La Incorregible: A relic worth digging up?

If you're the type who gets a kick out of old-fashioned melodrama where everyone is constantly worried about their reputation, you might find something to love here. It’s not for the modern viewer who needs a fast pace or a complex twist. If you hate slow, talky setups and people standing around in rooms looking vaguely distressed, skip it. Honestly, it’s probably best left for those of us who enjoy the weird, quiet corners of film history.

Watching La incorregible is a bit like visiting an attic that hasn't been opened since your grandmother was a girl. The air is thick with old manners and that specific kind of dramatic pacing that makes you realize how much cinema has changed. You can tell they were trying to capture a certain spark, but half the time it just feels like everyone is performing in a stage play that someone forgot to take the curtains down for.

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

There is this one moment in the second act where the framing gets so tight on the faces that you can almost see the actors trying to remember their next line. It’s clumsy. It’s also kind of wonderful because it reminds you that there was a person holding the camera who was just as nervous as the people in front of it.

It definitely lacks the sharp, cynical edge of something like Charming Sinners, though it shares that same DNA of people whispering in parlors. While that film has a bit more bite, La incorregible is content to just sit there and look pretty in its black-and-white frame. Sometimes the silence is so heavy you can almost hear the projector humming in the back of the room.

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

Small things that caught my eye

• The way the lead actress holds her fan—it’s like she’s trying to hide a whole secret life behind a bit of lace.
• The background extras in the party scene are doing absolutely nothing, just standing there like mannequins waiting for a bus.
• The lighting in the library sequence is distractingly flat, but the shadows look surprisingly cool when they finally shift.

It’s not trying to be a masterpiece. It’s just trying to fill an hour or so with some mild tension and a few dramatic exits. I found myself wishing it would just get on with it, but then again, that’s exactly why you watch these things. You don't watch it for the plot, really. You watch it to see how people in the 1920s thought a scandal looked. 🤷‍♂️

Honestly, it’s a weirdly soothing experience. If you’re looking for something that won’t challenge your brain but might make you smile at the sheer antique nature of it all, give it a go. Just don’t expect to be changed by it. It’s a postcard from nowhere.