La Bête Humaine (film)
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| La Bête Humaine | |
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 Theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Jean Renoir |
| Produced by | Raymond Hakim Robert Hakim |
| Written by | Story: Emile Zola Screenplay: Jean Renoir Dialogue: Denise Leblond |
| Starring | Jean Gabin Simone Simon |
| Music by | Joseph Kosma |
| Cinematography | Curt Courant |
| Editing by | Suzanne de Troeye Marguerite Renoir |
| Release date(s) | France: December 23, 1938 United States: February 19, 1940 |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
La Bête Humaine (English: The Human Beast and Judas Was a Woman) (1938) is a film directed by Jean Renoir, with cinematography by Curt Courant. The picture features Jean Gabin, and is based on the novel of the same name by Emile Zola.[1]
The drama is partially set "on a train that may be thought of as one of the main characters in the film."[2]
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[edit] Plot
The story tells of train engineer Jacques Lantier (Jean Gabin) who lusts after Séverine Roubaud (Simone Simon), the wife of his co-worker Roubaud (Fernand Ledoux).
Roubaud, discovers that his young wife, Séverine, has been seduced by her godfather, the wealthy Grandmorin. Jealous, Roubaud forces Séverine to assist in the murder of Grandmorin during a train journey. The murder is witnessed by a railway worker, Jacques Lantier, but he keeps quiet because he is in love with Séverine. Disgusted by what her husband has done, Séverine has an affair with Lantier and pleads with him to kill her cruel husband. Little does she know that Lantier also has a dark secret. The railway worker is subject to fits which have the capacity to tranform him into a pathological killer... Lantier kills Séverine and then commits suicide.
[edit] Cast
- Jean Gabin as Jacques Lantier
- Simone Simon as Séverine Roubaud
- Fernand Ledoux as Roubaud (as Ledoux Sociétaire de la Comédie Française)
- Blanchette Brunoy as Flore
- Gérard Landry as Le fils Dauvergne
- Jenny Hélia as Philomène Sauvagnat
- Colette Régis as Victoire Pecqueux
- Claire Gérard as Une voyageuse
- Charlotte Clasis as Tante Phasie, la marraine de Lantier
- Jacques Berlioz as Grandmorin
- Tony Corteggiani as Dabadie, le chef de section
- André Tavernier as Le juge d'instruction Denizet
- Marcel Pérès as Un lampiste
- Jean Renoir as Cabuche
- Julien Carette as Pecqueux
[edit] Critical reception
Frank S. Nugent, film critic for The New York Times, gave the film a positive review even though he felt uncomfortable watching the film. He wrote, "It is hardly a pretty picture, dealing as it does with a man whose tainted blood subjects him to fits of homicidal mania, with a woman of warped childhood who shares her husband's guilty secret of murder...It is simply a story; a macabre, grim and oddly-fascinating story. Sitting here, a safe distance from it, we are not at all sure we entirely approve of it or of its telling. Its editing could have been smoother—which is another way of saying that Renoir jerks his camera, jumps a bit too quickly from scene to scene, doesn't always make clear why his people are behaving as they do. But sitting here is not quite the same as sitting in the theatre watching it. There we were conscious only of constant interest and absorption tinged with horror and an uncomfortable sense of dread. And deep down, of course, ungrudged admiration for Renoir's ability to seduce us into such a mood, for the performances which preserved it."[3]
[edit] Adaptations
In 1954 director Fritz Lang remade the picture as Human Desire, a film noir featuring Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Broderick Crawford, among others.[4]
[edit] Awards
Nominations
- Venice Film Festival: Mussolini Cup, Best Film, Jean Renoir; 1939.
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
- ^ La bête humaine at the Internet Movie Database.
- ^ Bogdonovitch, Peter. Interview on special features of the Criterion Collection imprint.
- ^ Nugent, Frank S. The New York Times, film review, "Zola's The Human Beast Comes to 55th Street as a Somber and Powerful French Film by Jean Renoir," February 20, 1940. Last accessed: December 30, 2007.
- ^ Human Desire at the Internet Movie Database.
[edit] External links
- La Bête Humaine at the Internet Movie Database
- La Bête Humaine at Allmovie
- La Bête Humaine at Bright Lights Film Journal
- La Bête Humaine at DVD Beaver, includes images
- La Bête Humaine essay at Criterion Collection by Geoffrey O'Brien
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