Judex

Judex (1916)

A serial in twelve episodes.

When an unscrupulous banker ruins his family, a young man swears to bring him to justice, so he adopts a new identity, the mysterious Judex, and ominously disguised and sunk into the muddy path of vengeance, punishes the crooks and protects the innocents. (Originally a twelve-part epic serial.)

Date of release
1916-12-16
TMDB
6.8 / 10 (21)
Runtime
5h 17m
Genres
Drama, Crime
Director
Louis Feuillade

Casting

Interesting facts

Judex is a 1916 French silent film serial consisting of twelve episodes, directed by Louis Feuillade in 1916, from a screenplay by Feuillade and Arthur Bernède, and released in 1917. Immediately preceding the weekly release of each episode, Judex's adventures were serialised in the daily magazine Le Petit Parisien.

Production

Louis Feuillade had made two earlier serials, Fantômas (1913) and Les Vampires (1915–1916), about cunning criminals. Though popular with audiences, the serials drew criticism for glorifying outlaws. Feuillade opted for a lighter approach for his next film series, celebrating the adventures of a vigilante.

In collaboration with the novelist Arthur Bernède, Feuillade developed a film project, accompanied by a 12-part cinematographic novel, which would be simultaneously serialised in newspapers and film, with story revisions by Feuillade.

Arthur Bernède explained the close collaboration he had with Feuillade, who was in charge of the cinematographic aspects, in the creation of Judex. He said that they worked in perfect harmony, according to a pre-established plan, from which neither deviated for a single moment: "In this pooling of ideas and efforts, we sought to create a picturesque, entertaining work, dramatic enough to captivate everyone's attention, but above all respectful of…

While working on Judex, Bernède developed a writing method that he retained for all his novel-film productions: he constructed a screenplay that served both as the basis for writing a novel and for the serial's storyboard. Then, after submitting a twelve-page screenplay to Feuillade, Bernède participated in the series's storyboarding and continued his collaboration during filming.

For their creation of Judex, Feuillade and Bernède drew upon a wealth of literary references. Thus, Judex shares many similarities with Fantômas such as his penchant for disguises and his forceful methods, except that Judex fights for justice. Moreover, as a further parallel, Feuillade suggested René Navarre, who played Fantômas in the eponymous 1913 serial, but he ultimately declined.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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