The Fire Within

This article is about the 1963 film. For the 2001 novel, see The Fire Within (novel)

The Fire Within
File:Le Feu follet .jpeg DVD Cover
Directed by	Louis Malle
Screenplay by	Louis Malle
Based on	Will O' the Wisp by Pierre Drieu La Rochelle
Starring	Maurice Ronet Jeanne Moreau Alexandra Stewart
Music by	Erik Satie
Cinematography	Ghislain Cloquet
Edited by	Suzanne Baron
Distributed by	Gibraltar Productions Governor Films Inc.
Release dates	15 October 1963 (1963-10-15)
Running time	108 minutes
Country	Italy France
Language	French

The Fire Within (French: Le feu follet [lə fø fɔlɛ], meaning "The Manic Fire" or "Will-o'-the-Wisp") is a 1963 French drama film directed by Louis Malle. It is based on the novel Will O' the Wisp by Pierre Drieu La Rochelle which itself was inspired by the life of Jacques Rigaut. The film stars Maurice Ronet, Jeanne Moreau—who had previously worked with Ronet and Malle in Elevator to the Gallows—as well as Alexandra Stewart, Bernard Noel, Lena Skerla, Hubert Deschamps and Yvonne Clech. The score features the music of Erik Satie.

Plot

Alain Leroy, a recovering alcoholic at a rehabilitation clinic in Versailles suffers with a depression. He intends to commit suicide, but first decides to visit his friends in Paris one final time, trying to find a reason to live.

The stark contrast and seemingly pointless nature of his friends' bourgeois existence only brings Leroy into a state of even further contention with his absence of meaning in life, perceived by him. Without much fanfare he returns home and kills himself, having had traveled and arced and tried, hoping to seek out an answer or meaning, but discovering that all there was to find was more complication and more intensity when it came to his state of question on whether or not life was worth living any longer.

Cast

• Maurice Ronet as Alain Leroy
• Léna Skerla as Lydia
• Yvonne Clech as Mademoiselle Farnoux
• Hubert Deschamps as D'Averseau
• Jean-Paul Moulinot as Dr. La Barbinais
• Mona Dol as Madame La Barbinais
• Pierre Moncorbier as Moraine
• René Dupuy as Charlie (as René Dupuis)
• Bernard Tiphaine as Milou
• Bernard Noël as Dubourg
• Ursula Kubler as Fanny
• Jeanne Moreau as Eva
• Alexandra Stewart as Solange

Reception

The film was selected as the French entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 36th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee. In his 2006 Movie Guide, Leonard Maltin gives the film 3.5 stars (out of four) and calls it "probably Malle's best early film." Roger Ebert wrote that the film was a "triumph of style."

See also

• List of submissions to the 36th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of French submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

External links

• The Fire Within at IMDb
• The Fire Within at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Fire Within at AllMovie
• The Fire Within, review at filmsdefrance.com