Summary
Paris in the 1820s. Frederick LeMaître is a young romantic who dreams of becoming
a great actor. His first job is in a mime show at the Funambules Theatre in the Boulevard
du Temple. Here he meets and befriends a promising mime artist, Baptiste.
Both men are in love with a former artist’s model, Garance, who also gets a job at the
theatre. This is despite the fact that Garance does not fully reciprocate their
attentions and also that Baptiste is loved by another young woman, his fellow performer,
Nathalie. Garance is then approached by a wealthy aristocrat, Le comte de Montray,
who asks her to marry him. Garance at first declines but shortly after has to submit
to Montray when her former admirer, the failed writer Lacenaire, implicates her in an
attempted murder...
Review
Often rated as the greatest film ever made, and certainly a major triumph of French cinema,
Les Enfants du paradis offers us a timeless tale of unrequited love, made under
the most difficult of circumstances. It is the pinnacle of the astonishingly successful
partnership of the director-writer team Marcel Carné and Jacques Prévert
and even today the film feels relevant and intensely poignant.
When the film is analysed in detail it is difficult
to pinpoint where its greatness derives from. Structurally, the film is flawed.
The two part format which the film adopts creates a dip halfway through the film which
disrupts the flow of the narrative and makes it quite difficult to pick up the story.
The second part of the film has an ending which appears rushed and unfinished, giving
the impression that a third segment might have been envisaged. That none of this
makes any different at all to the film’s impact and standing is quite remarkable and reinforces
the impression that where the film exceeds it exceeds magnificently.
The film succeeds mainly on three counts.
Firstly, and most noticeably, the film is visually very impressive. The opening
scenes on the Boulevard du Temple, with a magnificent reconstruction of early 19th Century
Paris, filled with merchants, street entertainers and passers by, is quite stunning.
Equally engrossing are the theatre scenes, with as much attention devoted to what is happening
in the stalls and balconies as to what is appearing on the stage.
Secondly, the script is undeniably superb.
Possibly the writer Prévert’s greatest achievement, it lacks the doom-laden tragic
impulses which weigh down some of his earlier efforts. Few films manage to achieve
this standard of writing in even a few lines. It is no mean feat that Prévert
maintains a consistently high standard through the film’s three hour duration. The
dialogue is poetic and intelligent, but so full of humanity and poignancy that it delights
rather than bores its audience.
Finally, the film benefits from some exceptional
acting performances. Arletty is captivating, her performance as the strong-headed
Garance an astonishingly radical departure from the traditional romantic heroine of the
time. Pierre Brasseur is ceaselessly entertaining in the role of the whimsical seducer
Frederick, the perfect complement to Arletty’s flighty Garance.
There are other fine performances from Marcel
Herrand, Louis Salou, Pierre Renoir, Maria Casarès. However, it is Jean-Louis
Barrault who is most memorable. He plays the mime artist Baptiste, a role for which
he is perfectly suited. His performance as the mime character Pierrot at the Funambules
Theatre are as moving as his silent scenes of reflection when Baptiste is love-struck
by Garance; both speak directly to the soul without the medium of words, with devastating
effect.
The most remarkable thing about Les Enfants
du paradis is that it was ever made at all. Filming began in 1943, during the
Nazi occupation of France, and work was closely monitored by the German overlords.
However, this apparently did not prevent the French Resistance from using the making of
the film as a cover for their activities, with scores of active Resistance members involved
in the film. One of the lead actors, Robert Le Vigan (who played Jericho), turned
out to be a Nazi collaborator, who was forced to flee after the Liberation in 1944, to
be replaced by Pierre Renoir.
The film itself contains innumerable references
to the occupation and it is astonishing how far Carné was able to go without prompting
hostility from the Nazis. Even the film’s title is mildly provocative. It
translates as Children of the Gods, the Gods being the poor people of Paris who
occupied the highest balcony of the popular theatre. It was these people, those
least equipped to appreciate art, who decided what was tolerated at the theatre.
Anything which failed to meet their approval was attacked with bawdy uproar and even violence.
The central figure of the film, Garance, has also been likened to a symbol of a liberated
France, a woman who will never be dominated. Her temporary enforced engagement to
the Count Montray can be interpreted as a direct allegory of France’s submission to Germany
during the Second World War.
Whatever the historical significance of Les
Enfants du paradis, it is undeniably a great film and one which will continue to delight
future generations for many years to come.
© James Travers 2002
Buy this film:
See also:
The life of Marcel Carné
Drôle de drame
Le Jour se lève
Hôtel du nord
Quai des brumes
Les Visiteurs du soir
Buy films by Marcel Carné
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