• La tête d’un homme, also known as either A Man’s Neck or A Man’s Head is a superb seedy crime story. Duvivier’s camera is constantly floating around—Murnau-like mobility (this is before Ophuls and Duvivier is a peer with Renoir) with Hitchcock’s keen focus on the details (Duvivier is telling you with the eyeline of the camera exactly what particulars of the crime he wants you to look at).
  • Julien Duvivier is one of the “big five” of classic French cinema (Renoir, Carne, Clair, Feyder)
  • The film starts on Willy (Gaston Jacquet) – and tracks with him as he strolls around a crowded bar (named Eden) talking to as many as four different women. He makes a seemingly innocuous joke about offing a rich aunt for her money, a note of acceptance is put in his pocket (and his mistress gets involved) and we’re off and running
  • Wipe edits the transition of choice from Duvivier
  • The camera drifts up from the phone moving along the wire to the person having the conversation
  • At 38 minutes Duvivier has the camera glide, taking its time with the characters, down the stairs
  • At 44 minutes the camera tracks from screen left to screen right low—behind the bar stool from the cop to the murderer in the same lyrical shot
  • At 65 minutes Duvivier’s camera actually pushes/kicks the door to the police chief’s office open—brazenly cinematic
  • A smart cat and mouse- a strategic criminal — often touting throughout how this is the “perfect crime”
  • Duvivier weaponizes the close-up in two brilliant shots. At 82 minutes the camera rolls in on Gina Manès as she’s paralyzed with fear—Duvivier rolls back the camera away from her face in the same shot
  • A similar shot, and hold, is used again on Gaston Jacquet at the 86 minutes mark before his fateful moment
  • A slow-moving track in on a female singer at the end (I believe this is Missia – the actual singer- but I’m not sure)—dark, gloomy lyrics by Duvivier himself
  • HR/MS border- leaning MS with the poetic use of camera movement