Georges Franju's Judex is an arch, playful tribute to the serials of the influential silent filmmaker Louis Feuillade. Franju shuffles through the plot of Feuillade's lengthy serial of the same name, about an adventurer named Judex whose revenge against the corrupt banker Favraux unleashes a complicated series of schemes.
Direction
Franju's loving pastiche that winks without mocking
Cinematography
Shadow-drenched compositions worthy of Feuillade's ghosts
Costume
Judex's cape-and-hat combo: maximum drama, zero utility
Director
Georges Franju
Channing Pollock
Judex / Vallieres
Francine Bergé
Diana Monti / Marie Verdier
Édith Scob
Jacqueline Favraux
Théo Sarapo
Morales
Sylva Koscina
Daisy
René Génin
Pierre Kerjean
Roger Fradet
Leon
Philippe Mareuil
Le vicomte Amaury de la Rochefontaine
Jean Degrave
Notary
Jacques Jouanneau
Alfred Cocantin
Michel Vitold
Favraux
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Franju originally wanted to remake Fantômas but rights fell through, so he settled for Feuillade's other iconic serial and arguably improved it.
The 1963 release coincided with French New Wave's peak, making Judex a deliberate anachronism—classicism as radical gesture against the radical.
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