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…
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…
Although I’ve watched thousands of films there are still a few classics I have yet to experience. One such film is Les Enfants du Paradis and what better time to watch it since it has recently been restored and released on Blu-Ray. For the eagle eyed amongst you, you will notice I have refrained from giving the film a star rating, not because it is a no star film but because I’m still unsure quite what it deserves. At over three hours it is a sizeable investment of time and I’m not convinced I was quite in the right frame of mind for this type of film. Therefore it is not entirely fair for me to judge it accurately on…
Film #17 of Project 40
”Love is simple.”
Some film historians believe that this was in fact a response to the critically and financially successful Gone with the Wind and you can certainly see the contrasts both in terms of film’s general way of dealing with issues such as love, poverty, the passing of time and loyalty and also in its somewhat gritty visual style which is totally different from the gorgeous and sharp shots of Victor Fleming’s film. Les Enfants du Paradis is filled with the same kind of romanticism which is common in French literature and its epic scale, multiple characters with interwoven storylines and patient pace give the atmosphere of the film the feeling of a classic…
One of my goals is to see all 200 movies listed in Danny Peary's Cult Movie books volumes 1-3. After finishing Children of Paradise...I have now seen 112 of those 200 movies. I actually picked this movie up after reading feedingbrett's review here on Letterboxd. About 30 minutes into the movie I started thinking the movie was one of the Peary movies...and sure enough...it is listed in Volume 3.
As for the movie...I think the best way to describe it is...a classic version of There's Something About Mary....granted this one was made 53 years before Mary...but both movies have a female lead that all men fall in love with. This one is set in Paris in roughly 1830.... four men…
Included In Lists:
Criterion Collection - #141
Sight and Sound Top 250 - #75
Ladies and Gentlemen: The Essentials -#98
Review In A Nutshell:
Children of Paradise is an epic tale of a love story that starts out simple and sweet which eventually becomes complicated and difficult to manage. Its story centralizes on three characters; Baptiste, Frederick, & Garance, that starts off showing them as youths with hopeful ambitions and ending as mature individuals who have established themselves in their careers.
The first thing that one would think of after watching this film would be how romantic this film felt. The tone and idea was everywhere, fuelling almost all of its characters in attaining love in order for them to feel…
Film 2 of 10 on theleopard's List for Me
I have spent longer than the runtime of the actual film trying to find words to describe it, out of awed amazement, out of love, out of the feeling that only pure cinema provides. I have no words, so instead I will say this:
There are some really obvious bulges in the first scene.
Often called the French equivalent of "Gone With the Wind," this film is really that sweeping and involving, It's also a miracle this was made at all during occupied France. Definitely worth a rewatch on my part.
When I watched Les Enfants du Paradis for the first time about four years ago something was lost on me. This is France's de facto national film after all. Of course, some would claim a Renoir film (usually Grand Illusion or The Rules of the Game) or perhaps an early Nouvelle Vague film from either Truffaut or Godard as the film to represent France. The truth is though, that over 75 years ago the entire face of Europe was changed by Hitler, the Nazis, and WWII in general.
For the context of what makes Les Enfants du Paradis so resounding as a national source of pride for the French, just look at this film's Wikipedia page. Whether it be the…
“What a strange and sad fate – to be universally acclaimed as the director of several of the finest films ever made, and to go on making films to which no one pays any attention.” So wrote Richard Roud, my predecessor as Guardian film critic, of Marcel Carné, the maker of Les Enfants du Paradis.
Roud added that Les Enfants was to 30s French cinema what Gone With The Wind was to American cinema: a fully realised expression of the period, and also the death-knell for a certain kind of cinema some people wish we still had now.
Les Enfants du Paradis was inspired by the popular theatre of the 19th century, and translated into an epic cinematic romance that…
Just a completely fantastic film through and through. Everything about it is wonderful. The cinematography and overall vision are simply great, the story is engaging and emotional, and most notably the characters are incredibly well-written and developed. The entire film is honestly an amazing achievement in cinema.
A monument to french culture, and an amazing achievement in character and theme. The production design and cinematography is exemplary. An expansive musing on passion and love. Art imitating life imitating art. Frankly the film is a tapestry that told an incredibly vast story. The ending will rip your heart out.
This was well made and the cinematography was impressive but, man, was this slow. I really enjoyed the stage performances and the set pieces but the romance story was pretty dry. It was just another love triangle type of deal but drawn out over three hours. The characters were unlikeable too. Overall, it's a slog but it's an impressive slog and I can see why it got a lot of attention over the years.
A 3-hour French film from the 1940's about a courtesan's affairs with four different men. Frankly, that was enough to delay my seeing it for a long time. Then, Roger Ebert named it as one of the Great Movies. Ok.
It was magnificent.
The centerpiece of this two-part movie is the theater. The magic, the artistry, the escapism, the intensity and the diversions that are part of the stage permeate the lives of the players.
CHILDREN OF PARADISE was made at a time when it was possible to turn spectacle into a work of Art. There are so many scenes that seem perfect. And the second part that interweaves the performance of OTHELLO into "real life" roles played by the…
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