Marcel Carne (director)
Studio Canal (studio)
PG (certificate)
93 mins (length)
03 October 2014 (released)
18 September 2014
Foundry worker Francois (Jean Gabin) shoots dead Valentin (Jules Berry). He then barricades himself in his room and refuses to move after an attempt by police fails. Francois reminiscences about his life and loves, he recalls meetings Françoise (Jacqueline Laurent) a young and beautiful shop worker and Clara (Arletty) a mature actress. As time passes we explore a tale of sex, betrayal and murder.
The pairing of director Marcel Carne and writer Jacques Prevert created for me, the greatest pieces of the poetic realism film movement. These are some of French cinemas most prized and powerful works. That is really saying something for a country that produced Renoir, Goddard, Akerman and Chabrol to name but a few. This film is a rare and unexplored gem from the period and suffered greatly on first release, censored by the Vichy government for being to bleak it is anything but. It now receives a well deserved release on Blu ray and DVD.
The film itself is fantastic and magical in many ways. The performance of Gabin makes this film and gives real drama to this story of lies and manipulation. He was an actor of balance and understated grace. Arletty is lovely and will recall for many her fabulous turn in 'Children of paradise'.
Then we have the creative constructs of the piece which in themselves are without doubt masterful. The crisp photography is stunning, with the delight of clear images bringing a new dimension to this work. The shallow focus and deep focus show the visual variable on show here but also add to the dreamlike reality of the world of pre world war 2 Paris. A world half alive with the passions of hope and half fearful of the expected horror of another war. Then we have the tear making dissolves, which left me amazed.
The release is well produced and the transfer is clean and emphasizes the creators ambition. Care has been taken in this and it shows, this is not a hack job with the ambition of revenues, no! I commend the film and the producers of this release and long for more of the same.