La folle aventure: A messy, charming trip

Is this for you?

Honestly, if you have a soft spot for grainy, old-fashioned mysteries, you might get a kick out of this. It’s not exactly a masterpiece, but it’s got enough spirit to keep you watching. If you’re the type who needs a tight, logical plot that explains every single twist, you will probably hate this. It’s a bit of a scatterbrain.

The whole thing centers on Fred, a journalist who finds himself in way over his head. He’s supposed to be writing stories, but instead, he’s running around trying to keep Nelly safe. I mean, who wouldn't? She’s got that classic mysterious vibe that makes everything feel slightly more dangerous than it probably is.

There’s a scene about midway through—or maybe it was the end, who knows—where the pacing just drops off a cliff. It lingers on a shot of a doorway for what feels like five minutes. I checked my watch twice. It wasn’t artistic, it was just… there.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of La folle aventure (1931) through its definitive frames.

Compared to something like One Week, this feels way more frantic and less put together. The actors are clearly trying their best with what they've got, though. Marie Glory looks like she’s trying to solve a puzzle that the scriptwriter forgot to finish.

Odd bits and pieces

• The lighting in the cafe scene is bizarrely bright. It looks like they forgot to turn off the overheads.
• Fred’s coat seems to change length depending on the angle. Maybe it's a magic coat? 🧥
• The dialogue is snappy sometimes, but other times it sounds like they’re reading from a grocery list.

I found myself thinking about The Devil's Prize while watching this. Both movies have that same frantic energy where everyone is running, but nobody is really going anywhere. It’s like a carousel that’s spinning a little too fast.

Some of the background extras are clearly just staring at the camera. One guy in a hat walks past the frame three times in the same street scene. Classic.

It’s not a film that stays with you for days. But for an hour or so? It’s a decent enough way to kill time if you don't expect it to reinvent the wheel. Just don't look too closely at the continuity errors unless you want a headache. 🤷‍♂️