French Poetic Realism in 8 films
In the 1930s and after, French directors gave ordinary people tragic, romantic stories: workers, outlaws, lovers on the edge. Fog, rain and fate fill the screen. This is the tradition the New Wave later fought against and loved.
- 1Zéro de conduite 1933Jean Vigo · IMDb 7.2Vigo's short film about a revolt at a boarding school was banned in France for years. It is wild, funny and full of poetry.
Next: L'Atalante
Vigo's short rebellion gives way to his only feature, a gentler tale of a bargeman, his young wife and the river. - 2L'Atalante 1934Jean Vigo · IMDb 7.7A bargeman and his young wife, and the river they live on. Vigo's only feature, made just before his death at twenty-nine.
Next: La Grande Illusion
From a barge on the river we go to a prison camp in 1914, where Renoir looks across classes and borders. - 3La Grande Illusion 1937Jean Renoir · IMDb 8.0French prisoners of war in a German camp in 1914. Renoir's plea for humanity across classes and borders.
Next: Pépé le Moko
Same year, far darker horizon: a gangster hiding in the Algiers casbah, and a model for many later crime films. - 4Pépé le Moko 1937Julien Duvivier · IMDb 7.6A gangster hides in the Algiers casbah and falls for a Parisian woman. The model for many later crime films.
Next: Port of Shadows
Fate stays in charge, but the setting moves from the casbah to a foggy port, with Jean Gabin in his most famous role. - 5Port of Shadows 1938Marcel Carné · IMDb 7.7A deserter arrives in a foggy port and meets a girl. Jean Gabin's most famous role in a film about fate.
Next: The Rules of the Game
On the eve of war, Renoir returns with a weekend party where the rich and their servants play at love. - 6The Rules of the Game 1939Jean Renoir · IMDb 7.9A weekend party at a country house where the rich and their servants play at love. Failed in 1939 and is now counted among the greatest films.
Next: Children of Paradise
From a country-house party to the theatres of 1840s Paris, in a love letter to the stage made under occupation. - 7Children of Paradise 1945Marcel Carné · IMDb 8.3A mime, an actress and a criminal in the theatres of 1840s Paris. Shot during the German occupation, it is a love letter to the stage.
Next: Madame de…
Last comes a more refined and glittering world, where Ophüls's gliding camera follows one pair of earrings through the ballrooms. - 8Madame de… 1953Max Ophüls · IMDb 7.8A pair of earrings passes from hand to hand and ends a marriage. Ophüls's camera glides through ballrooms in long, elegant takes.
