Nuits Rouges

Georges Franju, 1973
Here is a dive into the serialism genre; Feuilladean, yes, but here above all 'Spiones' seems to be the reference.
The basic rule, loosely held, is 'one shot', one action. The camera keeps relatively still (that including slight reframings). When Franju does move it, it is to move in, but not so smooth as before. There are quite jerky zooms obviously on the axis. This has the effect of giving simpe images, one after another, that in the classic Langian manner 'strike' the viewer. This is reflected in the clear lighting.
The cutting is therefore fast; but the single-action images do not mean they have to be of one kind. Along with the close-ups, and some very fast work in the action scenes, the one action that does take place can afford to be quite slow. Long shots of people creeping along the roofs are here, and actions can afford, like doors opening, to take quite some time.
The classic serials are obviously black and white; this is colour, with saturated colours, presumably to cash in on the 'powerful' nature (though contrast doesn't seem vastly turned up. Sound, that is dialogue, is a tough issue. It adds a level of unreality, makes it seem slightly less 'believable', if that is the word, than Lang/Feuillade, perhaps, but generally doesn't actively intervene.
As mentioned, this film does run, pleasingly and excitingly, through the classic themes of the genre. We have roofs/ trains/ train roofs. Murders, women slinking around. There is also the theme of the automaton, the mad scientist (essaying Klein-Rogge), the fear of acting as a dupe for another, which is reflected in other parts of the plot. There is the slightly wimpy ingenue hero, and the policman. The idea of obsessive crime is deeply Langian, and the modern technology, the 'facelessness' of the silver surfaces, here crossed with archaic ritual, stonework (myth and progress) is a fascinating development, and can surely be used to examine, say, 'Spiones' with greater acuity. Also note the Franjuian themes; facelessness, and here we have many cases of smoke.
How does this differ, how has the passage of time effected the genre? Apart from the sound issues, which may in fact be nearly everything, it seems to me that the stylisation is more evident. The action, perhaps due to colour and sound making it more 'real', make it slightly more like people in funny clothes running around, losing the distance that makes the originals the fine allegories. The clothes, melodrama, action, coincidences, all are slightly more at show.
Trying to draw on Lang and Feuillade is a noble but brutally difficult enterprise; Franju has though here done a fine job. This is, on its own, an exciting, thoughtful, and occassionally beautiful film. No, its not the equal of Lang; I won't be silly. Time and, simply, Lang's eye, count against that. But let me be clear; I deeply respect Franju for even trying, and am not so much respectful, as deeply impressed by the result, a film that is enjoyable, exciting, and smart.