Widely acknowledged as the crowning glory of classical French cinema, this sumptuous melodrama defies the Occupation stringencies under which it was made. Set in the early nineteenth century Boulevard du Crime in Paris, where popular audiences for mime shows and carnival rubbed shoulders with wealthy patrons of classical theatre, it’s the story of the beautiful actress Garance (Arletty) and her suitors: the inspired mime Baptiste (Jean Louis Barrault); the Shakespearean actor Frederick Lemaitre (Pierre Brasseur); and the notorious dandy, playwright and murderer Lacenaire (Marcel Herrand). These men derive from history; Arletty herself was the model for the earthy, independent Garance, courted by all, conquered by none.
Les Enfants du Paradis practically begs to be read as a political allegory, with Garance as the symbol for France herself. But in the end, this marvelous film transcends the circumstances of its making and the political readings to which it is often subjected. Over the course of three hours and ten minutes, Jacques Prévert’s scintillating, poetic screenplay reconciles tragedy and farce, body and soul to create an extraordinarily rich tapestry bursting with life and love. It’s maybe the most romantic film ever made.
Sunday’s Pantheon screening will feature a 20-minute introduction and talkback.
This series of “the greatest films ever made”, is inspired by the famous poll of film scholars run by Sight & Sound magazine once a decade since 1952.
Feb 16: Intro by Tom Charity, VIFF Year-Round Programmer
A richly entertaining and intensely romantic evocation of an epoch… The larger-than-life characters and performers, the ironic dialogue, the narrative skill and sweep of the whole production has placed this one many critics’ lists as one of the greatest films ever made.
The Foreign Film Guide
Wicked, worldly, flamboyant… a sophisticated, cynical portrait of actors, murderers, swindlers, pickpockets, prostitutes, impresarios and the decadent rich (many of the characters were based on real people… Few achievements in the world of cinema can equal it.
Roger Ebert
Presented by
Marcel Carné
Arletty, Jean-Louis Barrault, Pierre Brasseur, Marcel Herrand, Pierre Renoir
France
1945
In French with English subtitles
Indigenous & Community Access
Credits
Screenwriter
Jacques Prévert
Cinematography
Roger Hubert
Editor
Henri Rust, Madeleine Bonin
Original Music
Joseph Kosma, Maurice Thiriet
Production Design
Alexandre Trauner
Also in This Series
Les Enfants du Paradis (Children of Paradise)
The crowning glory of classical French cinema, this sumptuous melodrama brings to life the early 19th century Boulevard du Crime in Paris, where popular audiences for mime shows and carnival rub shoulders with wealthy patrons of classical theatre.
The Wild Bunch (Director's Cut)
The Mexico/Texas borderlands, 1913: Pike (William Holden) leads his gang of aging outlaws on a foray south for one last hurrah. Peckinpah's masterpiece, a savage lament for men who believe in nothing but find respect by dying in vain.
The Ascent
During the darkest winter of WWII, two Soviet partisans venture through the backwoods of Belarus in search of food, always at risk of falling into enemy hands. In her masterpiece Larisa Shepitko zeroes in on profound spiritual and philosophical themes.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Céline Sciamma's queer costume drama -- about a painter covertly studying a young noblewoman who refuses to sit for her portrait -- was voted 30th Greatest Film Ever Made in a 2022 poll, the highest ranking film of the past decade.
I Am Cuba
Infused with a palpable love for the country and a righteous anger at the injustices of the Batista era, I Am Cuba features some of the jaw-dropping camerawork ever filmed. A euphoric celebration of Cuba, the Revolution, and revolutionary cinema.
The Colour of Pomegranates + The House Is Black
This month's Pantheon screening is a double-bill, Sergei Parajanov's extraordinary evocation of the life and work of C18th Armenian poet Sayat Nova, and, The House is Black (22 min), the only film directed by the great Iranian poet Forugh Farrokhzad.
Fantasia
Walt Disney pushed the boundaries of animation and sound recording when he put together a movie concert: eight classical pieces by Bach, Beethoven, Stravinski et al, each animated in a different style. It's playful, sometimes cute, other times inspired.
Image: © Disney, 1940