Jacques Viot Movies
- 1962
One of the rare Western films to take advantage of the spectacular setting of the temples at Angkor in Cambodia, L'Oiseau de Paradis is directed by Marcel Camus. The French ruled Cambodia until 1954 and are well-aware of its attractions -- and so Camus was prepared when he went in to film the annual boat races in Phnom Penh, the boxing matches, and the royal dancers that are incorporated into the story. The tale itself is relatively simple. A beautiful dancer has two admirers -- one is a young worker whom she has only met by accident, and the other is an unscrupulous businessman. The worker had been training as a Buddhist monk and as his interest in the dancer and the businessman's pursuit of the woman develop, the dancer and the former monk end up at the archaeological site of Angkor. There, Buddhists still worship in the temples and it is in this setting that the businessman kills them both. Reincarnation being accepted as truth in Cambodia, the story implies that the ill-fated young couple would be joined together in the future. This film was made only six or seven years before fighting began in Angkor and the French were forced out of the area. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Black Orpheus (Orfeu Negro) is literally what its title suggests: a retelling of the "Orpheus and Eurydice" legend enacted by black performers. This time the setting is the annual Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. Orpheus (Breno Mello) is a streetcar conductor; Eurydice (Marpessa Dawn) has just jilted her lover and is attempting to escape his wrath. Orpheus himself falls in love with Eurydice, whereupon her ex-lover, disguised as the Angel of Death shows up and kills Eurydice. To reclaim his lost love, Orpheus enters "Hell" (the Rio morgue) and uses supernatural methods to revive the dead girl. A multi-award winner on the international film scene, Black Orpheus features a samba musical score by Luiz Bonfa and Antonio Carlos Jobim. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Breno Mello, Marpessa Dawn, (more)
- 1946
Generally forgotten today, Macadam opened to good reviews and excellent business when it first came out in 1946. The film takes place in the "demimonde" of Paris' Montmartre district. The incomparable Francoise Rosay heads the cast in this atmospheric, melodramatic yarn about French gangsters, their mistresses, and various and assorted "ladies of the evening." Much of the critical attention was centered around Simone Signoret, in her first major screen role. In America, Macadam was released (in a heavily expurgated version!) as Back Streets of Paris. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Françoise Rosay, Paul Meurisse, (more)
- 1942
Completed in 1941, Portrait of a Woman (Une Femme disparait) was the final effort of veteran director Jacques Feyder. Though filmed in Switzerland, this is French production through and through, both in terms of production personnel and subject matter. Francoise Rosay, Feyder's wife, stars as a faded opera star who commits suicide. When her body is found, the police are unable to identify her. Subsequently, several people come forth, each claiming that he or she is an acquaintance of the dead woman. Their flashbacked reminiscences permit Rosay to offer an astonishing array of characterizations, from timid schoolmistress to bawdy waterfront dame to pathetic old peasant. For its 1946 American release, Portrait of a Woman was paired with the musical short subject Hymn of All Nations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Françoise Rosay, Henri Guisol, (more)
Marcel Carne and Jacques Prevert's classic of French poetic realism stars Jean Gabin in one of his most famous roles as Francois, a rough, barrel-chested loner who hides out in his apartment awaiting for the police to arrive. Francois has killed a man in a crime of passion, the slimy lothario Valentin (Jules Berry). As he listens in the darkness of his Normandy apartment to the police sirens closing in and getting louder, he recalls the two women that he loved -- Francoise (Jacqueline Laurent) and Clara (Arletty) -- and the evil Valentin, who stole both their hearts and forced Francois into this melancholy plight. The film was later re-made in Hollywood as The Long Night. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Gabin, Jules Berry, (more)
