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The Fire Within

The Fire Within

Drama · 1963

Depressed Alain Leroy leaves the clinic where he was detoxified. He meets friends, acquaintances and women, trying to find a reason to continue living.

Movie details

The Fire Within

1963 Drama 1h 48m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.6 / 10

Community rating

Depressed Alain Leroy leaves the clinic where he was detoxified. He meets friends, acquaintances and women, trying to find a reason to continue living.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Fire Within?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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The Devil, Probably

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Charles drifts through politics, religion and psychoanalysis, rejecting them all. Once he realises the depth of his disgust with the moral and physical decline of the society he lives in, he decides that suicide is the only option...

Betty

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Drama · 1992

A drunken, self-destructive woman called Betty wanders into a Parisian bar where she meets middle-aged alcoholic Laure. Laure decides to take care of Betty. Recovering in a hotel room, Betty begins to recount to Laure the story of her bourgeois life and her unhappy and unfaithful marriage.

Élisa

Élisa

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Marie has had a tough childhood ever since her mother Elisa committed suicide. She has spent most of her life in an orphanage and now makes a living as a small time criminal in Paris. Now she wants to unravel her past and find her father whom she blames for her mother's death.

The Last Woman

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Psychological drama of the compelling relationship between a young French engineer and the girl he takes into his home after his wife has left him with their baby son.

Violette

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A Love Song for Bobby Long

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A headstrong young woman returns to New Orleans after the death of her estranged mother.

Urchin

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Mike, a rough sleeper in London, is trapped in a cycle of self-destruction as he attempts to turn his life around. Along the way, he encounters unexpected chances for a fresh start.

Hands of Stone

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The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Louis Malle

Written by

Louis Malle

Maurice Ronet

Maurice Ronet

Alain Leroy

Léna Skerla

Léna Skerla

Lydia

Yvonne Clech

Yvonne Clech

Mademoiselle Farnoux

Hubert Deschamps

Hubert Deschamps

D'Averseau

Jean-Paul Moulinot

Jean-Paul Moulinot

Dr. La Barbinais

Mona Dol

Mona Dol

Madame La Barbinais

Pierre Moncorbier

Pierre Moncorbier

Moraine

Court is in session

Put The Fire Within on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.