On 5 April 1929 Tu m’appartiens! was shown at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in one of the last events devoted to silent movies, before the advent of talking pictures, a seismic change that would threaten the future of French productions. Tu m’appartiens!, which had international aspirations, was one of those films to be imperilled by the coming of sound. The screenplay was written by Alfred Machard, a leading French novelist, and it featured two huge international stars: German actor Rudolf Klein-Rogge, famous for having lent his frame and his unusual features to major works of Expressionism (including Fritz Lang’s sinister Doctor Mabuse), and playing against type here, and Italian actress Francesca Bertini. Ever the femme fatale, the actress had consistently triumphed since 1910 under the aegis of top Italian filmmakers and was set on continuing her dazzling career. Maurice Gleize released this, his sixth film, having only known public acclaim with La Madone des sleepings, a co-production with Marco de Gastyne. The frenetic pace of the edit was intended to match the action, based on Article 635 of the criminal code stipulating that after 20 years on the run, a penal colony escapee can regain his freedom if he evades capture by the police. The beautiful Gisèle, long ago abandoned by her lover, concentrates all her hatred on thwarting this law, which is why François Laussade, the poor convict turned shipping magnate, exposed by the vengeful Gisèle, flees over the course of this 120-minute film. We recall the raid sequence, reminiscent of Pabst, and the upwardly mobile Bertini as she climbs the social ladder, depicted through successive shots of ever more luxurious motor cars. We recall the director’s punctuation of the action through silent close-up shots of noisy objects (ticking clocks, telephones, ocean liner sirens…) and his ambition to give European cinema an aesthetic dimension. In the end, the glory of Tu m’appartiens! resides in the majestic poise of the eternally photogenic Francesca Bertini.

Pierre Philippe