Why was this even made in the first place?

It’s very rare I come across a film and say to myself midway through, “why was this even made in the first place?” The fact that Renoir himself supposedly disliked it should speak volumes. This is the single most lackluster and messy detective story I’ve ever seen across all mediums. Yes, even more so than The Big Sleep, and I couldn’t help but think of Raymond Chandler the whole way through. Except I can give in to Raymond Chandler’s messy and convoluted plots because they’re gripping as hell. There’s absolutely nothing interesting going on here, besides maybe the muggy atmosphere and cinematography at times, which isn’t enough to salvage this film.

Not to mention this film was also produced during the awkward stage in film where the technology for sound was still brand new, with the filmmakers still struggling to make heads or tails on how to properly utilize it. Usually I’ve got no issue with it but here it’s truly bad. I don’t understand how this is significantly worse on both a technical and writing standpoint than Renoir’s great previous work, La Chienne.

I aged more in 75 minutes than Robert De Niro did in 3 hours and 30 minutes in The Irishman.

Composition is forced. Lighting is bad. Angle is off. We have the protagonist, but where’s the antagonist? Where’s the drama?