Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Les Enfants du Paradis

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Les Enfants du Paradis

    For some reason or other, I have always missed seeing this film, that is until the night before last, when I saw it was on the French Arte channel.

    Starting with the technical side, the monochrome photography is absolutely superb and the sound is excellent, considering its age and conditions (shot during the Nazi occupation of France and released in 1945). The massive crowd scenes in the Boulevard du Crime lost a little on a 28" TV, of course, but it quickly went from gros plan to the details of the plot, so nothing was lost in the way it was played out.

    The plot is complex, revolving around the interplay of a number of characters and it involves love in all its forms, murder, petty crime, all in the surrealist background of a theatre specialising in mime. The mime itself is superb and brought tears to my eyes - it leaves Marcel Marceau standing, even in his heyday.

    This is a beautiful film and I would class it easily in the top five films I've ever seen, such is the mixture of pathos, comedy, drama and visual beauty, with top actors of the day.

    If you have the opportunity, please do see it. If you understand French, preferably in version originale; if not, subtitled, rather than dubbed.

    A true work of cinematographic art in all its forms.
    Brian (the devil incarnate)

  • #2
    "For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism."

    Comment


    • #3
      Directed by Marcel Carné and written by Jacques Prévert. That's all you need to say.
      Dr. Mordrid
      ----------------------------
      An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

      I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

      Comment


      • #4
        Couldn't you have posted that before it was aired on Arte? (Arte is a french-german channel with two-channel sound, and can be received in all of Germany).
        There's an Opera in my macbook.

        Comment


        • #5
          Sorry, but it started at 2140 local time and I checked what was on the channel about 2100. The film was so captivating, both Loved'un and I even managed to stay awake until 0045 or thereabouts - didn't even have the slightest desire to drop off. Arte has some good documentaries from time to time, as well as classic films.

          Tonight, for example. at 2015 your time, there is the first episode of La Haute Route, about a group of people from a kid of 12 to a 74-y.o. who walked from Chamonix to Zermatt through some of the most difficult terrain, including glaciers, climbing to the best part of 4000 m. I watched it on the Swiss TV a week or two back and give it 4½ out of 5. for human interest.
          Brian (the devil incarnate)

          Comment

          Working...
          X