incidentals - the train of Milovanoff’s dress brushing the wild flowers, the four way superimposed close up, the torn face powder mask.

Production assistant Luis Buñuel’s couple of walk-ons are his first movie activity. He later did insets for Epstein’s Chute de la maison Usher.

There are other vintage French films I’d rather have watched but Mauprat is OK enthusiast material. It is represented by a clear, mute, monochrome copy running close to the right speed, with original French captions. 

 

 

Barrie Pattison 2021