Rating: NR
Genre:
Drama
Theatrical Release: 10/11/1963(France)
Release Date: 05/13/2008
SubTitles: English
Dubbed: French
Sound: DD1
Run Time: 108 Minutes
Flags: Adult Situations, Not For Children, Substance Abuse (Alcohol, Drugs), Sexual Situations, Alcohol Consumption
Distributor/Studio: Criterion
Maurice Ronet plays an alcoholic writer,
Alain Leroy, who is on the verge of suicide (his character is based on writer
Jacques Rigaut, who killed himself in 1929). The psychiatrist assigned to
Leroy is no help, advising his patient to seek a reconciliation with his wife, who is still smarting from
Leroy's recent liaison with
Lydia (
Lena Skerla). Still obsessed with the notion of taking his own life,
Leroy plans to stage his demise on July 23. A last-ditch effort to jolly himself out of his doldrums fails, and
Leroy, with a picture of
Marilyn Monroe at his side, snuffs himself out. Though a case study of a man victimized by his own isolationism,
The Fire Within has some surprising random optimistic moments. The French title for
The Fire Within is
Le Feu Follet, which was also the title of the novel by
Pierre Drieu La Rochelle (another suicide!) from which this film was adapted.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide