lunedì 6 agosto 2018

SIMENON SIMENON. ON WHODUNIT IN “THE KRULL HOUSE” / 3

About the rape and murder suspects #3 and #4 

SIMENON SIMENONSUR QUI A FAIT ÇA DANS CHEZ KRULL / 3 
A propos des suspects numéros 3 et 4 dans le viol et le meurtre 
SIMENON SIMENON. CHI HA FATTO COSA IN "CHEZ KRULL" / 3
In merito ai sospetti numero 3 e 4 per i furti e per l'omicidio


In The Krull House (Chez Krull), the final two suspects to consider as the rapist-murderer of the young girl are town drunkard Potut and a complete stranger new to the scene. Neither of these actually get much attention, if for no other reason than the implicating specific testimony of a sleepless neighbor of the Krulls who saw both Hans and Joseph come home very late in the night of the crime. 
This third suspect, Potut, is a current drunkard, a sometime vegetable seller, and a former croupier, who “cohabits with the mother of the murdered young girl with whom he may have had sexual relations as well. In fact, Potut quickly gets arrested for the crime, but after a week in jail, an airtight alibi for the night of the crime turns up in the form of a homeless drunkard who places him out of town where a bartender confirms he was present. The released man unsurprisingly joins into the mob hysteria permeating the town and threatening to harm the Krulls, those hated “Krauts.” 
The fourth suspect is never more than an unknown, a “vagabond” seen only by Joseph. Well after the crime, the voyeur first tells his mother he watched this man stalk Sidonie, attack her, and drag her body to the canal. Even later, Joseph tells his cousin he will  “confess” this “truth” to the police, but Hans counters that “You’re kaput!” since he is “German” and they will not believe him. Very much later, Joseph at last does tell the investigators he had seen the killer: “That evening, a man got close to Sidonie… I saw him poorly… Big enough, strong enough… badly dressed, I think… I followed them…” Admitting he did not immediately understand what was going on,” he claims he “saw Sidonie struggling” and then the man dragged her body to the canal. Since Joseph “did not see his face,” the description is insufficient, making the man unidentifiable. Explaining he did not report these facts initially because the police detest us [his family] like the whole community,” he falsely denies having told his mother and cousin what he had seen. Equally odd and inexplicable is the fact that neither of them attempts to corroborate Joseph’s story. The police shrug off this whole tale, but they do eventually jail him, mostly to pacify the angry mob advancing on the house to kill him. 
In sum, to my view, the tally of indicators points more strongly to Hans than to Joseph, leading to the strong opinion that Hans is the most likely culprit. It is also noteworthy that Joseph denied he was guilty whereas Hans never claimed he was innocent. Indeed, Simenon presents “the foreigner” Hans as “the cause of all the world’s ills, the major instigator of most of the badness that evolves in the novel. He is evil personified, a man who provoked the same kind of malaise” as the Krull family  “black cat” Joseph had killed. If nothing else, at least the two family heads, his Aunt Maria and Uncle Cornelius, recognize and insist that Hans assume the mantle of guilt as the killer to save the rest of the family from impending destruction by the mob. And the ploy does work! Luckily, after Hans flees the town, looking like the real culprit, the prisoner gets released, is presumed innocent, and the Krull family endures. 

David P Simmons 

domenica 5 agosto 2018


SIMENON SIMENON. PORTRAIT DE MAIGRET SUR ECRAN 
Maigret vu par les acteurs et les réalisateurs

Claude Goretta a réalisé trois épisodes pour la série Maigret avec Bruno Crémer. Dans l'interview qu'il donne pour le hors-série de Télérama de 1993, Maigret, ce phénomène !, voici ce qu'il dit du personnage: 
"C'est un lent. Il va sur le terrain. Il ne travaille presque jamais par téléphone. Les bons journalistes disent que leur travail commence au moment où ils appuient sur la sonnette. Et ils ont raison. Maigret travaille comme ça: il observe, capte des signes, réunit un certain nombre d'impressions. Sa seule vivacité est dans sa tête. Mais quelle vivacité !" 
(dans la photo a gauche, Claude Goretta)




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SIMENON SIMENON MAIGRET RITRATTO  SULLO SCHERMO 
Maigret visto da attori e registi 


Claude Goretta ha realizzato tre episodi per la serie di Maigret con Bruno Crèmer. Nell’intervista che ha concesso per la serie speciale di Télérama del 1993, Maigret, ce phénomène !, ecco quello che racconta del personaggio : « E’ uno lento. Sta ben piantato a terra. Non lavora quasi mai con il telefono.  I buoni giornalisti dicono che il loro lavoro inizia nel momento in cui suona la campanella. E hanno ragione. Maigret lavora così: osserva, capta dei segnali, raggruppa un certo numero d’impressioni. La sua sola vivacità è dentro la sua testa. E quale vivacità ! »


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SIMENON SIMENON. MAIGRET'S PORTRAIT ON SCREEN 
Maigret seen by actors and directors 


Claude Goretta directed three episodes for the Maigret series with Bruno Crémer. 
In his interview for the Télérama special issue in 1993, Maigret, ce phénomène !, here's what he had do say about the character: "He's a slow man. 
He goes out in the field. 
He almost never works by phone. Good journalists say that their job begins at the very moment they press the door bell. 
And they are right. Maigret works this way: he observes, catches signs, and brings together a number of impressions. His sole vivacity is in his head. But what vivacity!"

by Simenon Simenon