1945 ‘Les Enfants du Paradis’ Directed by Marcel Carné
Filmed during the German occupation, this French milestone centers around the theatrical life of a beautiful courtesan and the four men who love her. Voted the “Best French Film in History” by the French Film Academy in 1990.
Arletty Jean-Louis Barrault Pierre Brasseur María Casares Marcel Herrand Louis Salou Pierre Renoir Jane Marken Gaston Modot Fabien Loris Marcel Pérès Etienne Decroux Marcelle Monthil Louis Florencie Habib Benglia Rognoni Jacques Castelot Paul Frankeur Albert Rémy Robert Dhéry Auguste Bovério Paul Demange Lucienne Legrand Maurice Schutz Joe Alex Nicolas Bataille Gérard Blain Bill Bocket Albert Broquin Show All…
Paradisets børn, Los niños del paraíso, Paratiisin lapset, Komedianci, Ta paidia tou Paradeisou, Szerelmek városa, Os Rapazes da Geral, De kinderen van het paradijs, Amanti perduti, Булевард на Престъпленията, Kinder des Olymp, O Boulevard do Crime, 천국의 아이들
Epic history and literature Humanity and the world around us romance, emotion, relationships, feelings or captivating historical, royalty, sumptuous, lavish or drama shakespearean, kings, breathtaking, historical or battle powerful, emotion, storytelling, poetic or captivating biography, artists, musician, emotional or songs Show All…
There is a deeper meaning here, but I don't know if I care. Many have suggested in the past that mere technical brilliance is not enough to carry a film; I am guilty of having believed this once. And to be honest, I don't know if I can spot technical brilliance, but I know spectacle when I see it. I understand the scope of something, and this has a scope that is breathtaking. The idea that technical brilliance cannot carry a film suggests a lack of appreciate for the feeling of wonder. While technical brilliance is not necessary, and while technical brilliance does not necessarily equal greatness, there are times when it evokes such powerful feelings of wonder that it…
Les Enfants du Paradis displays a spectrum of emotions and sensations within a Parisian theatre background which has a richness of a great nineteenth-century novel. Directed by Marcel Carné and brought about under the most trying of conditions, namely Germany’s occupation of France during World War II. It gives prominence to its ornate sets, elegant costumes and an affecting orchestral score which all indicate nothing of the tough realities during its production.
There are substantial scenes which take place in clandestine locations and it calls to mind the reality that several of its actors were actively involved in the resistance at the time. It also examines the essence of performance, with Jean-Louis Barrault (as mine artist Baptiste Deburau) amplifying additional layers to Jacques Prévert’s stylised script. Les Enfants du Paradis is a sentimental costume melodrama that is also one of the most outstanding films of all time.
One rainy afternoon, my buddy Cory and I offered a ride to a couple of girls caught in the storm (a purely chivalrous act, having nothing to do with their cheerleading uniforms, I’m sure). As they slid into the cab of the truck, I recognized them as Megan J and Heather M, friends and classmates of my younger brother (sophomores; a grade below us). We got to chatting, and when one of them asked what we had planned for the weekend, Cory turned and boldly ventured, “Taking the two of you camping.”
Any shock I may have felt at the artless proposal was immediately eclipsed by the girls’ audacious response: “When do we leave?”
The sky was clear the next…
Third Review for The Collab Weekly Movie Watch
Since I lost every ounce of energy I had from watching this movie, I'll keep this one short. In addition, the hellish weather had me sweating profusely. Generally speaking, not the best conditions for watching a film, never mind a three-hour film.
Honesty, this film is impressive on a technical level. It features beautiful, grandiose scenery that allows the audience to immerse themselves into the film, rivaling any Hollywood production design of that time. A story of intrigue and melodrama like this would grab the attention of people willing to indulge in the soap opera that is the story itself. Carne arguably balances humor with an escalating and intricate romance wonderfully.
Many…
82/100
First half as sublime as I remembered, right down to the thrilling curtain drop—not a cliffhanger, exactly (that would feel cheap), but an abrupt, seemingly out-of-character decision that effectively turns all of the established relationships upside-down. Second half's a bit wobblier, mostly because Carné and Prévert struggle to find room for all the characters "several years later"—the Count (who's barely glimpsed in part one) has usurped Frédérick Lemaître's role as primary impediment to Garance and Baptiste, for example, yet Lemaître's diva behavior dominates the opening of part two, to the point where it feels like the movie's wandered off course. (Pierre Brasseur's mugging may be a contributing factor here—like Julien Carette's vaudeville clown in Grand Illusion, it's an intentionally…
Possibly the single most French film I have ever seen. A film where the silent eye-witness testimony of a mime can clear one of all suspicions of wrongdoing.
This is big bold extremely well-crafted melodrama. It’s runtime necessary just to fit all of its ambitions. High drama, sly and often subtle comedy, rich characterization, long scenes sewn with absolute banger dialogue, huge set pieces more often than not packing the frame with hundreds - sometimes thousands - of extras in wonderful costumes, outstanding set work and production design.
Arletty, Pierre Brasseur, & Marcel Herrand are watchable as shit (I’m not so impressed with Jean-Louis Barrault - though this could just be because his character is such an induced yawn when placed…
Viewed with the Amazing Edith's *Collab Film Group*. This is Marcel Carne #7 for me.
There's a lot to be said about this film, but I'm just going to shoot it straight. When I had nominated this film for the weekly theme, I honestly did not realize how "popular" or "renowned" it was in the grand scheme of cinema. The hysterical thing about this is I claim Marcel Carné to be one of my all-time favorite directors. I clearly have a lot to learn! My narrow mindset was hooked on giving my fellow collabers a dose of longboi cinema, which is undoubtedly one of the many reasons a film can be left to the wayside or become vastly under seen.
Children of…
I was pretty exhausted when I saw this, but still, I think it counts as the most disappointing “classic” I’ve yet seen. It just reeked of tradition of quality to me, and I found its central female character too distant, opaque, and uninvolved to motivate the giant effort surrounding her. I did really like the film’s continued and thorough motifs of theatre-of-life, of everyone performing, everything being a stage, everything an interpretation or a mask, and I also really liked Jean-Louis Barrault’s tragic performance, even if the character is totally absurd.
I constantly found myself asking “Where is World War 2 in this?” I eventually found myself answering that it was in the profound dissatisfaction that everyone in the film seems to have, and the removes at which they have to place themselves to have some generally incomplete semblance of success in life.
French resistance fighters! Nazi sympathizers! An illicit affair between a lead actress and a Luftwaffe officer! And that’s only what was happening offscreen in “Children of Paradise.”
With behind the scenes action so close to myth that it defies reason why it has never been the subject of its own film, “Children” somehow still matches its WWII real-world intrigue with the lives of its diverse characters on screen.
With a cast of literal thousands - 1800 of whom were allegedly undercover French resistance members - director Marcel Carné crafts every eccentric role with the utmost affection; particularly those of ‘the Gods,’ or the lower classes.
The intricate focus on the passions of the otherwise looked-over in society imbues a movie…
45 minutes into the "Best French Film in History" (a qualifier named the "Lowest Bar in History" by Remobo Weekly), I was actually singing this movie's praises to the few remaining members of the COLLAB who actually take my opinion on things seriously.
An hour and a half in, I was pretty sure I had it down. I knew the positions of all the pieces on the board. I knew the rules of how each piece moved, and I knew which ones were ready for a power play. Would the quiet and lowly pawn make his move on the seductive Queen? Or would the roguish Rook counter with his own gambit, stealing the queen away for himself, more focused on…
Last week I watched the 1943 classic The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, considered by some as the best British movie ever made.
Les Enfants du Paradis carries this honor for France and is the very definition of spectaculaire. With glorious performances, enormous sets filled to the brim with genuinely interesting characters and literally hundreds of extras, it tells the 1830's story of a young lady and the men that love her.
At the time, this was the most expensive French film ever made and is such a great accomplishment when you consider that the country was inhabited by a hostile enemy, everything was in short supply and members of the crew were active members of the French resistance.…
Watched with the resistance fighters of the Collab.
Spoilers ahead.
The audacity required to make the longest, most expensive film in French history during a war, under the occupation by a foreign power, is literally impossible to comprehend, as is director Marcel Carné's blithe insistence that, at least in comparison to the near Sisyphean challenges he'd faced making Les Visiteurs du soir a few years earlier, the production of Children of Paradise was "much easier," disrupted only by "some troubles."*
The resulting film is just as astonishing an achievement as the fierce commitment required to get it made would suggest, folding life and theater together in a way that simultaneously heightens their intensity and keeps both at an arm's distance,…
