La Chienne (1931) and Scarlet Street (1945) were two movies made by two directors with contrasting set of sensibilities and modes of storytelling. I saw scarlet street first made by German Director Fritz Lang and was really fascinated with the way the story went about dissecting the persona of Mr. Chris Cross played by Edward G. Robinson. I then watched La Chienne made by French Director Jean Renoir and wanted to see how the character molded in the adept hands of Renoir and what thrust he wanted the movie to have that would stand in contrast to Lang’s staging and screenplay.
La Chienne was made first and then Lang re-made it in Hollywood but obviously with his signature style and tenor.
Guilt is a complicated emotion which plays out differently in movies based on the character and the way the plot functions to deliver poetic justice. This is the closest a screenplay writer comes to acting a God and has the power to lay out his ideas of what constitutes a closure for the dastardly act. At times offering a redemptive opportunity and at times leaving no door open. There are dark clouds on the horizon, in both Scarlet street and La Chienne, but the clouds in Scarlet Street cast a bigger shadow, foretelling impending rain with rumbling thunder and ominous lightning.
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a little sweet, a little sour 