Prodigy of realistic comic book drawing, Enrico Marini has always walked with delight from one genre to another within pop culture.
As early as the 90s, he made his own way with the Western
Star of the Desert
or tackled science fiction à la
Mad Max
in the
Gipsy
series
.
Read also
Lost letters:
wave to the soul in the land of talking fish
With
Rapaces,
Marini then rubs shoulders with vampires. In the
Scorpion
series
, he magnifies the genre of swashbuckling film, without forgetting the peplum thanks to his saga
The Eagles of Rome
. In 2018, the Swiss-born artist even allowed himself a foray into the very codified genre of superhero comics with
The Dark Prince Charming
where he staged nothing less than Batman.
Today, Marini tackles the thriller. A real success.
Noir Burlesque
tells the story of an elegant and silent killer named Slick in 1950s Philadelphia. It all starts with a hotel room at night. Sitting in an armchair, our man is waiting, a gun in his hand, for the arrival of Caprice, the woman who betrayed him. A cabaret dancer with flamboyant hair, she is the new fiancée of Rex, an Irish mafia boss, to whom Slick owes a large sum of money ...
"The urge to imagine a thriller dates back about five years,"
says Enrico Marini.
When I was working on the 5th part of the
Eagles of Rome
, I wanted to pay tribute to the Hollywood noir films that rocked my childhood.
I grew up in Switzerland.
I watched these films with my father who taught me to love them.
There was this seductive black and white that attracted me and this atmosphere of mystery so special.
In addition, the thriller was not a genre that I had yet encountered ...
"
I wanted to immerse the reader in the world of the night and nightclubs ...
Enrico Marini
The author admits his passion for American black films of the 40s and 50s.
“From
Gilda
with Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford to
The Killers
with Ava Gardner and Burt Lancaster, via
Gun for Hire
with Veronica Lake or
Kiss me deadly
, black films have always pleased me.
I wanted to immerse the reader in the world of nightlife and nightclubs ...
"
The title
Noir burlesque
evokes this universe of the night, that of strip clubs where burlesque dancers bathe in giant glasses of champagne.
But he also plays on the double meaning of the term “burlesque” which calls for humor, the bizarre, the funny and the second degree.
While he initially wanted to focus on a comic strip created entirely in black and white, Marini finally opted for the overlay of one color: red.
“I thought about it when Spielberg's film
Schindler's List came back to me
,”
recalls Marini.
What a visual surprise to have discovered the red coat of the little girl in the heart of a film made in black and white.
This graphic choice was perfect.
I applied this touch of red on my comic and it worked wonderfully. "
A mysterious and dramatic atmosphere
On the graphic level, the sets of
Noir burlesque
are imagined from precise documentation of the large American megalopolises of the 1940s and 1950s.
"The backgrounds, the effects of fog and other American buildings, I created them as I went along
," admits the person concerned.
As I drew everything in grease pencil, without being able to erase anything, it gave my line something more slender, more nervous.
Then I used acrylic inks which added an old film side with lots of light and shadow effects.
Which helps to create a mysterious and dramatic atmosphere.
"
I don't want to censor my imagination or my creations to please the muses of the #metoo movement.
Enrico Marini
The plot of the album features characters and a love triangle that is after all classic in black films.
“I wanted to play with the archetypes of the noir novel, those of James Ellroy, Elmore Leonard or Dashiell Hammett,
explains the designer.
But beware, if the characters are archetypes, they are not stereotypes. Slick is a very confident tough guy, but he remains sensitive and attached to Caprice, his former great love. As for the heroine, she is a femme fatale who leads men by the nose, who remains as beautiful as she is dangerous and manipulative ... She is a powerful woman.
I am sometimes criticized for staging characters that are too gendered. I find it a bit tiring. I don't want to censor my imagination or my creations to please the muses of the #metoo movement. It all depends on how you stage things. What can I do if the thriller and the film noir are set in an all-powerful American patriarchal society in the heart of the 1940s and 1950s. I assume to create an old-fashioned comic book.
"
THE BD BOX
The first meeting between Slick and Caprice: a graphic and psychological concentrate of the album.
© Dargaud 2021
Page 7 of
Noir Burlesque
presents a graphic and psychological concentrate of the album.
"In box 1, I immediately show the gloved hand of the heroine who is about to activate the switch on the lamp when she has just entered her room,"
Marini analyzes.
The heroine's gloved hand about to turn on the light ... © Dargaud 2021
A voiceover says, "
No need to light up
."
Slick is already in the bedroom.
This is the first meeting between the two protagonists.
“There is a double meaning in this line
, admits the author
.
Not only do the two characters recognize each other in the shadows, but Slick implicitly recognizes that he is already
“
turned on
”
by the heroine.
"
Surprise, upset ... but very glamorous!
© Dargaud 2021
Box 2 highlights the face of the female character.
“Caprice is a mix between Rita Hayworth and Ava Gardner, all roped in my own style
,” admits Marini.
She is a flamboyant redhead, the one that sets men's hearts on fire.
She is surprised, upset, but she remains very glamorous. "
The first meeting between the two heroes takes place in cinemascope.
© Dargaud 2021
The third box is designed as a cinema screen.
This is the first time that the two characters are in the same image.
“It's a cinemascope image,
decrypts the person concerned.
Slick remains in the shadows, but Caprice in full light in the window frame appears in profile.
She quickly regained control of herself and coldly asks how the hero was able to find her.
The line
“
I missed you
”
indicates that he is familiar with her.
So something happened between them.
"
The hero seated in an armchair waiting for his prey in the shadows.
A film noir classic ... © Dargaud 2021
The last square on the board shows Slick sitting in his chair, gun in hand.
“I processed the image in a slight low angle. This highlights the fact that Slick remains a mysterious killer. You can't see his eyes. He likes to dress up and looks a bit like Gary Cooper or James Bond. When he said, “I followed your scent. You're beautiful. I hesitate between killing you or kissing you ”, we understand that all the ambivalence of the album is summarized here. Slick and Caprice form a flammable couple at the slightest spark. In the end, it's a fatal love story ... "
A few weeks ago, while trying to find out about Jean-Paul Belmondo, Marini came across a photo that looks a lot like this last box.
“I love Belmondo,” he
says
.
And I remember seeing the film,
“
Unnamed La Rocca
”
, directed by Jean Becker in 1961. But it made me smile to discover this shot which looks like my drawing! ”
Jean-Paul Belmondo in 1961 in Jean Becker's film “Unnamed La Rocca”.
Instagram / Enrico Marini-art
Noir burlesque, Tome 1, by Enrico Marini, published by Dargaud, 96 pages, € 18.
Exhibition and sale of works by Enrico Marini at the
9e Art Gallery
, 4, rue Crétet - Paris - 75009. Tel.
: 09 83 21 03 84.