Pepe le Moko is a classic gangster film and it embodies the concept of poetic realism to a T. The setting for this poetic story is poetry itself. The world comes together in one little area, everyone is different, but everyone is family, all watching out for le Moko.
Although most poetic realist films are supposed to be pessimistic, Pepe le Moko is optimistic. Le Moko wants to get out of the world he currently lives in. He wants to go back to his beloved Paris and be with the woman he loves. He sees a bright future, but like all in gangster films, he is doomed. The audience is pulled in to his optimistic view; hoping and wanting him to get out and be with the one he loves. Yet, we feel the pain he feels when he must leave. As much as he wants to get out and go to Paris, he is afraid of leaving the Casbah. He is afraid to leave the comfort that he feels there and the safe haven it has become.
The beauty lays in the poetry that is his life. He is a grown man who is like a child, afraid to leave home. In the end, he takes his life because he can’t have what he truly wanted. To her, he was already dead; there is no point for him to continue his life in jail. He set himself free. In this struggle, he gets what he wanted all along, freedom.
Word study: Poetry
–noun
1. the art of rhythmical composition, written or spoken, for exciting pleasure by beautiful, imaginative, or elevated thoughts.
2. literary work in metrical form; verse.
3. prose with poetic qualities.
4. poetic qualities however manifested: the poetry of simple acts and things.
5. poetic spirit or feeling: The pianist played the prelude with poetry.
6. something suggestive of or likened to poetry: the pure poetry of a beautiful view on a clear day.
(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/poetry)
I wonder if you think that he really did love Gaby or did she just represent Paris? Did he kill himself because to her, he was dead or because Paris was no longer reachable?
ReplyDeleteZi, I wonder if you really think that Pepe le Moko is optimistic considering the tragic ending? I agree with you that the audience is drawn in to Pepe's life and we find ourselves rooting for a "bad guy" (Pepe is a thief and outlaw), but I wouldn't say this makes the film optimistic. The tragic, doomed finale makes the film quite pessimistic for me. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean by "The setting for this poetic story is poetry itself"?
And Jen, I think your question is very interesting. What do you both think?