Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated:
1
00:00:01,418 --> 00:00:04,209
Imagine you're at the movies.
2
00:00:26,668 --> 00:00:32,168
MY JOURNEY THROUGH FRENCH CINEMA
3
00:00:46,376 --> 00:00:50,084
FOREIGN FILMMAKERS IN FRANCE
BEFORE WORLD WAR II
4
00:00:50,251 --> 00:00:53,876
French cinema has been
constantly nourished and enriched
5
00:00:54,043 --> 00:00:58,793
by the arrival of foreign directors,
producers and technicians
6
00:00:58,959 --> 00:01:02,959
often forced to leave their country
for political reasons.
7
00:01:03,418 --> 00:01:06,043
They came in several waves.
8
00:01:06,209 --> 00:01:10,501
First in the 1920s,
Russians fled the communist regime.
9
00:01:10,876 --> 00:01:14,043
One director for instance:
Viktor Tourjansky,
10
00:01:14,209 --> 00:01:19,168
who had worked in many countries,
had been Abel Gance's assistant,
11
00:01:19,334 --> 00:01:23,293
and had directed
several very interesting movies.
12
00:01:23,751 --> 00:01:28,459
Among Tourjansky's films,
I will choose Vertiges d'un soir.
13
00:01:28,626 --> 00:01:32,793
It was adapted from a story
by Stefan Zweig.
14
00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:35,793
Another version is better known,
15
00:01:35,959 --> 00:01:39,376
by Rossellini
with Ingrid Bergman: La Paura,
16
00:01:39,543 --> 00:01:44,001
which totally and unfairly
overshadowed Tourjansky's film.
17
00:01:44,168 --> 00:01:45,001
And yet,
18
00:01:45,168 --> 00:01:49,418
with the help of Joseph Kessel,
who wrote the screenplay,
19
00:01:49,584 --> 00:01:53,543
Tourjansky made a feverish
melodrama...
20
00:01:55,751 --> 00:02:00,459
that transcends
all of the film's ingredients.
21
00:02:01,334 --> 00:02:02,293
Speak to me.
22
00:02:02,459 --> 00:02:04,334
Don't leave me like this.
23
00:02:05,001 --> 00:02:06,293
You have no right.
24
00:02:06,459 --> 00:02:09,209
A young woman on holiday
has an affair
25
00:02:09,376 --> 00:02:12,251
that upsets her life
and her marriage.
26
00:02:19,251 --> 00:02:22,793
Her husband, the remarkable
and unsettling Charles Vanel,
27
00:02:22,959 --> 00:02:24,626
begins to suspect her,
28
00:02:24,793 --> 00:02:27,043
giving us some penetrating shots.
29
00:02:30,626 --> 00:02:33,043
What's the cause of the crime?
30
00:02:33,584 --> 00:02:34,834
Another man.
31
00:02:35,126 --> 00:02:36,918
You'll do no such thing.
32
00:02:37,084 --> 00:02:39,918
I will, or agree to see me again.
33
00:02:42,584 --> 00:02:44,876
Fine. Tomorrow evening at 10.
34
00:02:45,043 --> 00:02:46,043
Yes.
35
00:02:47,001 --> 00:02:49,334
The gentleman kept me company.
36
00:02:49,501 --> 00:02:50,834
I see.
37
00:02:51,959 --> 00:02:53,043
Goodbye, then.
38
00:02:53,209 --> 00:02:54,376
Goodbye.
39
00:02:57,793 --> 00:03:01,543
The sinister Suzy Prim
blackmails her,
40
00:03:01,709 --> 00:03:04,084
and gradually
everything goes to hell.
41
00:03:04,251 --> 00:03:05,959
I'm warning you,
42
00:03:06,126 --> 00:03:09,293
every time you see Jean,
you'll see me.
43
00:03:11,043 --> 00:03:14,376
See how Tourjansky stops
44
00:03:14,543 --> 00:03:17,543
and starts the music
during their confrontations.
45
00:03:32,168 --> 00:03:33,334
What's this?
46
00:03:36,501 --> 00:03:37,418
What?
47
00:03:37,584 --> 00:03:39,876
The music from last night's film?
48
00:03:41,959 --> 00:03:44,876
- What do you mean?
- I'm asking you.
49
00:03:45,376 --> 00:03:47,251
What's the matter, Robert?
50
00:03:47,418 --> 00:03:49,043
You've never used that tone.
51
00:03:49,209 --> 00:03:51,334
You've never acted this way.
52
00:03:51,501 --> 00:03:53,334
So explain yourself.
53
00:03:53,834 --> 00:03:54,668
Explain what?
54
00:03:54,834 --> 00:03:57,918
How he posits
a trembling Gaby Morlay
55
00:03:58,084 --> 00:04:01,126
against a disturbingly
restrained Vanel.
56
00:04:03,626 --> 00:04:06,293
- You're lying!
- What is it?
57
00:04:06,459 --> 00:04:09,168
I won't let up.
You'll be forced to talk.
58
00:04:09,334 --> 00:04:10,793
I don't understand.
59
00:04:10,959 --> 00:04:13,084
You're treating me like a criminal.
60
00:04:13,251 --> 00:04:14,459
Will you talk?
61
00:04:14,626 --> 00:04:15,751
You terrify me.
62
00:04:15,918 --> 00:04:17,626
Talk!
63
00:04:21,334 --> 00:04:23,834
And I can't forget,
in the last scene,
64
00:04:24,001 --> 00:04:26,751
Gaby Morlay's
three utterances of "I hate you"
65
00:04:26,918 --> 00:04:31,293
that announce the "I don't love you"
in Madame de...
66
00:04:31,459 --> 00:04:34,293
There's always happiness
for those who love.
67
00:04:39,751 --> 00:04:40,668
You think so?
68
00:04:40,834 --> 00:04:41,793
Yes,
69
00:04:42,168 --> 00:04:43,501
I'm sure of it.
70
00:04:45,168 --> 00:04:46,334
But
71
00:04:47,001 --> 00:04:49,251
are you sure you love me?
72
00:04:49,501 --> 00:04:50,709
Oh, you!
73
00:04:57,334 --> 00:04:59,918
I hate you, I hate you.
74
00:05:02,418 --> 00:05:04,001
I hate you!
75
00:05:04,918 --> 00:05:08,543
Unable to find Nostalgie
said to be one of his major films,
76
00:05:08,709 --> 00:05:10,668
which is unavailable,
77
00:05:10,834 --> 00:05:13,626
I selected The Lie of Nina Petrovna,
78
00:05:13,793 --> 00:05:17,418
a remake
of an admirable silent film
79
00:05:17,584 --> 00:05:18,918
by Hanns Schwarz,
80
00:05:19,084 --> 00:05:23,251
which it doesn't equal
in emotional force,
81
00:05:23,418 --> 00:05:25,751
though it has real qualities.
82
00:05:25,918 --> 00:05:27,876
- She's beautiful.
- Advantage.
83
00:05:28,043 --> 00:05:30,084
- Intelligent.
- Drawback.
84
00:05:30,251 --> 00:05:31,334
Expensive.
85
00:05:31,501 --> 00:05:33,043
Advantageous drawback.
86
00:05:34,209 --> 00:05:37,209
And she's witty, ingenuous,
cynical...
87
00:05:38,793 --> 00:05:41,293
Splendid photography
by Curt Courant.
88
00:05:41,459 --> 00:05:42,626
Dangerous even.
89
00:05:42,793 --> 00:05:43,876
Gentlemen, hands up!
90
00:05:45,168 --> 00:05:46,501
Hearts down.
91
00:05:47,293 --> 00:05:49,126
I dislike firearms.
92
00:05:49,293 --> 00:05:51,834
Nina, you kill us kindly.
93
00:05:52,001 --> 00:05:55,251
May we introduce your next victims?
Lt. Monnier.
94
00:05:55,418 --> 00:05:56,751
Your orderly.
95
00:05:56,918 --> 00:05:58,876
- French?
- Yes, madam.
96
00:05:59,043 --> 00:06:01,709
His eyes say "I love you"
in all languages.
97
00:06:02,501 --> 00:06:05,251
1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 10 cases.
98
00:06:05,418 --> 00:06:08,209
The train arrived at 9.
10+9=19.
99
00:06:08,376 --> 00:06:11,126
The lady is a foreigner: 19+1=20.
100
00:06:11,293 --> 00:06:12,876
5 crowns 40.
101
00:06:13,043 --> 00:06:14,834
Excuse me. How old are you?
102
00:06:15,418 --> 00:06:16,376
40.
103
00:06:16,543 --> 00:06:20,209
So 5 crowns 40
minus 40 makes 3 crowns.
104
00:06:20,376 --> 00:06:22,334
The next train is at 27 minutes past.
105
00:06:22,501 --> 00:06:24,584
Then you owe me 4 crowns.
106
00:06:24,751 --> 00:06:27,126
Henri Jeanson's dialogue
is brilliant,
107
00:06:27,293 --> 00:06:31,501
as in this scene between
the courtesan and her future lover.
108
00:06:31,668 --> 00:06:35,584
Forgive the intrusion,
but I couldn't let you be fleeced.
109
00:06:35,751 --> 00:06:37,126
I thank you.
110
00:06:37,293 --> 00:06:38,751
I thank you for your thank you.
111
00:06:38,918 --> 00:06:40,459
Don't mention it.
112
00:06:41,668 --> 00:06:43,543
Visual innovation,
113
00:06:43,709 --> 00:06:47,709
long dolly shots
reminiscent of Ophuls.
114
00:06:57,209 --> 00:07:00,876
Directors and technicians
fleeing Nazism in Germany
115
00:07:01,043 --> 00:07:03,126
and Austro-Hungarian dictatorships
116
00:07:03,293 --> 00:07:06,334
made up the second wave
of immigration.
117
00:07:06,793 --> 00:07:09,959
They would shake up
the academicism and conservatism
118
00:07:10,126 --> 00:07:14,751
that had bogged down French cinema
since the advent of the talkies.
119
00:07:14,918 --> 00:07:17,293
Set designers like Alexandre Trauner,
120
00:07:17,459 --> 00:07:20,584
cinematographers like Curt Courant,
Eugen Schüfftan,
121
00:07:20,751 --> 00:07:23,168
Harry Stradling and Theodor Sparkuhl
122
00:07:23,334 --> 00:07:25,626
would impose aesthetic innovations
123
00:07:25,793 --> 00:07:29,084
and boost
the visual ambition of films.
124
00:07:29,251 --> 00:07:34,543
But the arrival
of German technicians and directors
125
00:07:34,709 --> 00:07:39,001
- Fritz Lang, Robert Siodmak -
would spark protest
126
00:07:39,168 --> 00:07:44,334
and outcry against these foreigners
who stole work from the French.
127
00:07:44,501 --> 00:07:48,293
French film workers
are streaming down the Champs-Élysées
128
00:07:48,668 --> 00:07:50,626
in peaceful protest
129
00:07:50,793 --> 00:07:53,334
to call the government's attention
130
00:07:53,501 --> 00:07:57,001
to their plight due to the influx
131
00:07:57,168 --> 00:07:58,668
of foreigners and foreign films
132
00:07:58,834 --> 00:08:02,251
in French studios
and on French screens.
133
00:08:02,418 --> 00:08:06,043
Vicious articles,
degrading statements,
134
00:08:06,626 --> 00:08:09,084
especially by Marcel L'Herbier
135
00:08:09,251 --> 00:08:13,126
who was seriously chastised
by Henri Jeanson:
136
00:08:13,293 --> 00:08:17,709
"Marcel L'Herbier's only allegiance
is to his wallet."
137
00:08:18,418 --> 00:08:22,959
Jeanson called Jacques Feyder
a "cinenazi"
138
00:08:23,126 --> 00:08:26,709
because he directed
the film on the German pavilion
139
00:08:26,876 --> 00:08:31,293
at the 1937 World's Fair.
140
00:08:31,459 --> 00:08:34,751
Unfortunately Feyder was also
141
00:08:34,918 --> 00:08:39,793
among the directors
who attacked foreign filmmakers.
142
00:08:40,126 --> 00:08:44,751
And Jeanson pointed out
that he made his best films precisely
143
00:08:44,918 --> 00:08:47,293
with one of these foreign producers.
144
00:08:47,459 --> 00:08:50,751
Among the filmmakers
who went into exile in France,
145
00:08:50,918 --> 00:08:52,126
at least temporarily,
146
00:08:52,293 --> 00:08:54,751
there was Robert Siodmak.
147
00:08:54,918 --> 00:08:58,543
Siodmak had shot
a remarkable film in Germany:
148
00:08:58,709 --> 00:09:00,001
People on Sunday,
149
00:09:00,168 --> 00:09:05,043
a sort of neorealist chronicle
written by Billy Wilder.
150
00:09:05,209 --> 00:09:08,876
There was also Fred Zinnemann
and Edgar Georges Ulmer,
151
00:09:09,043 --> 00:09:11,751
and ambitious,
fascinating films like Tumultes,
152
00:09:12,543 --> 00:09:14,126
Autour d'une enquête
153
00:09:14,293 --> 00:09:16,126
and especially Abscheid.
154
00:09:16,293 --> 00:09:21,418
When he left Germany
in the spring of 1933
155
00:09:21,584 --> 00:09:23,168
because he had no choice,
156
00:09:23,334 --> 00:09:27,168
he had no trouble adjusting.
157
00:09:27,334 --> 00:09:31,209
What is in fact quite surprising
158
00:09:31,376 --> 00:09:35,626
is that he decided right off
he wouldn't make German movies.
159
00:09:35,793 --> 00:09:39,168
In Paris, he would make
French or Parisian films.
160
00:09:39,334 --> 00:09:44,334
He was in fact the only
German director who remained almost
161
00:09:44,501 --> 00:09:46,959
until the Germans invaded.
162
00:09:47,126 --> 00:09:51,751
He left France
a day before war was declared.
163
00:09:52,459 --> 00:09:54,834
Hey, fellas,
it's Mollenard's gang!
164
00:09:55,001 --> 00:09:56,084
He gave us Mollenard,
165
00:09:56,543 --> 00:10:00,001
one of the major films
of the 1930s,
166
00:10:00,209 --> 00:10:02,876
equal to
his greatest American film noir,
167
00:10:03,043 --> 00:10:06,001
The Killers and Criss Cross.
168
00:10:08,584 --> 00:10:12,584
Tired of trying to salvage
rather lame assignments,
169
00:10:12,751 --> 00:10:16,834
he came across a novel
by Belgian writer O. P. Gilbert.
170
00:10:17,001 --> 00:10:20,251
He went into debt to buy the rights
171
00:10:20,418 --> 00:10:25,501
and changed the novel's ending,
which delighted its author.
172
00:10:25,668 --> 00:10:29,209
He worked closely on the script
with Charles Spaak
173
00:10:29,376 --> 00:10:30,793
and O. P. Gilbert,
174
00:10:30,959 --> 00:10:35,168
plunging us right from the start
into a stale provincial world
175
00:10:35,334 --> 00:10:37,084
steeped in avarice,
176
00:10:37,251 --> 00:10:38,668
bigotry,
177
00:10:38,834 --> 00:10:41,668
respect for order
and conservatism.
178
00:10:41,834 --> 00:10:42,834
Mama!
179
00:10:43,001 --> 00:10:44,668
You enter without knocking?
180
00:10:44,834 --> 00:10:46,459
Sorry, a letter from Saigon.
181
00:10:46,626 --> 00:10:48,043
- And?
- It's from Papa.
182
00:10:48,209 --> 00:10:49,584
Put it there.
183
00:10:49,751 --> 00:10:51,751
The company has summoned me.
184
00:10:51,918 --> 00:10:53,751
They have news of your father.
185
00:10:54,084 --> 00:10:55,376
Quite enough for me.
186
00:10:55,959 --> 00:10:57,668
Hand me my bag and gloves.
187
00:10:59,334 --> 00:11:01,459
Father Mangin is coming at 5 p.m.
188
00:11:01,876 --> 00:11:05,501
If I'm not back,
serve him tea and cookies.
189
00:11:05,876 --> 00:11:08,209
Bring a jar of jam,
but don't open it.
190
00:11:08,793 --> 00:11:10,918
He won't ask, he's discreet.
191
00:11:11,084 --> 00:11:11,918
Mama...
192
00:11:12,668 --> 00:11:15,251
The captain gives plenty of news...
193
00:11:16,501 --> 00:11:17,876
in three lines.
194
00:11:20,626 --> 00:11:24,709
He sets it against
a spectacular exotic adventure
195
00:11:24,876 --> 00:11:26,543
that is visually splendid,
196
00:11:26,709 --> 00:11:28,959
beautifully photographed
by Eugen Schüfftan,
197
00:11:29,126 --> 00:11:32,126
against a backdrop
of betrayal and arms smuggling.
198
00:11:32,293 --> 00:11:33,918
Smuggling first organized
199
00:11:34,084 --> 00:11:37,043
by the shipping company
and its rich shareholders,
200
00:11:37,209 --> 00:11:40,793
but taken over by Mollenard
for his own account.
201
00:11:41,376 --> 00:11:42,459
What is it?
202
00:11:48,376 --> 00:11:52,209
The management fears...
I mean, dreads...
203
00:11:52,626 --> 00:11:54,459
I mean, is concerned that
204
00:11:54,626 --> 00:11:57,209
you're engaged
in transporting arms.
205
00:11:58,251 --> 00:12:03,251
I've thus been personally assigned
to inspect your cargo.
206
00:12:03,418 --> 00:12:05,918
An excellent idea.
207
00:12:06,293 --> 00:12:08,043
Given our good relations, captain,
208
00:12:08,209 --> 00:12:10,168
your word of honor would suffice.
209
00:12:11,293 --> 00:12:13,293
- May I have it?
- What?
210
00:12:13,459 --> 00:12:15,293
Your word of honor.
211
00:12:16,376 --> 00:12:18,793
I have no word of honor.
212
00:12:19,293 --> 00:12:20,126
Oh, Kerro...
213
00:12:22,918 --> 00:12:24,126
What are you doing?
214
00:12:25,543 --> 00:12:27,209
Counting the fly turds.
215
00:12:30,751 --> 00:12:32,459
- Can you manage?
- I lose track.
216
00:12:32,626 --> 00:12:33,876
Want me to help?
217
00:12:34,043 --> 00:12:36,834
You take the back walls,
I'll take the others.
218
00:12:37,001 --> 00:12:39,751
I'll pay the same price as last time.
219
00:12:40,126 --> 00:12:42,126
That's impossible.
220
00:12:42,293 --> 00:12:43,376
Why?
221
00:12:43,876 --> 00:12:46,751
Prices have gone up since February.
222
00:12:47,001 --> 00:12:50,168
I'll pay $125,000. I've got buyers.
223
00:12:50,334 --> 00:12:52,959
Sorry, but the weapons are mine.
$200,000.
224
00:12:53,126 --> 00:12:54,084
Out of the question.
225
00:12:54,251 --> 00:12:56,459
Everyone's on my tail.
226
00:12:56,626 --> 00:12:58,334
Consulates, police, customs.
227
00:12:58,501 --> 00:13:00,584
Not a cent less than $200,000.
228
00:13:01,084 --> 00:13:05,709
Trauner's remarkable sets reconstruct
the streets of Chapei district
229
00:13:05,876 --> 00:13:09,834
devastated by Japanese bombardments
in 1932.
230
00:13:12,584 --> 00:13:13,834
Here it is.
231
00:13:14,001 --> 00:13:15,751
The house you're looking for.
232
00:13:15,918 --> 00:13:17,626
Walk ahead of me.
233
00:13:19,251 --> 00:13:22,501
The French part drops us,
as Olivier Père writes,
234
00:13:22,668 --> 00:13:25,501
"into a frightful marital drama
235
00:13:25,668 --> 00:13:28,126
"that depicts a loathsome couple
236
00:13:28,293 --> 00:13:30,959
"separated by oceans
but united by hatred."
237
00:13:31,126 --> 00:13:32,876
What's the matter, madam?
238
00:13:35,251 --> 00:13:36,918
The captain's been suspended.
239
00:13:38,251 --> 00:13:41,709
Six months of him
haunting Dunkirk and this house.
240
00:13:43,251 --> 00:13:46,584
Six months hearing his foul mouth,
waiting up at night.
241
00:13:46,751 --> 00:13:48,668
Is the suspension official?
242
00:13:48,834 --> 00:13:49,709
Yes.
243
00:13:49,876 --> 00:13:52,084
He may even be dismissed.
244
00:13:54,459 --> 00:13:55,584
What an ordeal!
245
00:13:55,751 --> 00:13:58,668
Gabrielle Dorziat is unforgettable,
246
00:13:58,834 --> 00:14:02,126
as is Harry Baur
in one of his greatest roles.
247
00:14:02,584 --> 00:14:07,293
Mrs. Mollenard is the sort of
virtuous wife who poisons my life,
248
00:14:07,459 --> 00:14:10,876
at ease with her conscience
when the socks are darned.
249
00:14:11,043 --> 00:14:12,876
Here's the truth, Truffier:
250
00:14:13,043 --> 00:14:16,376
My only fear
in my whole damned life
251
00:14:16,543 --> 00:14:20,459
has been to fall ill in Dunkirk
and croak in my own house!
252
00:14:20,626 --> 00:14:24,334
A volcanic hero,
totally cynical and immoral,
253
00:14:24,501 --> 00:14:26,501
and at the same time deeply human
254
00:14:27,001 --> 00:14:29,126
and finally, admirable.
255
00:14:30,168 --> 00:14:31,584
What's he so nosy about?
256
00:14:31,751 --> 00:14:34,293
Siodmak, with Charles Spaak,
257
00:14:34,459 --> 00:14:37,959
attacks the company's
ruthless practices,
258
00:14:38,126 --> 00:14:40,418
religion,
which is complicit with them,
259
00:14:40,584 --> 00:14:44,876
and a whole hypocritical social order
poisoned by lucre.
260
00:14:45,043 --> 00:14:49,084
Allow me to bid you,
your officers
261
00:14:49,251 --> 00:14:52,793
and your entire crew,
welcome.
262
00:14:53,959 --> 00:14:58,459
I wish to congratulate you
for the rare cool-headedness
263
00:14:59,084 --> 00:15:02,209
and moral and physical endurance
you have shown.
264
00:15:04,459 --> 00:15:08,626
It will serve as a strong symbol
for future generations.
265
00:15:08,793 --> 00:15:09,834
Thank you.
266
00:15:13,751 --> 00:15:14,751
Well?
267
00:15:15,418 --> 00:15:16,459
What?
268
00:15:16,626 --> 00:15:18,043
Kiss me.
269
00:15:18,209 --> 00:15:19,918
I'd rather die.
270
00:15:21,459 --> 00:15:26,043
It swings between
Jack London and August Strindberg.
271
00:15:29,709 --> 00:15:32,709
They called it a Popular Front film.
272
00:15:32,876 --> 00:15:37,376
In a way, yes,
in that it attacks convention,
273
00:15:37,543 --> 00:15:40,626
collusion between church
and the propertied class.
274
00:15:41,168 --> 00:15:44,834
But there's also Mollenard,
the central character,
275
00:15:45,001 --> 00:15:46,918
who remains, if you will,
276
00:15:47,751 --> 00:15:49,959
a crook, in a way,
277
00:15:50,126 --> 00:15:52,668
but a crook with principles.
278
00:15:52,834 --> 00:15:55,543
- You're a monster.
- Yes, I am.
279
00:15:55,709 --> 00:15:57,459
But you're to blame.
280
00:15:57,626 --> 00:15:59,001
You and your world.
281
00:15:59,168 --> 00:16:02,626
How could I have been stupid enough
to love you?
282
00:16:02,793 --> 00:16:05,584
You hate everything about me.
My sunburned face,
283
00:16:05,751 --> 00:16:08,376
my rough hands,
my sailor's gait, my language.
284
00:16:08,543 --> 00:16:09,709
That, especially.
285
00:16:09,876 --> 00:16:13,084
That's why I've never had a home.
286
00:16:13,251 --> 00:16:14,626
It was always yours.
287
00:16:14,793 --> 00:16:16,001
Love your children.
288
00:16:16,168 --> 00:16:19,709
They're yours.
You united them against their father.
289
00:16:19,876 --> 00:16:21,626
You turned them against me.
290
00:16:21,793 --> 00:16:23,501
You molded them to your taste.
291
00:16:23,668 --> 00:16:25,376
- My son into a man.
- Like me?
292
00:16:25,543 --> 00:16:26,876
- My daughter, a woman.
- Like you?
293
00:16:27,043 --> 00:16:28,668
A man and woman of my breed.
294
00:16:28,834 --> 00:16:30,834
The Van Koerts breed!
295
00:16:31,001 --> 00:16:34,793
What's striking in Mollenard are
the larger-than-life emotions,
296
00:16:34,959 --> 00:16:36,626
even in their darkness.
297
00:16:36,793 --> 00:16:39,793
In the novel, Hervé Dumont tells us,
298
00:16:39,959 --> 00:16:43,001
Mollenard remains prisoner
in his room,
299
00:16:43,168 --> 00:16:45,251
humiliated and demeaned by his wife.
300
00:16:45,418 --> 00:16:48,043
Siodmak has him escape
301
00:16:48,209 --> 00:16:49,501
- a fabulous idea -
302
00:16:49,668 --> 00:16:53,418
with the complicity of his crew,
especially his first mate
303
00:16:53,584 --> 00:16:56,001
artfully played by Albert Préjean,
304
00:16:56,168 --> 00:16:59,834
and has him die aboard his ship,
as a true sailor.
305
00:17:00,001 --> 00:17:02,501
An absolutely admirable moment.
306
00:17:02,959 --> 00:17:03,959
Captain.
307
00:17:32,751 --> 00:17:35,126
Aren't all girls a bit romantic?
308
00:17:36,751 --> 00:17:38,001
Strange taxi-dancer.
309
00:17:38,168 --> 00:17:41,543
Life has taught me a lot,
you know.
310
00:17:41,709 --> 00:17:43,709
Already? Why this job?
311
00:17:43,876 --> 00:17:46,334
I translate by day,
but it's not enough.
312
00:17:46,501 --> 00:17:48,043
The crime plot of Pièges
313
00:17:48,959 --> 00:17:50,584
is somewhat offhand.
314
00:17:50,751 --> 00:17:52,126
Lift your skirt?
315
00:17:52,293 --> 00:17:53,126
What?
316
00:17:53,293 --> 00:17:56,251
Private investigation, please.
A little.
317
00:18:02,543 --> 00:18:04,043
Thank you. Nice.
318
00:18:04,209 --> 00:18:05,543
Very kind, but I don't see...
319
00:18:05,709 --> 00:18:07,126
Patience.
320
00:18:09,876 --> 00:18:13,209
Can you make beef stew?
Answer me.
321
00:18:13,668 --> 00:18:15,543
The police hire a young woman,
322
00:18:15,709 --> 00:18:19,501
the highly appealing Marie Déa,
discovered by Siodmak,
323
00:18:19,668 --> 00:18:22,709
to trap an unknown murderer.
324
00:18:22,876 --> 00:18:27,876
It allows for a series of sketches
that are more or less credible.
325
00:18:28,043 --> 00:18:31,043
You will...
We will put you in contact
326
00:18:31,209 --> 00:18:35,584
with everyone who posts an ad
seeking a lonely single woman.
327
00:18:35,751 --> 00:18:37,084
Which I am.
328
00:18:37,668 --> 00:18:38,959
Not any more.
329
00:18:39,584 --> 00:18:42,251
We draft your replies,
you go to the meeting
330
00:18:42,418 --> 00:18:44,251
under our guard, don't worry.
331
00:18:44,418 --> 00:18:47,793
I'm not afraid.
At least not yet.
332
00:18:51,043 --> 00:18:52,834
Dream of Youth.
333
00:18:53,001 --> 00:18:56,209
I was especially impressed
by the abundance of sets,
334
00:18:56,376 --> 00:18:59,001
the inventive costumes,
335
00:18:59,168 --> 00:19:02,751
and suspects
who cut a rather picturesque figure.
336
00:19:02,918 --> 00:19:07,459
Your Imperial Highness
will please note the soft lines
337
00:19:07,626 --> 00:19:11,126
and the wavy,
nymph-like movement.
338
00:19:11,293 --> 00:19:13,501
Like this exuberant dress designer
339
00:19:13,668 --> 00:19:17,293
to whom Stroheim
lends a semblance of credibility...
340
00:19:17,459 --> 00:19:19,418
Dawn Freshness.
341
00:19:19,584 --> 00:19:22,001
Or this fetishist butler,
342
00:19:22,168 --> 00:19:24,459
played by Jacques Varennes.
343
00:19:24,626 --> 00:19:26,334
You're not like the others.
344
00:19:27,001 --> 00:19:28,293
I understand.
345
00:19:29,001 --> 00:19:31,543
Am I to leave
when I begin to understand you?
346
00:19:32,251 --> 00:19:33,709
Stay if you like.
347
00:19:33,959 --> 00:19:37,501
I don't care. You bother me
no more than the furniture.
348
00:19:37,668 --> 00:19:39,876
Maria Déa is vibrant, modern,
349
00:19:40,501 --> 00:19:43,543
and gives a mischievous,
ironic tone
350
00:19:43,709 --> 00:19:46,918
to an otherwise
rather conventional character.
351
00:19:47,084 --> 00:19:50,001
You must've found the girls before
more submissive.
352
00:19:50,584 --> 00:19:52,709
You did what you wanted.
353
00:19:52,918 --> 00:19:54,001
Never mind the others.
354
00:19:54,168 --> 00:19:55,709
The tone constantly changes.
355
00:19:55,876 --> 00:19:57,293
I'm talking about you.
356
00:19:57,584 --> 00:20:01,584
From one sketch to another
we move from somber drama
357
00:20:01,751 --> 00:20:03,376
to realistic moments,
358
00:20:04,126 --> 00:20:07,709
and strange,
even chilling scenes...
359
00:20:11,126 --> 00:20:12,293
Get out!
360
00:20:12,459 --> 00:20:13,293
Get out!
361
00:20:15,959 --> 00:20:16,918
Ténier!
362
00:20:19,209 --> 00:20:22,043
They play this tune often here.
363
00:20:22,376 --> 00:20:24,543
Tonight it seems brand new.
364
00:20:24,709 --> 00:20:26,834
Without a thought for realism,
365
00:20:27,584 --> 00:20:31,168
Maurice Chevalier
sings several songs in the film.
366
00:20:32,543 --> 00:20:35,668
In every country,
I spoke of love, when I could
367
00:20:35,834 --> 00:20:39,834
Two words were enough
to make me understood
368
00:20:40,001 --> 00:20:41,793
In New York, in Sweden
369
00:20:41,959 --> 00:20:44,459
In Rome, in Toledo
370
00:20:44,626 --> 00:20:49,376
Those two words are "My Love"
371
00:20:50,084 --> 00:20:52,418
We found letters
by young women
372
00:20:52,584 --> 00:20:56,209
answering ads
in your correspondence.
373
00:20:57,459 --> 00:20:58,959
In my correspondence?
374
00:20:59,126 --> 00:21:02,876
He is in fact very convincing
in his first dramatic role.
375
00:21:03,043 --> 00:21:05,084
Signed "Lucie Paralle."
376
00:21:05,251 --> 00:21:07,959
Another signed "Arlette Roy."
377
00:21:08,334 --> 00:21:10,751
Another signed
"Anne-Marie Laurette."
378
00:21:11,334 --> 00:21:14,084
All say the same thing: "I'll come."
379
00:21:16,918 --> 00:21:19,126
And you?
Is your memory coming?
380
00:21:22,876 --> 00:21:24,959
I never got those letters.
381
00:21:25,459 --> 00:21:28,084
Oddly enough,
the story was filmed twice
382
00:21:28,251 --> 00:21:29,543
by exiled German directors.
383
00:21:29,709 --> 00:21:31,376
Robert Siodmak in France
384
00:21:31,543 --> 00:21:33,418
and Douglas Sirk
in the United States,
385
00:21:33,584 --> 00:21:36,834
entitled Lured.
386
00:21:37,334 --> 00:21:39,376
Robert Siodmak was to meet
387
00:21:39,543 --> 00:21:43,126
the great playwright
Ödön von Horváth.
388
00:21:43,293 --> 00:21:46,626
He wanted to adapt his novel
Godless Youth,
389
00:21:46,793 --> 00:21:48,709
about the rise of Nazism.
390
00:21:48,876 --> 00:21:52,418
Unfortunately, on Avenue Marigny,
391
00:21:52,584 --> 00:21:57,376
a branch fell on Von Horváth's head,
killing him instantly.
392
00:21:57,751 --> 00:22:02,043
One can dream about the film
they might have made together.
393
00:22:02,751 --> 00:22:08,418
THE CINEMA DURING OCCUPATION
394
00:22:08,584 --> 00:22:11,168
I often discussed the Occupation
with my father,
395
00:22:11,334 --> 00:22:13,751
who told me all about what happened
396
00:22:13,918 --> 00:22:18,001
with regard to Confluence,
the magazine he directed at the time,
397
00:22:18,168 --> 00:22:22,168
especially the story of one printer
who died in the camps.
398
00:22:22,793 --> 00:22:25,793
They took him to Klaus Barbie.
399
00:22:25,959 --> 00:22:28,418
They were face to face.
400
00:22:28,584 --> 00:22:32,084
Pons said, "I insist
401
00:22:32,251 --> 00:22:35,876
"that you release one
of my employees, a worker
402
00:22:36,543 --> 00:22:38,084
"you arrested the other day.
403
00:22:38,251 --> 00:22:41,668
"By my word as a Christian
and a Frenchman,
404
00:22:41,834 --> 00:22:45,668
"this worker
has never done anything against you."
405
00:22:45,834 --> 00:22:47,876
Barbie answered,
"I don't believe you."
406
00:22:48,043 --> 00:22:51,376
"Release him, or I stay here."
407
00:22:51,543 --> 00:22:54,459
"Then stay, Mr. Pons."
408
00:22:54,626 --> 00:22:57,584
And he did.
He ended up in Buchenwald.
409
00:23:00,793 --> 00:23:04,709
Yes, early on I was made aware
of events during Occupation.
410
00:23:04,876 --> 00:23:08,543
First through the writers
my father talked to me about:
411
00:23:08,709 --> 00:23:12,251
Jean Prévost,
who died in the Vercors.
412
00:23:12,418 --> 00:23:16,501
And then through movie people
I've mixed with.
413
00:23:16,793 --> 00:23:18,584
I'm not a historian.
414
00:23:18,751 --> 00:23:22,334
As a filmmaker, I can only mention
415
00:23:23,126 --> 00:23:27,418
the contradictions
and bold actions that affected me.
416
00:23:27,584 --> 00:23:30,209
Little incidents that marked me.
417
00:23:30,376 --> 00:23:31,918
Starting with,
418
00:23:32,376 --> 00:23:37,918
as Jean Cosmos, Jean Aurenche
and Gilles Perrault
419
00:23:38,084 --> 00:23:41,876
all told me about,
the comfort to be found
420
00:23:42,251 --> 00:23:44,126
in watching certain films.
421
00:23:44,293 --> 00:23:46,584
Movies were the only entertainment.
422
00:23:46,751 --> 00:23:47,709
That's true.
423
00:23:48,209 --> 00:23:51,834
They sought in the cinema a sort of
424
00:23:52,626 --> 00:23:54,084
abandon,
425
00:23:54,376 --> 00:23:57,001
and freedom, so to speak,
426
00:23:58,626 --> 00:24:02,543
except for the newsreels,
shown with the lights partly up
427
00:24:02,709 --> 00:24:04,959
so that people wouldn't boo them.
428
00:24:05,418 --> 00:24:07,501
Otherwise,
people went to movies
429
00:24:07,668 --> 00:24:11,168
not only for entertainment
in the ordinary sense
430
00:24:11,334 --> 00:24:15,168
but to escape
what they endured each day.
431
00:24:15,334 --> 00:24:18,293
Of the 220 fiction features
shot during the period,
432
00:24:18,459 --> 00:24:22,876
François Truffaut
listed 89 interesting ones and added,
433
00:24:23,876 --> 00:24:25,709
"The departure of the 5 greats:
434
00:24:25,876 --> 00:24:29,126
"Feyder, Ophuls, Renoir,
Duvivier, Clair,
435
00:24:29,293 --> 00:24:32,168
"and the forced unemployment
of Jewish directors,
436
00:24:32,334 --> 00:24:37,293
"necessarily fostered the arrival
of a number of new filmmakers,
437
00:24:37,459 --> 00:24:41,418
"that no one thought to label
'New Wave,'
438
00:24:41,584 --> 00:24:43,543
"even if that was the case."
439
00:24:44,251 --> 00:24:45,459
Among them, Becker.
440
00:24:49,376 --> 00:24:52,209
It's me, Red-Hands.
441
00:24:52,376 --> 00:24:53,793
No more Red-Hands!
442
00:24:53,959 --> 00:24:57,584
I piss on all policemen
443
00:24:57,751 --> 00:25:00,751
And the whole constabulary!
444
00:25:08,293 --> 00:25:10,001
You frightened me.
445
00:25:11,668 --> 00:25:13,293
You know, Chiffon,
446
00:25:13,459 --> 00:25:16,709
I loved you
even before seeing your face.
447
00:25:16,876 --> 00:25:18,501
Remember the first evening?
448
00:25:18,668 --> 00:25:20,918
I didn't think you could be ugly.
449
00:25:21,084 --> 00:25:24,043
I thought:
I hope she's not too pretty.
450
00:25:25,209 --> 00:25:27,834
François Truffaut even added,
451
00:25:28,001 --> 00:25:32,126
"Unlike Italian cinema,
which was almost entirely fascist,
452
00:25:32,293 --> 00:25:36,043
"98% of the cinema
during Occupation managed
453
00:25:36,209 --> 00:25:38,251
"not to be collaborationist."
454
00:25:38,668 --> 00:25:40,376
98%?
455
00:25:40,876 --> 00:25:42,959
The figure is debatable.
456
00:25:43,126 --> 00:25:48,334
There were a number of conservative,
reactionary films
457
00:25:48,501 --> 00:25:51,668
that advocated Vichy values:
return to the land,
458
00:25:51,834 --> 00:25:54,918
family values,
submission to religion.
459
00:25:55,084 --> 00:25:59,626
But none
attempted to justify anti-Semitism,
460
00:25:59,793 --> 00:26:04,084
even though before the war,
anti-Semitic allusions abounded.
461
00:26:04,668 --> 00:26:06,418
And the majority
462
00:26:07,209 --> 00:26:12,501
of filmmakers and screenwriters
behaved most honorably,
463
00:26:12,668 --> 00:26:14,293
especially when one considers
464
00:26:14,459 --> 00:26:16,668
the attitude of writers
and journalists.
465
00:26:16,834 --> 00:26:19,959
For instance,
when I was making Safe Conduct,
466
00:26:20,126 --> 00:26:23,251
I learned an anecdote
about Charles Spaak
467
00:26:23,418 --> 00:26:27,501
that was typical of the attitude
of certain authors then.
468
00:26:27,668 --> 00:26:30,459
Continental had hired me
469
00:26:30,626 --> 00:26:34,251
to adapt a Simenon novel
470
00:26:34,918 --> 00:26:37,251
entitled Les Caves du Majestic.
471
00:26:37,418 --> 00:26:41,334
Like many French
and Belgians at the time,
472
00:26:41,501 --> 00:26:44,751
I was imprisoned at Fresnes,
473
00:26:44,918 --> 00:26:48,501
in solitary, when one day
474
00:26:48,668 --> 00:26:50,876
the Gestapo appeared.
475
00:26:51,043 --> 00:26:53,501
They spoke very good French.
476
00:26:53,668 --> 00:26:58,001
They asked politely
if I was going to finish the job.
477
00:26:58,168 --> 00:27:02,334
I asked for certain benefits.
478
00:27:02,501 --> 00:27:05,084
They agreed to all my conditions.
479
00:27:05,251 --> 00:27:08,293
Every three days, through the bars,
480
00:27:08,459 --> 00:27:12,834
they came to get three or four pages
of the script.
481
00:27:13,001 --> 00:27:16,793
Rereading Simenon's novel
to prepare Safe Conduct,
482
00:27:16,959 --> 00:27:21,293
I came across a banker character,
a crooked Jew.
483
00:27:21,709 --> 00:27:23,626
Spaak, in prison,
484
00:27:23,918 --> 00:27:26,418
working on what he knew
was a minor film,
485
00:27:26,584 --> 00:27:32,251
still eliminated all the character's
Jewish attributes.
486
00:27:32,418 --> 00:27:37,126
He didn't want to give
the reigning ideology any ammunition,
487
00:27:37,293 --> 00:27:40,501
or fuel Vichy's Nazi propaganda.
488
00:27:40,668 --> 00:27:46,168
When I found out that nugget
of everyday resistance,
489
00:27:46,543 --> 00:27:49,168
I felt like hugging him.
490
00:27:49,334 --> 00:27:54,626
But I also found that state of mind
in people like Pierre Laroche,
491
00:27:54,793 --> 00:27:56,418
Jacques Prévert,
492
00:27:56,584 --> 00:27:57,959
Aurenche,
493
00:27:58,334 --> 00:28:00,668
Bost and especially
494
00:28:00,834 --> 00:28:03,876
Henri Jeanson, who wrote,
495
00:28:04,043 --> 00:28:06,334
"I've always held anti-Semitism
496
00:28:06,501 --> 00:28:10,084
"to be one of the vilest
manifestations of the human beast."
497
00:28:10,334 --> 00:28:14,918
He held the record in French film
for fines and prison sentences,
498
00:28:15,084 --> 00:28:17,876
by both the French and the Germans,
499
00:28:18,043 --> 00:28:23,668
for pacifism, anticolonialism,
incitement to murder a Nazi,
500
00:28:23,834 --> 00:28:27,001
and denunciation of anti-Semitism.
501
00:28:27,168 --> 00:28:29,793
Still, I find it scandalous,
502
00:28:29,959 --> 00:28:32,584
as some technicians or directors did
503
00:28:32,751 --> 00:28:36,001
- I mean Autant-Lara
and Jean Dréville for instance -
504
00:28:36,168 --> 00:28:40,126
to call that period
the golden age of French cinema.
505
00:28:40,293 --> 00:28:43,293
"Golden age,"
when your country's occupied?
506
00:28:43,459 --> 00:28:46,793
When names
were scratched off the credits
507
00:28:47,209 --> 00:28:52,876
of Jewish actors or writers
and those who had left France?
508
00:28:53,043 --> 00:28:55,834
When communists and Jews were hunted?
509
00:28:56,376 --> 00:28:59,209
Or when Lucien Rebatet could write:
510
00:28:59,751 --> 00:29:02,543
"Sooner or later,
we must drive out of our country
511
00:29:02,709 --> 00:29:04,793
"hundreds of thousands of Jews,
512
00:29:04,959 --> 00:29:07,626
"starting with Jews
without proper papers,
513
00:29:07,793 --> 00:29:09,543
"those not naturalized,
514
00:29:10,084 --> 00:29:12,668
"who cause clear political
or financial harm,
515
00:29:13,626 --> 00:29:16,543
"meaning all Jews in the cinema.
516
00:29:16,709 --> 00:29:18,709
"All of French cinema
517
00:29:18,876 --> 00:29:23,043
"must inexorably be closed to Jews
once and for all,
518
00:29:23,209 --> 00:29:26,376
"without regard for class or origin."
519
00:29:26,668 --> 00:29:27,793
And he added,
520
00:29:27,959 --> 00:29:31,543
"Some major French directors,
such as Julien Duvivier,
521
00:29:31,709 --> 00:29:33,084
"are married to Jewesses,
522
00:29:33,251 --> 00:29:36,376
"and thus held in Israel's clutches."
523
00:29:36,668 --> 00:29:37,876
At Liberation,
524
00:29:38,043 --> 00:29:42,001
anti-Semitism was detected
in Les Inconnus dans la maison.
525
00:29:42,168 --> 00:29:47,293
As was the case in Simenon's novel,
the culprit, played by Mouloudji,
526
00:29:47,459 --> 00:29:50,709
had a Jewish-sounding name.
527
00:29:51,126 --> 00:29:53,918
You don't dislike me?
528
00:29:54,084 --> 00:29:55,209
You're crazy.
529
00:29:55,376 --> 00:29:57,626
It doesn't matter now.
530
00:29:58,418 --> 00:30:03,251
To avoid censorship, Decoin
had to rename his character Amédée
531
00:30:03,418 --> 00:30:06,001
in a post-synchronized version.
532
00:30:06,584 --> 00:30:08,501
Give me your hand, Amédée.
533
00:30:08,793 --> 00:30:10,209
No more silly ideas.
534
00:30:10,376 --> 00:30:15,501
But as Raimu died in 1946,
his lines couldn't be dubbed.
535
00:30:15,668 --> 00:30:19,084
He continued
to call his client Ephraim.
536
00:30:19,251 --> 00:30:22,709
Ephraim Luska
ran away from his parents' shop,
537
00:30:22,876 --> 00:30:25,334
because it smelled bad.
538
00:30:25,501 --> 00:30:27,751
During Occupation, French directors
539
00:30:27,918 --> 00:30:32,168
faced particularly rigorous
censorship
540
00:30:32,334 --> 00:30:36,418
on the lookout for the least offense
to morals and virtues.
541
00:30:36,584 --> 00:30:39,584
To make fun of it, Henri Jeanson
542
00:30:39,751 --> 00:30:42,959
started the rumor
that the film Pension Jonas
543
00:30:43,126 --> 00:30:46,709
had been banned for idiocy.
544
00:30:48,751 --> 00:30:52,709
The film's two screenwriters,
one being Pierre Véry,
545
00:30:52,876 --> 00:30:54,918
had their names removed
546
00:30:55,084 --> 00:30:58,168
when they saw the release print.
547
00:30:59,043 --> 00:31:03,709
Censorship was compounded
by judgments - some of them amusing -
548
00:31:03,876 --> 00:31:08,501
by the Catholic Church,
which issued often severe ratings.
549
00:31:08,668 --> 00:31:11,376
For instance 5: "To be banned"
550
00:31:11,543 --> 00:31:14,084
for Douce, with the mention:
551
00:31:14,251 --> 00:31:18,084
"sadistic use of Christmas songs."
552
00:31:18,668 --> 00:31:20,876
And 6,
553
00:31:21,293 --> 00:31:24,126
which went beyond "to be banned."
554
00:31:24,293 --> 00:31:28,043
What could be "beyond" being banned?
555
00:31:28,209 --> 00:31:32,501
In any event,
Le Corbeau was given a 6,
556
00:31:32,668 --> 00:31:37,418
with a commentary
that in fact sums up rather well
557
00:31:37,584 --> 00:31:39,168
what makes the film so powerful.
558
00:31:39,876 --> 00:31:41,668
"A difficult, harsh film,
559
00:31:41,834 --> 00:31:44,876
"constantly morbid
in its complexity,
560
00:31:45,043 --> 00:31:49,251
"free love provoked cynically with
crude emphasis by the woman."
561
00:31:49,418 --> 00:31:51,709
Does that stop you from wanting me?
562
00:31:51,876 --> 00:31:55,834
"A doctor whose attitudes
in child delivery are ambiguous."
563
00:31:56,001 --> 00:31:58,043
- The mother is saved.
- And the child?
564
00:31:59,168 --> 00:32:00,001
No.
565
00:32:00,418 --> 00:32:03,793
"The 'good' character
professes atheism."
566
00:32:03,959 --> 00:32:05,626
I don't believe in God.
567
00:32:05,793 --> 00:32:09,168
"Suicide, murder,
foul language, swearing..."
568
00:32:09,334 --> 00:32:12,876
La Vie de plaisir
by Albert Valentin was also awarded
569
00:32:13,043 --> 00:32:14,668
the infamous 6 rating,
570
00:32:14,834 --> 00:32:18,626
and was harshly criticized
by the Vichy regime.
571
00:32:19,251 --> 00:32:23,251
I will respect the social order.
I refuse to abide anarchy.
572
00:32:23,418 --> 00:32:25,293
My son will not marry a dancer.
573
00:32:25,459 --> 00:32:28,168
She wouldn't be happy here.
574
00:32:29,376 --> 00:32:30,876
What should I do, Uncle?
575
00:32:32,376 --> 00:32:36,209
You must protect the child
from its illegitimate birth.
576
00:32:37,293 --> 00:32:40,084
Then, for the dancer,
577
00:32:40,251 --> 00:32:42,251
whose fate moves me deeply,
578
00:32:42,418 --> 00:32:43,834
arrange a retreat
579
00:32:44,168 --> 00:32:47,001
where she can ponder her errors
580
00:32:47,168 --> 00:32:48,668
and regret them.
581
00:32:49,751 --> 00:32:52,126
Last, submit to your father's will.
582
00:32:52,293 --> 00:32:56,751
The film was a vicious attack
on the powers of the church
583
00:32:56,918 --> 00:32:58,459
and money.
584
00:32:58,626 --> 00:33:02,126
But at Liberation
- and this may be the only case -
585
00:33:02,293 --> 00:33:06,376
it was banned
by Free France censorship.
586
00:33:06,543 --> 00:33:10,251
Republican Puritanism could not bear
587
00:33:10,418 --> 00:33:13,834
the film's moral
to be proffered by someone
588
00:33:14,001 --> 00:33:17,793
who owned a cabaret
and produced shows
589
00:33:17,959 --> 00:33:20,626
with very scantily clad women,
590
00:33:20,793 --> 00:33:23,584
and that served
liquor and champagne.
591
00:33:23,751 --> 00:33:27,834
And yet, as Albert Préjean
rightly pointed out:
592
00:33:28,001 --> 00:33:29,501
"As far as I know,
593
00:33:29,668 --> 00:33:33,001
"champagne has killed
fewer people than crude oil."
594
00:33:33,168 --> 00:33:35,084
So you criticize me
for working.
595
00:33:35,251 --> 00:33:36,084
No,
596
00:33:36,626 --> 00:33:39,543
for plying a rather lowly trade,
597
00:33:39,709 --> 00:33:41,668
when you have no need to.
598
00:33:42,751 --> 00:33:46,209
You think oil
is more respectable than champagne?
599
00:33:46,376 --> 00:33:48,709
One doesn't sell it personally.
600
00:33:48,876 --> 00:33:54,543
During Occupation films were shot
in terribly arduous conditions.
601
00:33:54,709 --> 00:33:59,043
Night shoots, air raids,
unheated studios,
602
00:33:59,209 --> 00:34:02,918
food and material shortages...
603
00:34:03,084 --> 00:34:05,959
Everything I evoked in Safe Conduct.
604
00:34:15,626 --> 00:34:16,709
Coffins?
605
00:34:16,876 --> 00:34:19,418
The lumber for sets is here.
Requisitioned.
606
00:34:19,709 --> 00:34:22,543
They're in high demand
on the Russian front.
607
00:34:22,876 --> 00:34:25,001
Furniture for the Atlantic Wall.
608
00:34:25,626 --> 00:34:28,001
The studio head sells to the Krauts.
609
00:34:28,168 --> 00:34:29,834
Every little bit counts.
610
00:34:30,001 --> 00:34:31,918
And the film stock shortages,
611
00:34:32,084 --> 00:34:34,251
a director's nightmare.
612
00:34:35,376 --> 00:34:36,793
48 secs, 79 feet.
613
00:34:36,959 --> 00:34:37,876
We have it?
614
00:34:38,043 --> 00:34:39,334
No, sir.
615
00:34:39,543 --> 00:34:42,334
I'll cut the shot in two.
I need 55 ft.
616
00:34:42,501 --> 00:34:45,709
With a short end of 65 ft.
and a quick clap, it'll do.
617
00:34:46,168 --> 00:34:47,709
Hear that, men?
618
00:34:47,876 --> 00:34:49,543
Get the first take right.
619
00:34:49,709 --> 00:34:52,584
Our first takes
have been right for weeks.
620
00:34:52,751 --> 00:34:57,168
When you know the conditions
in which some films were made,
621
00:34:57,334 --> 00:34:59,709
you can only admire the result.
622
00:34:59,876 --> 00:35:02,459
Like the quality
of Carnival of Sinners,
623
00:35:03,459 --> 00:35:06,459
the originality of the script,
624
00:35:06,626 --> 00:35:08,376
this astounding opening scene,
625
00:35:08,543 --> 00:35:11,043
which against all rules of the genre
626
00:35:11,209 --> 00:35:14,668
starts the story
with a host of characters.
627
00:35:14,834 --> 00:35:20,001
There are at least 30 or 40
in these introductory scenes.
628
00:35:20,584 --> 00:35:22,584
- Odd fellow.
- Maybe a lunatic?
629
00:35:22,751 --> 00:35:25,376
I wouldn't want to meet him
on a dark street.
630
00:35:27,793 --> 00:35:31,584
Have you seen a strange little fellow
dressed in black?
631
00:35:31,751 --> 00:35:33,709
He was carrying a long box.
632
00:35:33,876 --> 00:35:34,959
Like a coffin.
633
00:35:35,126 --> 00:35:37,959
We shot at him. He dropped the box.
634
00:35:38,126 --> 00:35:39,251
He's not here?
635
00:35:40,168 --> 00:35:41,834
It's admirable
636
00:35:42,001 --> 00:35:44,751
what the cameramen and set designers
637
00:35:44,918 --> 00:35:46,918
managed to do with odds and ends,
638
00:35:47,084 --> 00:35:48,126
and in frightfully
639
00:35:48,293 --> 00:35:49,918
difficult conditions.
640
00:35:52,959 --> 00:35:54,793
I was that surgeon.
641
00:35:55,876 --> 00:35:58,793
Poor bodies
that suffered all their life
642
00:35:58,959 --> 00:36:01,709
became my field of experimentation.
643
00:36:01,876 --> 00:36:03,543
Thanks to them, to me,
644
00:36:03,709 --> 00:36:06,834
new surgical operations
became possible.
645
00:36:08,501 --> 00:36:11,751
But only one film
evoked the hardships back then,
646
00:36:11,918 --> 00:36:15,043
especially
the lack of street lighting.
647
00:36:15,209 --> 00:36:16,376
That film was
648
00:36:16,584 --> 00:36:19,168
Guitry's Donne-moi tes yeux.
649
00:36:19,334 --> 00:36:22,876
Isn't it amusing, stepping into
this little circle of light?
650
00:36:23,043 --> 00:36:24,334
It escorts us.
651
00:36:24,501 --> 00:36:28,626
In the remarkable scene
where he walks Geneviève Guitry home
652
00:36:28,793 --> 00:36:31,293
using only a flashlight,
653
00:36:31,626 --> 00:36:35,251
Guitry proves to be
a revolutionary filmmaker
654
00:36:35,418 --> 00:36:39,126
and yet, a man of his time.
655
00:36:40,751 --> 00:36:43,626
I believe
we're both on the wrong track.
656
00:36:44,168 --> 00:36:47,918
Our journey through the night
is oddly like our romance.
657
00:36:48,084 --> 00:36:52,459
I realize I either
let you guide me blindly
658
00:36:52,626 --> 00:36:54,626
or I slow your pace.
659
00:36:54,793 --> 00:36:58,001
During that period,
and despite censorship,
660
00:36:58,168 --> 00:37:02,459
scenes and passages of dialogue
can be found here and there
661
00:37:02,626 --> 00:37:07,501
that mock or criticize
values promoted by the regime.
662
00:37:07,668 --> 00:37:09,584
The cult of marriage:
663
00:37:09,751 --> 00:37:11,376
I've been widowed 3 years, Sire.
664
00:37:11,543 --> 00:37:13,501
You weren't married long.
665
00:37:13,668 --> 00:37:14,751
No, 3 months.
666
00:37:14,918 --> 00:37:17,959
3 months of bliss,
3 years of regret.
667
00:37:18,126 --> 00:37:19,251
No, Sire.
668
00:37:19,418 --> 00:37:22,376
3 months of regret, 3 years of bliss.
669
00:37:22,543 --> 00:37:24,168
He'll go to jail
670
00:37:24,334 --> 00:37:26,459
and you will be cloistered
for years.
671
00:37:26,626 --> 00:37:27,876
That's what awaits you.
672
00:37:28,043 --> 00:37:30,293
Nothing will part us.
I will be strong.
673
00:37:30,459 --> 00:37:32,251
Such pride! Be more humble.
674
00:37:32,418 --> 00:37:35,334
I don't want to be humble,
I want to be happy.
675
00:37:35,876 --> 00:37:38,168
What do you expect from me?
676
00:37:38,543 --> 00:37:39,959
Absolution?
677
00:37:40,584 --> 00:37:43,334
With such feelings,
you shall not have it.
678
00:37:43,501 --> 00:37:45,168
Mr. Durand is a great man.
679
00:37:45,334 --> 00:37:46,709
An exceptional person.
680
00:37:46,876 --> 00:37:49,168
A monster, rather.
A horrible monster.
681
00:37:49,334 --> 00:37:52,418
Because he knocks off
the occasional lowlife?
682
00:37:52,584 --> 00:37:54,376
My only complaint is,
683
00:37:54,543 --> 00:37:57,418
he uses a dagger and a shoelace,
not a machine gun,
684
00:37:57,584 --> 00:37:58,876
dynamite and poison gas.
685
00:37:59,043 --> 00:38:01,168
- Are you justifying murder?
- No, slaughter.
686
00:38:01,334 --> 00:38:03,626
I like Durand's sense of numbers.
687
00:38:03,793 --> 00:38:06,209
And that he robs his victims?
688
00:38:06,376 --> 00:38:08,918
Why not?
They misuse their money anyway.
689
00:38:09,084 --> 00:38:10,918
Why, you're an anarchist!
690
00:38:11,084 --> 00:38:12,793
And you, a moron.
691
00:38:13,001 --> 00:38:14,293
A tiny little moron.
692
00:38:14,459 --> 00:38:16,418
Strange talk,
from debtor to creditor.
693
00:38:16,584 --> 00:38:17,793
I owe you something?
694
00:38:17,959 --> 00:38:18,793
Not much.
695
00:38:18,959 --> 00:38:21,334
- What?
- Your soul, that's all.
696
00:38:21,793 --> 00:38:24,043
I've come
to get acquainted with it,
697
00:38:24,209 --> 00:38:28,543
as a farmer who comes
to look over his stand of wheat.
698
00:38:28,834 --> 00:38:30,168
So you are...
699
00:38:37,168 --> 00:38:40,834
The devil is not always
at a poor man's door.
700
00:38:44,543 --> 00:38:46,001
Impossible!
701
00:38:46,626 --> 00:38:48,209
Everything's possible.
702
00:38:49,376 --> 00:38:52,418
During that era,
despite censorship,
703
00:38:52,584 --> 00:38:56,918
3 films on class struggle
were made: Douce...
704
00:38:57,084 --> 00:38:58,793
I thought in all fairness...
705
00:38:58,959 --> 00:39:00,251
Fairness?
706
00:39:00,418 --> 00:39:02,043
I might have the liberty...
707
00:39:02,209 --> 00:39:04,668
"Equality, fraternity."
I know the tune.
708
00:39:04,834 --> 00:39:09,626
I'm too old to be a republican,
young lady.
709
00:39:09,793 --> 00:39:11,001
Hello, cousin.
710
00:39:11,168 --> 00:39:13,793
"Cousin," he means you, Sire.
711
00:39:14,834 --> 00:39:17,501
The aristocracy,
the army and the clergy.
712
00:39:17,668 --> 00:39:19,084
In short, society.
713
00:39:19,251 --> 00:39:21,793
This parrot knows what is customary.
714
00:39:21,959 --> 00:39:24,543
So your city is divided into 2 clans.
715
00:39:24,709 --> 00:39:26,709
Society and shopkeepers.
716
00:39:26,876 --> 00:39:28,084
What nonsense.
717
00:39:28,251 --> 00:39:30,668
Dear Zélie, we must combat it.
718
00:39:30,834 --> 00:39:33,709
The spirit of resistance
was also found
719
00:39:33,876 --> 00:39:36,626
in the artistic integrity
of the technicians,
720
00:39:36,793 --> 00:39:39,084
the care, creativity and love
721
00:39:39,251 --> 00:39:43,293
with which certain scripts
were written and shot.
722
00:39:43,459 --> 00:39:46,168
And the talent, the sensibility
723
00:39:46,334 --> 00:39:48,584
and the passion of directors.
724
00:39:49,001 --> 00:39:52,376
Let's return to Guitry
in this strange scene
725
00:39:52,543 --> 00:39:53,876
of Donne-moi tes yeux.
726
00:39:54,043 --> 00:39:55,793
Now, let me tell you...
727
00:39:55,959 --> 00:39:57,543
An admirable Sisley.
728
00:39:57,751 --> 00:40:00,084
...why these masterpieces
are unique.
729
00:40:00,251 --> 00:40:01,709
Renoir's La Loge,
730
00:40:01,876 --> 00:40:04,376
one of the world's
most marvelous paintings.
731
00:40:04,959 --> 00:40:06,501
This sublime Corot.
732
00:40:06,668 --> 00:40:11,543
They are all unique,
because all these masterpieces...
733
00:40:11,709 --> 00:40:15,084
Millet, Carpeau's Prince Impérial.
734
00:40:15,459 --> 00:40:16,834
All these masterpieces...
735
00:40:17,001 --> 00:40:20,501
Pissarro,
and this amazing Claude Monet.
736
00:40:20,793 --> 00:40:24,168
...They were all painted in 1871.
737
00:40:24,418 --> 00:40:26,376
All in 1871?
738
00:40:26,543 --> 00:40:29,501
Yes, my friend.
That's what geniuses were doing
739
00:40:29,668 --> 00:40:31,376
when we had just lost the war.
740
00:40:31,543 --> 00:40:34,918
Manet's Balcony,
another masterpiece.
741
00:40:35,084 --> 00:40:38,584
And last, one of Degas' most
fabulous portraits,
742
00:40:39,126 --> 00:40:42,418
and this eternal Rodin:
The Age of Bronze.
743
00:40:42,584 --> 00:40:45,584
What feeling do you get
from looking at them?
744
00:40:45,751 --> 00:40:48,959
The feeling that
what was lost on one side
745
00:40:49,126 --> 00:40:50,876
was won back on the other.
746
00:40:51,043 --> 00:40:51,876
Indeed.
747
00:40:52,043 --> 00:40:55,709
Between us
we may consider that such works
748
00:40:55,876 --> 00:40:57,876
qualify as victory.
749
00:40:59,959 --> 00:41:05,251
THE POSTWAR PERIOD
750
00:41:05,418 --> 00:41:07,334
First, let's demolish a myth:
751
00:41:07,501 --> 00:41:10,168
French cinema at the time
752
00:41:10,334 --> 00:41:16,376
was not exclusively the voice
of an entirely resistant France.
753
00:41:16,543 --> 00:41:18,668
Where is the elite,
dear colleague?
754
00:41:18,834 --> 00:41:23,001
Take this scene from
Henri Calef's excellent Jericho,
755
00:41:23,168 --> 00:41:25,876
written by Charles Spaak
and Claude Heymann.
756
00:41:26,293 --> 00:41:29,834
After a resistance action,
the Germans demand hostages.
757
00:41:30,001 --> 00:41:31,376
Gentlemen,
758
00:41:32,418 --> 00:41:36,459
we have no choice
but to put our own names on the list.
759
00:41:44,751 --> 00:41:48,626
Are you speaking seriously,
Mr. Mayor?
760
00:41:48,793 --> 00:41:49,959
Our ship is sinking.
761
00:41:50,126 --> 00:41:53,668
As town councilor, I didn't know
I was entering the navy.
762
00:41:53,834 --> 00:41:56,293
No, you entered community service.
763
00:41:56,459 --> 00:41:59,376
I hope nothing will happen to us.
764
00:41:59,543 --> 00:42:01,751
But we are charged
with making the list.
765
00:42:01,918 --> 00:42:04,751
We're charged with nothing at all!
766
00:42:04,918 --> 00:42:06,501
The mayor, and he alone.
767
00:42:06,668 --> 00:42:08,251
We are as one.
768
00:42:08,418 --> 00:42:12,126
I've long since ceased
to share your views
769
00:42:12,293 --> 00:42:16,001
on stadium maintenance,
market days
770
00:42:16,918 --> 00:42:18,209
or anything else!
771
00:42:19,793 --> 00:42:23,626
In the underestimated
and forgotten Retour à la vie,
772
00:42:23,793 --> 00:42:27,001
- 4 directors, but I'll discuss only
773
00:42:27,168 --> 00:42:30,126
Jean Dréville,
André Cayatte and Clouzot -
774
00:42:30,293 --> 00:42:36,126
give a contrasted, bitter picture
of the homecoming prisoners' lot.
775
00:42:36,293 --> 00:42:38,834
You will find France peculiar.
776
00:42:39,001 --> 00:42:41,043
With good will, you'll adapt.
777
00:42:41,209 --> 00:42:43,793
There's hardship,
especially for housing.
778
00:42:44,209 --> 00:42:45,668
Where will you live?
779
00:42:45,834 --> 00:42:48,334
Do you mean to stay in my home long?
780
00:42:48,501 --> 00:42:50,918
Find me an apartment
and I'll return yours.
781
00:42:51,084 --> 00:42:54,709
Would you turn out a
Resistance fighter of the first hour?
782
00:42:54,876 --> 00:42:56,376
You, in the Resistance?
783
00:42:56,543 --> 00:42:58,793
Yes, I was wounded at Wagram.
784
00:42:59,626 --> 00:43:00,751
Wagram?
785
00:43:00,918 --> 00:43:05,543
We attacked Wagram metro station
an hour before Paris was liberated.
786
00:43:05,959 --> 00:43:07,168
My compliments.
787
00:43:07,334 --> 00:43:09,543
I know the Resistance
helped the army.
788
00:43:10,543 --> 00:43:13,209
Cayatte must be
the first one to mention
789
00:43:13,376 --> 00:43:17,084
the deportees returning
from the concentration camps
790
00:43:17,251 --> 00:43:21,543
in a chilling sketch
co-written with Charles Spaak.
791
00:43:22,126 --> 00:43:24,793
A family imitates
the signature of a relative
792
00:43:25,376 --> 00:43:28,293
who had been sent to Dachau
793
00:43:28,459 --> 00:43:29,751
or Ravensbrück.
794
00:43:29,918 --> 00:43:33,543
When she returns,
they decide to send her nephew
795
00:43:33,709 --> 00:43:36,126
to cover up the sham.
796
00:43:36,543 --> 00:43:37,793
Aunt Emma...
797
00:43:39,043 --> 00:43:40,168
It's me, Gaston.
798
00:43:40,334 --> 00:43:43,418
Note that the woman
cannot sleep on a bed
799
00:43:43,584 --> 00:43:47,793
and Cayatte shows her
lying on her bedroom floor.
800
00:43:47,959 --> 00:43:49,626
You recognized me.
801
00:43:50,543 --> 00:43:53,584
I've lost weight,
due to the shortages.
802
00:43:54,584 --> 00:43:56,168
I mean the...
803
00:44:00,001 --> 00:44:03,126
Simone and the children
prayed for you daily.
804
00:44:03,293 --> 00:44:04,834
So did I, of course.
805
00:44:05,168 --> 00:44:08,543
Despite the jokes
Charles told about...
806
00:44:11,334 --> 00:44:14,043
I don't want to tire you, but...
807
00:44:14,543 --> 00:44:16,709
I came to say that we will
808
00:44:16,918 --> 00:44:21,209
surround you with so much love
and care you'll be up in no time.
809
00:44:22,209 --> 00:44:24,084
We're a tough family.
810
00:44:26,043 --> 00:44:29,918
Remember how your father
was still chopping wood at 93?
811
00:44:30,459 --> 00:44:34,459
And your mother, over 80,
dancing at Clémentine's wedding?
812
00:44:35,501 --> 00:44:39,543
We'll show our mettle.
Hale and hearty to the end.
813
00:44:42,543 --> 00:44:44,626
Sure, everyone has limits.
814
00:44:46,834 --> 00:44:50,293
They left Berlin in flames
by helicopter.
815
00:44:50,459 --> 00:44:52,168
It took them to a Dutch port.
816
00:44:52,334 --> 00:44:54,959
All was ready for this possibility.
817
00:44:59,376 --> 00:45:02,293
Look at this boarding house
in Clouzot's segment.
818
00:45:02,459 --> 00:45:04,209
What's your problem, Gérard?
819
00:45:05,084 --> 00:45:08,834
If the war doesn't interest you,
don't deprive others.
820
00:45:09,168 --> 00:45:11,043
This former prisoner,
821
00:45:11,209 --> 00:45:12,959
played by Louis Jouvet.
822
00:45:14,709 --> 00:45:17,043
Leave us in peace with your war!
823
00:45:17,209 --> 00:45:19,793
A physician back from Buchenwald
824
00:45:19,959 --> 00:45:21,793
advises you to avoid fat,
825
00:45:21,959 --> 00:45:23,834
spices, condiments,
826
00:45:24,001 --> 00:45:25,793
any food that causes
827
00:45:25,959 --> 00:45:27,876
intestinal trouble.
828
00:45:28,626 --> 00:45:31,709
The repatriated will be welcomed
829
00:45:31,876 --> 00:45:34,001
at the reclassification center
830
00:45:34,168 --> 00:45:36,793
to help you find work quickly.
831
00:45:36,959 --> 00:45:39,876
We mustn't forget
René Clément's Les Maudits,
832
00:45:40,043 --> 00:45:43,626
co-written by Jacques Rémy,
father of Olivier Assayas,
833
00:45:43,793 --> 00:45:46,668
and Henri Jeanson
right after the war.
834
00:45:46,834 --> 00:45:49,959
It recounts the flight
of a group of Nazis,
835
00:45:50,126 --> 00:45:51,959
collaborators and crooks.
836
00:45:52,126 --> 00:45:57,001
Nearly all the characters
are detestable or repugnant.
837
00:45:57,168 --> 00:45:59,501
It was undeniably bold,
838
00:45:59,668 --> 00:46:05,043
and shot at a time when Hollywood
was making fewer anti-Nazi films.
839
00:46:05,209 --> 00:46:10,959
Some were even changed during editing
into anti-communist films.
840
00:46:11,126 --> 00:46:13,418
We each have a specialty.
841
00:46:13,793 --> 00:46:18,043
My husband has remained in contact
with his countrymen abroad.
842
00:46:18,793 --> 00:46:20,876
Mr. Ericksen, a scientist
843
00:46:21,043 --> 00:46:25,209
whose research
might bring us the final victory.
844
00:46:25,834 --> 00:46:30,334
Victory doesn't necessarily belong
to those who win the war.
845
00:46:30,668 --> 00:46:33,376
Victory can't be taken for granted.
846
00:46:33,584 --> 00:46:38,584
It can only be achieved
through dogged action in peacetime.
847
00:46:39,001 --> 00:46:40,459
God hears us,
848
00:46:40,626 --> 00:46:43,543
and our Fuhrer protects us.
849
00:46:44,959 --> 00:46:47,126
And there is
Le Silence de la mer.
850
00:46:47,293 --> 00:46:50,376
Melville was keen to adapt
the Vercors novel,
851
00:46:50,543 --> 00:46:52,626
published underground,
852
00:46:53,001 --> 00:46:55,043
but Vercors had refused.
853
00:46:55,459 --> 00:46:57,251
Melville went ahead,
854
00:46:57,418 --> 00:46:59,584
saying he'd submit his film
855
00:46:59,751 --> 00:47:01,501
to a panel of resistance fighters.
856
00:47:01,668 --> 00:47:05,168
If they rejected it,
he would burn the negative.
857
00:47:05,334 --> 00:47:10,376
Now that showed incredible daring
and self-confidence.
858
00:47:15,126 --> 00:47:17,834
My name is
Werner von Ebrennac.
859
00:47:19,251 --> 00:47:21,251
I'm sorry, I...
860
00:47:25,376 --> 00:47:30,501
This masterful, challenging work
shows that resistance
861
00:47:30,668 --> 00:47:32,793
can also take the form of silence.
862
00:47:40,501 --> 00:47:42,959
This was necessary, of course.
863
00:47:43,126 --> 00:47:45,876
I'd have avoided it, if I could have.
864
00:47:48,501 --> 00:47:51,959
My orderly will see to it
that you are not disturbed.
865
00:48:03,126 --> 00:48:05,918
When at times
he let silence invade the room,
866
00:48:06,084 --> 00:48:10,668
and seep into every corner
like a heavy, unbreathable gas,
867
00:48:10,834 --> 00:48:12,084
of the three of us,
868
00:48:12,251 --> 00:48:14,751
he seemed the most at ease.
869
00:48:15,293 --> 00:48:17,876
He would look
at my niece approvingly,
870
00:48:18,043 --> 00:48:22,043
with that expression
at once smiling and solemn
871
00:48:22,209 --> 00:48:23,959
that he'd used
872
00:48:24,126 --> 00:48:25,543
from the very start.
873
00:48:26,001 --> 00:48:32,209
And I felt my niece's soul
struggle in her self-imposed prison.
874
00:48:32,959 --> 00:48:35,168
I could see it in little signs,
875
00:48:35,334 --> 00:48:38,251
such as the slight trembling
of her fingers.
876
00:48:42,418 --> 00:48:45,584
I am pleased to have found here
877
00:48:45,834 --> 00:48:47,751
a dignified old man
878
00:48:48,834 --> 00:48:50,959
and a silent young lady.
879
00:48:52,626 --> 00:48:54,751
We must conquer this silence.
880
00:48:55,043 --> 00:48:57,709
We must conquer France's silence.
881
00:48:58,418 --> 00:49:00,043
I like this.
882
00:49:01,793 --> 00:49:04,001
Melville told me that in Marseille,
883
00:49:04,168 --> 00:49:08,084
an exhibitor
had taken the film's title literally
884
00:49:08,251 --> 00:49:10,793
and pictured on the theater façade
885
00:49:10,959 --> 00:49:14,084
an officer in a submarine
with a periscope
886
00:49:14,251 --> 00:49:18,751
and a ship in the distance
blown up by a torpedo.
887
00:49:18,918 --> 00:49:24,584
So viewers who came to see the film
on the strength of the poster
888
00:49:25,001 --> 00:49:29,001
sat calmly through
the first half of the film,
889
00:49:29,168 --> 00:49:32,251
assuming the officer
would eventually leave
890
00:49:32,418 --> 00:49:34,834
and the fighting would begin.
891
00:49:35,293 --> 00:49:39,293
When they realized that nothing
of the sort would happen,
892
00:49:39,459 --> 00:49:42,751
they vandalized the theater seats.
893
00:49:43,834 --> 00:49:47,918
Melville gloated over the event.
894
00:49:48,084 --> 00:49:49,876
- My name's Manon.
- I don't care.
895
00:49:50,043 --> 00:49:53,126
I forbid you to speak.
You're my prisoner.
896
00:49:53,626 --> 00:49:56,501
One film dealing
with the aftermath of the war,
897
00:49:56,668 --> 00:49:58,543
was Clouzot's Manon,
898
00:49:58,709 --> 00:50:00,584
which in a few shots
899
00:50:00,751 --> 00:50:03,293
evokes the brutality of the purges.
900
00:50:19,126 --> 00:50:21,084
Don't look, it's ugly.
901
00:50:21,251 --> 00:50:23,251
Let's get out of here.
902
00:50:23,418 --> 00:50:25,293
It's the same all over.
903
00:50:25,793 --> 00:50:27,168
Let me go, please!
904
00:50:27,334 --> 00:50:28,418
Are you mad?
905
00:50:28,584 --> 00:50:30,126
I won't do it again.
906
00:50:30,293 --> 00:50:34,626
The postwar period briefly inspired
a series of popular films
907
00:50:34,793 --> 00:50:36,959
which, as Jacques Lourcelles wrote,
908
00:50:37,126 --> 00:50:40,543
showed optimism
and a desire for renewal.
909
00:50:40,709 --> 00:50:44,459
Take for instance the minor miracle,
L'École buissonnière,
910
00:50:44,626 --> 00:50:47,793
an endearing film
by Jean-Paul Le Chanois.
911
00:50:48,126 --> 00:50:52,084
For me, discipline, learning by rote
912
00:50:52,251 --> 00:50:54,876
with arms folded, punishment...
913
00:50:55,918 --> 00:50:57,501
- None of that.
- What?
914
00:50:57,668 --> 00:50:58,959
All that matters
915
00:50:59,126 --> 00:51:01,084
is to try to find a soul
916
00:51:02,626 --> 00:51:04,251
behind each face.
917
00:51:04,418 --> 00:51:06,959
A soul? You talk like the priest.
918
00:51:07,126 --> 00:51:08,793
Call it what you like.
919
00:51:08,959 --> 00:51:11,418
Soul, character, whatever.
920
00:51:11,584 --> 00:51:13,543
Every kid has a personality.
921
00:51:13,709 --> 00:51:15,251
The point is to find it.
922
00:51:15,418 --> 00:51:18,459
You won't find it
by hitting the desk with a switch.
923
00:51:18,876 --> 00:51:21,418
And even if water bursts forth,
924
00:51:21,668 --> 00:51:23,626
you can lead a horse to water but...
925
00:51:24,084 --> 00:51:27,001
"Anyone who attacks us
is a fool.
926
00:51:27,168 --> 00:51:28,918
"Signed: The Class."
927
00:51:32,126 --> 00:51:33,293
Nice work, teacher.
928
00:51:33,459 --> 00:51:36,543
You pressure our children
to defend your evil cause.
929
00:51:36,709 --> 00:51:38,834
So that's what the print shop is for!
930
00:51:39,001 --> 00:51:41,501
It's not my doing
and I'll tear it up.
931
00:51:41,668 --> 00:51:45,293
I view it as a poster to mobilize.
932
00:51:45,459 --> 00:51:46,709
This is war.
933
00:51:46,876 --> 00:51:49,584
- Speak of what you know.
- I've seen two wars.
934
00:51:49,751 --> 00:51:52,001
Too young for one,
too old for the other.
935
00:51:52,168 --> 00:51:55,668
I know war,
and yours doesn't scare me.
936
00:51:56,126 --> 00:51:59,793
Let us recall that before making
Papa, Mama, the Maid and I,
937
00:51:59,959 --> 00:52:02,876
and an awful adaptation
of Les Misérables,
938
00:52:03,251 --> 00:52:06,626
before becoming
the New Wave's whipping boy,
939
00:52:06,793 --> 00:52:10,084
Jean-Paul Le Chanois
was a shrewd screenwriter
940
00:52:10,251 --> 00:52:14,043
who scripted La main du diable,
La dame d'onze heures,
941
00:52:14,209 --> 00:52:18,918
and wrote the original screenplay
for Europe 51,
942
00:52:19,084 --> 00:52:20,668
not half bad.
943
00:52:20,834 --> 00:52:23,334
At the time, he directed
944
00:52:23,501 --> 00:52:27,376
a whole series of populist
and choral films
945
00:52:27,543 --> 00:52:31,126
that are perfectly honorable,
such as Sans laisser d'adresse.
946
00:52:31,293 --> 00:52:32,751
Don't complain.
947
00:52:33,251 --> 00:52:35,668
We'll win because we're stronger.
948
00:52:36,501 --> 00:52:38,084
Our statues are gone,
949
00:52:39,251 --> 00:52:40,709
but not the pedestals!
950
00:52:41,251 --> 00:52:43,126
It showed a Paris where statues
951
00:52:43,293 --> 00:52:45,668
were not yet back on their pedestals,
952
00:52:45,834 --> 00:52:50,084
and described milieus
that French cinema rarely explored,
953
00:52:50,251 --> 00:52:53,918
such as this meeting
of a taxi drivers' union.
954
00:52:54,084 --> 00:52:55,876
I said I had no head for figures.
955
00:52:56,043 --> 00:52:58,418
I noticed it all year long,
956
00:52:58,584 --> 00:53:00,543
writing this report,
957
00:53:00,709 --> 00:53:04,043
this evening as I charged a customer
who was broke.
958
00:53:04,668 --> 00:53:06,376
Yet our finances are sound.
959
00:53:07,209 --> 00:53:08,543
So you deserve praise,
960
00:53:09,209 --> 00:53:11,126
you who pay your dues,
961
00:53:11,293 --> 00:53:14,334
the only voluntary tax
in a time of many taxes.
962
00:53:16,709 --> 00:53:20,668
Le Chanois was always the first
to defend French cinema.
963
00:53:20,834 --> 00:53:24,834
Especially in 1946,
against the Blum-Byrnes agreements.
964
00:53:25,001 --> 00:53:29,251
Léon Blum,
special ambassador for France,
965
00:53:29,501 --> 00:53:33,543
is signing
the Franco-American agreement.
966
00:53:34,084 --> 00:53:39,084
The agreements imposed, in exchange
for loans to rebuild France
967
00:53:39,709 --> 00:53:41,959
and erasing a $2 billion debt,
968
00:53:42,126 --> 00:53:47,626
an abolition of the quotas
set on the number of American films.
969
00:53:47,793 --> 00:53:49,793
But most of all, theaters
970
00:53:49,959 --> 00:53:54,251
could only show French films
12 weeks out of the year.
971
00:53:54,418 --> 00:53:59,584
That left 40 weeks
for foreign and thus American films.
972
00:53:59,751 --> 00:54:04,043
These disastrous measures
were likely to destroy French cinema.
973
00:54:04,209 --> 00:54:07,751
They sparked outrage
and several demonstrations
974
00:54:08,751 --> 00:54:11,543
organized by the Communist Party.
975
00:54:11,709 --> 00:54:13,293
Directors:
976
00:54:13,459 --> 00:54:16,751
Daquin, Grémillon,
Autant-Lara, Le Chanois,
977
00:54:17,293 --> 00:54:18,251
Becker...
978
00:54:18,793 --> 00:54:21,543
And actors:
Gérard Philipe, Jean Marais...
979
00:54:22,209 --> 00:54:25,709
And the agreements were renegotiated.
980
00:54:25,876 --> 00:54:31,001
Theaters could show French films
for 13 weeks instead of 12.
981
00:54:31,168 --> 00:54:34,543
Quotas for American movies
were reinstated.
982
00:54:34,709 --> 00:54:38,501
And a handful of civil servants
- I'll call them geniuses -
983
00:54:38,668 --> 00:54:43,459
created the French film board's
automatic support mechanism
984
00:54:43,626 --> 00:54:47,834
funded by a 10.9% tax
985
00:54:48,001 --> 00:54:51,001
on all movie tickets
986
00:54:51,168 --> 00:54:56,334
and allocated solely to French films
according to their receipts.
987
00:54:56,501 --> 00:55:02,001
A brilliant idea
that would save French cinema.
988
00:55:02,168 --> 00:55:05,501
An idea the Americans
have never understood.
989
00:55:05,668 --> 00:55:10,918
They have always believed
French cinema was subsidized,
990
00:55:11,084 --> 00:55:12,584
not self-regulated.
991
00:55:12,751 --> 00:55:14,584
I remember a discussion
992
00:55:14,751 --> 00:55:17,168
with Jack Valenti
and Toscan du Plantier,
993
00:55:17,334 --> 00:55:20,543
in which Valenti
pulled out the cliché
994
00:55:20,709 --> 00:55:23,459
that French cinema
was state subsidized.
995
00:55:23,626 --> 00:55:25,668
And we said to him,
996
00:55:25,834 --> 00:55:28,584
"No, it's not subsidized
by the state."
997
00:55:28,751 --> 00:55:31,918
"Then by who?" Valenti asked.
998
00:55:32,084 --> 00:55:33,209
And Toscan said,
999
00:55:33,376 --> 00:55:34,293
"By you.
1000
00:55:34,459 --> 00:55:38,418
"By a percentage of ticket sales
on your films
1001
00:55:38,584 --> 00:55:42,126
"that goes into
the automatic support fund
1002
00:55:42,293 --> 00:55:44,543
"redistributed to French films."
1003
00:55:44,709 --> 00:55:47,709
Steven Spielberg
understood the system
1004
00:55:47,876 --> 00:55:49,959
and thought it was brilliant.
1005
00:55:50,126 --> 00:55:56,168
He said it was the best way
to combat imperialism.
1006
00:56:37,626 --> 00:56:40,543
Subtitles:
Cynthia Schoch & Lenny Borger
1007
00:56:40,709 --> 00:56:42,876
Subtitling: ECLAIR
77021
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get subtitles in any language from opensubtitles.com, and translate them here.