Le Brasier ardent

Le Brasier ardent is a 1923 French film directed by Ivan Mosjoukine. It combines elements of comedy, mystery, romance and psychological drama. The title has been variously translated into English as The Blazing Inferno, The Burning Crucible, The Burning Brazier, The Burning Cauldron, and Burning Embers. Plot A woman, known only as Elle ("She"), has a nightmare in which she encounters a man chained to a tree above a blazing pyre into which he tries to pull her by the hair, an elegant gentleman in evening dress who pursues her into an opium den full of dazed women, a bishop who instructs her to return to her home, and a ragged beggar who attempts to embrace her before stabbing himself. Upon waking she realises that they each had the features of Z, a detective and master of disguise whose memoirs she has been reading in bed. Her wealthy husband, whom she married after he had saved her from drowning, is concerned about her mental state and her diminishing affection for him. He wants to take her away from the temptations of Paris, back to his home country in South America, but his plan is impeded by her resistance and by a burglary in which some important documents have been stolen. The husband hires a detective agency to recover the documents and to find the means of restoring his wife's affection; the detective assigned to his case is Z. Z quickly works out that the burglary was faked by Elle in order to obstruct her husband from taking her away from her beloved Paris. While pretending to continue his search for the documents, Z extends his acquaintance with Elle and realises that they are falling in love with each other. In order to fulfil his contract with the husband, Z goes to a nightclub with Elle and stages a contest of endurance dancing for women, in which the winner seemingly dances herself to death. Elle is so distraught by this that she rushes home and begs her husband to take her away from the odious city. The husband arranges their immediate departure on a transatlantic liner. Z hands over the missing documents and stoically makes his farewell to the couple. At the port of Le Havre, the husband tells his wife that he has forgotten to give Z his promised fee and he asks her to travel quickly to Paris to deliver it in person. As Elle and Z are re-united, a letter from the husband tells them that he has understood his wife's change of affection and he gives them his blessing, as he departs alone.