Agonies

A scrappy, earnest crime drama that feels like a window into a vanished Parisian underworld, rough-edged but sincere.

Directed by

Atelier Mahé, Jacques-Louis Mahé

Genres

Crime, Drama

Starring

Michel Duc-Goninaz, Raymond Schwartz, Gaston Waringhien

Overview

Angoroj (1964; Esperanto for "Agonies") was the first feature film to be produced entirely in Esperanto. (Jacques-Louis Mahé, a friend of Raymond Schwartz and under the pseudonym of 'Lorjak', had however already produced a silent Esperanto publicity film before World War II, titled Antaŭen! (Onwards!). At the start of the 1960s Mahé, a professional photographic and cinematic expert, invested in the production of the first fictional film in Esperanto. Using a scenario by Mahé himself, the actors of the Internacia Arta Teatro (International Arts Theatre) presented a crime story, set in the Parisian periphery of petty thieves and cheats. Other notable people who played parts in the film included Schwartz (the commissioner), Gaston Waringhien (the voice-over) and many from the environs of the contemporary Paris, including a very young Michel Duc-Goninaz.

How it feels

Dark, tense, melancholic and earnest. Measured and needs your attention.

About

Crime, class, betrayal, survival

Content

Mild violence, sexual content and language. No gore.

Note

Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown

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