As it’s been Christmas, I recently watched On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and was once again struck by the gorgeous use of the colour purple throughout the film. Whether it’s in the Christmas presents at Blofeld’s Swiss mountaintop allergy clinic/lair, the deep purple patterned baroque wallpaper at the Hotel Casino exuding a regal elegance, or the carefully chosen costumes and lighting throughout, purple consistently emerges as a colour that just pops. Even the Lazenby-era title sequence incorporates this rich colour, giving the film an unmistakable visual identity that firmly establishes it as a departure from the Connery era.
I’ve always loved the use of the colour purple in production design, but it’s not often employed so boldly or dominantly. This made me think of another film that recently left a strong impression on me, one that also infuses its mise-en-scène with striking shades of purple and pink—Jean Marboeuf’s 1979 crime thriller, La Ville des Silences.
Set in the fictional Creuzeville, a quiet provincial town ruled by an old industrial family, La Ville des Silences delves into the dark secrets lurking behind its seemingly tranquil facade. When a private investigator (Jean-Pierre Cassel) arrives to probe a series of murders, the town’s carefully guarded lies begin to unravel. With each killing—whether a young environmentalist or a cynical playboy—the detective ventures deeper into the lives of Creuzeville’s families, exposing long-buried scandals and unsettling truths.
The premise of La Ville des Silences feels firmly rooted in the tradition of French thrillers from the mid-20th century, particularly those that eschewed the bustling urban chaos of Paris in favour of provincial or rural settings. This aligns it with a certain strand of French cinema that explored the tension and claustrophobia of small-town life, where secrets and suppressed emotions often boil over into crime and violence. Directors like Claude Chabrol exemplified this approach, with films such as Le Boucher (1970) exploring how the idyllic façade of countryside life often harbours deep and unsettling secrets.
While I've typically favoured the aesthetics of the French polars of the 1980s, with their neon-lit Parisian streets and visual excesses of the period, I've come to appreciate the more restrained and atmospheric approach of provincially set French thrillers, especially those that deploy colour into these environments in less bombastic ways than their overtly polar counterparts. Take for instance, the more subtle deployment of the colour red in Toutes peines confondues (Michel Deville, 1992)
La Ville des Silences was lensed by Ken Legargeant, with production design by Robert Giordani, and the film features some rather nice compositions alongside the purple infused aesthetics. I’d be bold enough to say that one scene, featuring Jean-Pierre Cassel in a bright pink jumpsuit and matching hat in a playground, anticipates the films of Wes Anderson. The composition of this shot, coupled with the bold use of colour, called to mind the aesthetic of The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Below are a few images that illustrate the film's use of the colour purple...
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