L'Atalante

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

L'Atalante
Directed by	Jean Vigo
Produced by	Jacques-Louis Nounez
Written by	Jean Guinée Albert Riéra Jean Vigo
Starring	Michel Simon Dita Parlo Jean Dasté
Music by	Maurice Jaubert
Cinematography	Boris Kaufman
Editing by	Louis Chavance
Release date(s)	September 12, 1934
Running time	89 min.
Country	France
Language	French
IMDb profile

L'Atalante is a 1934 French film directed by Jean Vigo and starring Jean Dasté, Dita Parlo and Michel Simon.

[edit] Synopsis

The story follows Jean (Jean Dasté), the captain of the barge L'Atalante and his new wife, Juliette (Dita Parlo). They are married, having hardly met, in Juliette's provincial town. The scene of their march from the wedding to Jean's barge is filmed in a discontinuous style that predicts the films of the French New Wave. They set out on a trip to Paris which functions doubly as a cargo delivery and as their makeshift honeymoon. Tensions arise with the crew, who are not used to the presence of a woman. Most of the conflict, however, stems from Jean who flies into a jealous rage, smashing plates and sending cats scattering every which way, when he discovers Juliette and first mate Jules (Michel Simon) talking in Jules' quarters.

Once arriving in Paris, Jean and Juliette go to a music club. There they meet a street peddler who flirts with Juliette leading to a scuffle with Jean. Growing disaffected of barge life, and enamored with the lights of Paris, Juliette runs off with the peddler. Jean, furious, casts off, leaving her behind, only to return later to look for her when he has thought better of it.

[edit] Evaluation

The film has been praised for its prescient poetic realist style, but it also includes surprising surrealist passages, such as the double exposure Michel Simon wrestling match and a scene in which Jean jumps into the river. As noted, it was also a favorite of the filmmakers of the French New Wave, whose films contain many allusions to the works of Jean Vigo.

The original distributors cut the film's running time in an attempt to make it more popular and changed the title to Le Chaland Qui Passe, the name of a song from the time, which was also inserted into the film.

L'Atalante was chosen as the 10th-greatest film of all time in Sight & Sound's 1962 poll, and as the 6th-best in its 1992 poll.

The much lauded cinematography was by Boris Kaufman. He would later go on to shoot great Hollywood films such as On the Waterfront. Nevertheless, he described his years working with Vigo as "cinematic paradise."