Les Enfants du Paradis (1945)
Genre: Drama / Romance
Duration: 190 minuten
Alternative title: Children of Paradise
Country:
France
Directed by: Marcel Carné
Stars: Arletty, Jean-Louis Barrault and Pierre Brasseur
IMDb score:
8,3 (22.834)
Releasedate: 15 March 1945
Les Enfants du Paradis plot
"AT LAST! The Celebrated French Film."
Paris, 1928. The Boulevard du Crime is a street where popular forms of theater are shown. The cheapest seats are in the “paradise” or angel box of the Théâtre des Funambules. The theater director's daughter is in love with the pantomime player Baptiste Debureau. However, he himself has feelings for Garance, a painter's model and actress. Three other men are also competing for her hand: the criminal Lacenaire, the Shakespearean actor Frédérick Lemaître and a wealthy count. A complication arises when Garance is suspected of theft.
Actors and actresses
Claire Reine, dite Garance
Baptiste Debureau
Frédérick Lemaître
Pierre-François Lacenaire
Nathalie
Édouard comte de Montray
Jericho
Mme Hermine
Fil de Soie
Avril
Reviews & comments
Roger Thornhill
-
- 6280 messages
- 2591 votes
When I first saw this film as a twenty-year-old, I was primarily impressed by the romance of Baptiste’s broken heart. Now, years (many years) later, Baptiste still breaks my heart, but I can also enjoy Garance’s ironic smile and the cheerful way Frédérick Lemaitre celebrates his philosophy of lighthearted nonchalance. Like moths around a flame, four men dance around the elusive Garance in a film that barely has a plot but otherwise has everything: humor and pathos, impressive sets, ironic dialogue full of worldly aphorisms from eloquent characters, and above all, an atmosphere in which life and love, lies and truth, acting and “reality” are inextricably linked and even the repulsive Jéricho gets his moment of emotion – only to immediately spew his venom of distrust and suspicion again. The impact of the scene in which Garance and Frédérick watch Baptiste's performance from their dressing room and ponder what has happened to them after all these years, how they have changed and how they are still the same (and feel) proves the power of this film, which, thanks to the rich and modern characterizations of the characters, does not feel dated at all.
Watched on the Pathé / Second Sight Blu-ray with a 2011 copyright year, featuring a beautiful and immaculately restored 190-minute transfer with English subtitles (unfortunately without audio commentary tracks), and with extras including two interesting Making of documentaries, both approximately 52 minutes long with English subtitles for French speakers (but not for those few French people speaking English with their heavy accents), plus two short documentaries totaling 12 minutes about the restoration of the severely damaged picture and sound. Beautiful release.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Onderhond
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- 87737 messages
- 13162 votes
Meh, poor stuff.
Carné dives into the theater world and clearly enjoys spending time there. Nice for people who also like spending time there, but it takes a lot of the pace out of the film. It reminded me a bit of Fellini at times, also with the hectic nature of this film; unfortunately, that's not such a great comparison as far as I'm concerned.
The acting is very overdone, the storyline drawn out but never interesting. It is therefore infuriating that this film runs over 180 minutes. You could have told the story in an hour or two, although it still wouldn't have been much more captivating.
Audiovisually, there wasn't much to experience either. Perhaps it looked decent considering the time, but nowadays it is mostly very tame and predictable, without any standout moments. No, not for me. I understand where the classic status comes from, but as far as I'm concerned, those aren't the right reasons.
1.0*
Translated from Dutch · View original
Dievegge
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- 3235 messages
- 8332 votes
It was a feat of strength to build such a large-scale set while still under German occupation. The Boulevard du Crime was so named because crime melodramas were performed there, but there were also real pickpockets. There is a bustling hustle and bustle with a great many extras. The “paradise” is the ‘angels box’: the highest balcony with the cheapest seats, with a working-class and noisy audience.
Arletty plays the black widow who lures four men into her web. At first, she wears heart-shaped earrings; later, a mysterious veil. Through her conquests, she rises in social status: from a criminal-poet with a villainous face to a count with a monocle.
Of the four men, three actually existed. Pierre François Lacenaire ended up with his neck on the guillotine in 1836. Baptiste Debureau and Frédérick Lemaître were celebrated actors. With them, the contrast between “high” and “low” forms of theatre becomes a theme. The pantomime performer says more without words than the dramatic actor with extensive monologues. One has white makeup on his face; the other black makeup like Othello.
Heartbreak, jealousy, and rivalry are present in both the overarching story and the inserted theatrical fragments. In one of these the mime artist wants to hang himself with a rope, but a girl uses that same object to jump rope. As Vondel already said: the world is a stage.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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