Moon in the Gutter
Encyclopedia
Moon in the Gutter is a 1983
French
drama film
directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix
. It was entered into the 1983 Cannes Film Festival
.
Although it immediately followed Beineix' big, commercial success Diva
and featured two very big stars, Gérard Depardieu and Nastassja Kinski, Moon in the Gutter was not understood by critics or audiences and failed at the box office with only 625,000 admissions in France. Its vivid visual style was noted by critics. It preceded a much better-appreciated cult success from the same director, known in the US and UK as Betty Blue.
The film was based on a pulp-noir novel of the same name, written by David Goodis
, but it was transferred in the film script from the docksides of Philadelphia to Marseille
.
La Lune dans le caniveau, according to AllMovie, " received uneven reviews on its initial release". It won a French Cesar Award for its production design.
), a wealthy amateur photographer who prowls the docks in her early '60s Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder
looking for handsome men, and Bella (Victoria Abril
), a poor but beautiful woman who is probably a prostitute, share affections for a dock worker named Gerard (played by Gerard Depardieu
). He is obsessed by the memory of his sister, who was raped and then committed suicide in a back alley, which he visits every night. No one knows who committed the rape, and he has sworn to avenge the crime, if he can only figure out who the perpetrator was.
In the American DVD release director Jean-Jacques Beineix reveals that after the expanded 3 hour DVD version director's cut of Betty Blue was released he approached Gaumont, the studio that produced the film, about doing the same with Moon in the Gutter. A studio executive later notified him sadly that such an extended release recut was not possible in this case. It was revealed that Gaumont had felt the film was so poorly received initially that all of the extra footage and doubles were destroyed to make space in the film vaults.
The excuse was that accountants had reasoned that the film was a financial liability with little future value that had severely damaged Gaumont's reputation. Such an action is said to be extremely rare in the film industry since the cost of storing film footage is rather minimal after production has ended. Beneix added that the film had originally been cut into a 4 hour version and a 3 hour version as well and that both lost versions expanded on the main characters and more fully exposed and explained the story's main premise. This immense artistic loss reportedly still haunts Beneix today.
1983 in film
-Events:*February 11 - The Rolling Stones concert film Let's Spend the Night Together opens in New York*May 25 - Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, the final film in the original Star Wars trilogy, is released. Like the previous films, it goes on to become the top grossing picture of...
French
Cinema of France
The Cinema of France comprises the art of film and creative movies made within the nation of France or by French filmmakers abroad.France is the birthplace of cinema and was responsible for many of its early significant contributions. Several important cinematic movements, including the Nouvelle...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix
Jean-Jacques Beineix
-Biography:In 1964, Jean-Jacques Beineix started his career as Jean Becker's assistant director on the famous French TV series, Les saintes chéries until the end of 1967. Then, in 1970 he worked for Claude Berri and in 1971 for Claude Zidi. In 1977, he directed his first short movie Le Chien de M....
. It was entered into the 1983 Cannes Film Festival
1983 Cannes Film Festival
- Jury :*William Styron *Henri Alekan *Yvonne Baby *Sergei Bondarchuk *Youssef Chahine *Souleymane Cissé *Gilbert de Goldschmidt *Mariangela Melato *Karel Reisz...
.
Although it immediately followed Beineix' big, commercial success Diva
Diva (film)
Diva is a 1981 film directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix, adapted from a novel of the same name by Daniel Odier . It is one of the first French films to let go of the realist, harsh mood of 1970s French cinema and return to a colourful, melodic style, called cinema du look...
and featured two very big stars, Gérard Depardieu and Nastassja Kinski, Moon in the Gutter was not understood by critics or audiences and failed at the box office with only 625,000 admissions in France. Its vivid visual style was noted by critics. It preceded a much better-appreciated cult success from the same director, known in the US and UK as Betty Blue.
The film was based on a pulp-noir novel of the same name, written by David Goodis
David Goodis
David Loeb Goodis was an American noir fiction writer.Born to a respectable Jewish family in Philadelphia, Goodis had two younger brothers, but one died of meningitis at the age of three...
, but it was transferred in the film script from the docksides of Philadelphia to Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
.
La Lune dans le caniveau, according to AllMovie, " received uneven reviews on its initial release". It won a French Cesar Award for its production design.
Plot
Two women: Loretta (Nastassja KinskiNastassja Kinski
Nastassja Kinski is a German-born American-based actress who has appeared in more than 60 films. Her starring roles include her Golden Globe Award-winning portrayal of the title character in Tess and her roles in two erotic films , as well as parts in Wim Wenders' films The Wrong Move; Paris,...
), a wealthy amateur photographer who prowls the docks in her early '60s Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder
Ferrari Daytona
The Ferrari 365 GTB/4, better known by the unofficial name Ferrari Daytona, is a Gran Turismo automobile produced from 1968 to 1973. It was first introduced to the public at the Paris Auto Salon in 1968 and replaced the 275 GTB/4...
looking for handsome men, and Bella (Victoria Abril
Victoria Abril
Victoria Abril is a Spanish film actress. She is best known to international audiences for her performance in the movie ¡Átame! by director Pedro Almodóvar....
), a poor but beautiful woman who is probably a prostitute, share affections for a dock worker named Gerard (played by Gerard Depardieu
Gérard Depardieu
Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu is a French actor and filmmaker. He is a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, Chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite and has twice won the César Award for Best Actor...
). He is obsessed by the memory of his sister, who was raped and then committed suicide in a back alley, which he visits every night. No one knows who committed the rape, and he has sworn to avenge the crime, if he can only figure out who the perpetrator was.
Reception
Although the movie was a failure when first released, it had a number of cult admirers. In the mid-1980s it was often screened as a fashionable late night art movie for esoteric clubs such as the "Edinburgh Academy Cinema Society".In the American DVD release director Jean-Jacques Beineix reveals that after the expanded 3 hour DVD version director's cut of Betty Blue was released he approached Gaumont, the studio that produced the film, about doing the same with Moon in the Gutter. A studio executive later notified him sadly that such an extended release recut was not possible in this case. It was revealed that Gaumont had felt the film was so poorly received initially that all of the extra footage and doubles were destroyed to make space in the film vaults.
The excuse was that accountants had reasoned that the film was a financial liability with little future value that had severely damaged Gaumont's reputation. Such an action is said to be extremely rare in the film industry since the cost of storing film footage is rather minimal after production has ended. Beneix added that the film had originally been cut into a 4 hour version and a 3 hour version as well and that both lost versions expanded on the main characters and more fully exposed and explained the story's main premise. This immense artistic loss reportedly still haunts Beneix today.
Cast
- Gérard DepardieuGérard DepardieuGérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu is a French actor and filmmaker. He is a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, Chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite and has twice won the César Award for Best Actor...
- Gerard - Nastassja KinskiNastassja KinskiNastassja Kinski is a German-born American-based actress who has appeared in more than 60 films. Her starring roles include her Golden Globe Award-winning portrayal of the title character in Tess and her roles in two erotic films , as well as parts in Wim Wenders' films The Wrong Move; Paris,...
- Loretta - Victoria AbrilVictoria AbrilVictoria Abril is a Spanish film actress. She is best known to international audiences for her performance in the movie ¡Átame! by director Pedro Almodóvar....
- Bella - Bertice ReadingBertice ReadingBertice Reading was an American actress, singer and revue artiste.Bertice Reading was born in Chester, Pennsylvania. Her performing career started at the age of 3, when she was talent-spotted by Bill "Bojangles" Robinson....
- Lola - Gabriel Monnet - Tom
- Dominique PinonDominique PinonDominique Pinon is a French actor whose most famous roles have been in the films of Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Jean-Jacques Beineix. In the theatre, he has appeared in the plays of Gildas Bourdet, Jorge Lavelli and Valère Novarina...
- Frank - Milena VukoticMilena VukoticMilena Vukotic is a former ballerina and a stage, television, and film actress.Vukotic was born in Rome, to a Serbian Montenegrian comediographer father and an Italian pianist/composer mother....
- Frieda - Vittorio MezzogiornoVittorio MezzogiornoVittorio Mezzogiorno was an Italian actor.-Biography:Mezzogiorno was born in Cercola, the youngest of seven children. His older brother Vincenzo, who wanted to become a director, introduced him to the theatre....
- Newton Channing (et avec) - Bernard Farcy - Jésus
- Anne-Marie Coffinet - Dora
- Jacques Herlin
- Guido AlbertiGuido AlbertiGuido Alberti was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 60 films between 1963 and 1993.-Selected filmography:* Not on Your Life * Hands Over the City * Angélique, Marquise des Anges...
- Katya BergerKatya BergerKatya Bebb Cobham is a film actress. She is the daughter of Hugh Russell Bebb and Croatian singer, songwriter, and actress Hanja Kochansky, and stepdaughter of veteran spaghetti western Austrian actor William Berger...
- Catherine (as Katia Berger) - Rosa Fumetto
- Graziano Giusti