☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ½
Story of a Cheat (1936) -- S. Guitry
I looked up the
definition of "picaresque" just to be sure, and, yes, Sacha Guitry's
tale most certainly fits the bill. He plays a young rogue of peasant origins
who lives by his wits in a corrupt society -- Monte Carlo! The film is
basically wall-to-wall narration (with more than a few double entendres)
telling a story that jumps back and forth from the present day and various
timepoints in the past. It comes as no
surprise that Chris Marker, Alain Resnais, and Orson Welles are said to have
loved this film (and this filmmaker who made over 30 films, some reportedly not
so good). Indeed, Welles seems to have
modelled some of his films and some of his onscreen persona on Guitry. A film
that probably wasn't meant to be taken seriously, but which is ground-breaking
(in its use of time, narration, cuts, jokes) all the same.
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