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Marcel Marcel Carné (1906-1996)



I'll tell you what moves me the most. When they
stop me in the street, if they recognize me, they
never tell me I am really talented or that my films
are great. They always, always say: "Thank you for
the joy you have given me" I'll always remember
the first time I went into a theater to see people's
reactions to Hotel du Nord, I saw them laughing.
And it made me happy. ~ Marcel Carné
(from an interview with Brian Stonehill for the
Criterion Collection, 1990)


Filmography

Nogent, Eldorado du dimanche (1929)

Jenny (1936) IVC (R2 JP)

Drôle de drame (Bizarre, Bizarre) (1937) HVE (R1)

Le quai des brumes (Port of Shadows) (1938) Criterion (R1) / Optimum Releasing (R2 UK)

Hôtel du Nord (1938) Soda Pictures (R2 UK) / mk2 (R2 FR)

Le jour se lève (Daybreak) (1939) Optimum Releasing (R2 UK) / Studio Canal (R2 FR) / Criterion - included in the Essential Art House collection, and rumored to be coming as independent release in the future

Les visiteurs du soir (The Devil's Envoys) (1942)

Les enfants du paradis (Children of Paradise) (1945) Criterion (R1) / Second Sight (R2 UK)

Les portes de la nuit (Gates of the Night) (1946) IVC (R2 JP) / Pathé (R2 FR)

La fleur de l'âge (1947)

Juliette ou La clef des songes (Juliette, or Key of Dreams) (1950) Taki (R2 JP)

La marie du port (1950) Aventi Distribution (R2 FR) -- as double feature with Luis Saaslavsky's 1er Mai ou le père et l'enfant

Thérèse Raquin (The Adultress) (1953) Kino (R1) / Studio Canal (R2 FR)

L'Air de Paris (Air of Paris) (1954) Studio Canal (R2 FR)

Le pays, d'où je viens (The Country I Come From) (1956)

Les Tricheurs (The Cheaters) (1958) Studio Canal (R2 FR)

Terrain vague (Wasteland) (1960)

Du mouron pour les petits oiseaux (Chicken Feed for Little Birds) (1963)

Trois chambres à Manhattan (Three Rooms in Manhattan) (1965) IVC (R2 JP)

Les jeunes loups (Young Wolves) (1968)


General Discussion

Tradition of Quality Cinema


Recommended Web Resources

BFI : Sight and Sound -- review by Ginette Vincendeau (March, 1999)

Film Reference -- career overview and resource guide

Films de France -- career overview with reviews of Marcel Carné's films

The Guardian -- short article on Les Enfants du Paradis by Derek Malcolm

Marcel-Carne.com -- hommage site in French

Senses of Cinema -- article on Les Enfants du Paradis by Girish Shambu

Has anyone seen Roma Aeterna (1983), "a film-spectacle by Marcel Carné"?

There's a website where you can buy the DVD here.

Never heard of it.

I did try to buy a vhs copy of La Bible a few years back on Amazon.com. Of course I ended up with a copy of John Huston's "classic" instead. Carné's film, a documentary on church paintings if my memory serves me well, gets a pretty good review in Edward Turk's wonderful book (it's in English folks! buy! buy!). And he's generally not too kind on the latter part of Carné's work.

Seeing Nogent, Eldorado du dimanche certainly made me want to see more documentaries by the man.

French only Portrait of..

http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B001JHI7OO" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In the same series - Duvivier, Clair and Clouzot.

L'air de Paris coming March with english subs

http://www.amazon.co.uk/LAir-Paris-Jean ... 732&sr=8-2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I recommend heartily the following website which will give you all the infos you need on Carné and his work:
http://www.marcel-carne.com/

Edit: I didn't notice the link above....

Anyway the site cannot be praised too highly!

Philippe Morisson, the creator of the site, has become a friend of mine lately.

The NFT is having a Carné & Prévert season in February. I'm planning to be in London for a while in the middle of the month, and would really appreciate recommendations as to the lesser-known essentials of the bunch. Will definitely see Remorques - others?

Remorques is a must-see so is Lumière d'été another superb Grémillon. Go to Jenny Carné's first film and Drôle de Drame is a fantastic comedy with a stellar cast. Thérèse Raquin is a good Zola adaptation. You can find the most famous Carné films on DVD so you can bypass them.

One of the most torturous episodes of my unsubbed viewing life is watching the Gremillon doc on the RC dvd of Remorques.

Let's just say that the doc did nothing to build up under David's theories about Grem being a closet queen.

Knappen wrote:Let's just say that the doc did nothing to build up under David's theories about Grem being a closet queen.

Moi! Dans le placard?.... How very dare you.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj7gIKemncY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

david hare wrote:Schrecko, the French disc with Remorques and the terrtific making of doco is MK2 not Rene. You obviously weren't looking at the cover!

I bought a *cough* legit copy! I swear I did (where's my nose bra?)!

You be very Feulliadey lately copain with all the copious bouts of Bout de Zan.

And I loved how you--elsewhere here-- spelled Licorice Kid in Judex... the LIQUORish Kid-- twice!

WAIIIII-TER!!!

Ahh.. that's pretty good-- KBoutten and the Liquorish Kid. Shoulda known you knew better.

KBoutten?

The parisian girls call me Bébé. With an accent grave over the e.

And there was always the brouhaha over Gueule quickly followed by Renoir's viciously homophobic attack on Carne after the latter's Quai des Brumes was singled out for its "decadence."

What exactly did Renoir say?

During the premiere of "Quai des brumes", Renoir was heard to say out loud "This isn't the 'Quai des brumes', this is the 'cul des bremes' ['the whore's ass']".

Thanks for bringing the thread back on the right track.

BTW it's written brêmes. (Not

With an accent grave over the e

)

Many misguided nationalist assholes accused the film of provoking-- rather than reflecting-- a state of national malaise and depression. Thankfully Ren got his brain on the right track and made his masterpiece for the ages, La Regle, and confirmed the wisdom of the weariness of Carne's own masterpiece (far better than jour se leve imho, which is a light going over of the elements of its predecessor).

jdcopp wrote:During the premiere of "Quai des brumes", Renoir was heard to say out loud "This isn't the 'Quai des brumes', this is the 'cul des bremes' ['the whore's ass']".

I don't understand how this is homophobic- am I missing something in the translation? I've only read that Renoir attacked the film as fascist (a ridiculous opinion that he soon backed away from).

Again, from everything I've read, these references to "decadent" and "treacherous" were in relation to the film's perceived fascism. I've never read anything about a homophobic attack and I don't think you can necessarily lump Renoir in with the pervasive anti-gay sentiment of the time.

I've never read a translation of the article, but I'll never understand how there are "fascist" elements/characters (I think Ren's complaints were that there are 'fascist characters') in Quai de Brumes. Can anyone explain what in fluck's sake what he was even talking about?

Who's supposed to be fascist? Brasseur's wannabe gangster, his chick and his mugs? Michel Simon's lecherous father? Michelle Morgan or Gabin? The sad crew in Panama's shack? If ever there was an attack on a film which completely baffled me, it's the famous allegation that Brumes is a fascist film.

Utterly bizarre.

HerrSchreck wrote:I've never read a translation of the article, but I'll never understand how there are "fascist" elements/characters (I think Ren's complaints were that there are 'fascist characters') in Quai de Brumes. Can anyone explain what in fluck's sake what he was even talking about?

In Turk's book where the incident above is reported he notes that Prevert allegedly got Renoir to apologise and Renoir stated he meant to say that there were certain characters that deserved a fascist beating. Carne (and I suspect most of us) failed to see any real distinction. In the same volume there are instances of Renoir's distaste for Carne but there is no evidence of out and out homophobic slurs. Neither is it clear whether Renoir was referring to the notorious Nazi spokesman Le Vigan who plays the suicide artist.

Neither is it clear whether Renoir was referring to the notorious Nazi spokesman Le Vigan who plays the suicide artist.

Not very likely as Renoir had used Le Vigan hinself in Madame Bovary and Les Bas-Fonds.

Knappen wrote:

Neither is it clear whether Renoir was referring to the notorious Nazi spokesman Le Vigan who plays the suicide artist.

Not very likely as Renoir had used Le Vigan hinself in Madame Bovary and Les Bas-Fonds.

Which is fair comment except for the fact that those films were 2 years and 5 years earlier and assumes that Le Vigan's fascist tendencies were openly displayed at that time or as vehement. It also assumes a certain degree of consistency on Renoir's part. You need look no further than Jeanson's article 'The Two Renoirs' to see another side of that warm avuncular face that beams out from his appearances on various supplements. Although Jeanson himself was a notoriously caustic character who courted confrontation and controversy it is a healthy antidote to the committed filmmaker/ cuddly Teddy persona.
There is also Michel Simon's rancour towards Renoir who he blamed for his own indictment for collaboration due to Renoir's own actions.

You need look no further than Jeanson's article 'The Two Renoirs'

One does not need to look further than Jeanson's article. Sorry, but I have already gone and looked further.

http://jdcopp.blogspot.com/2008/01/reno ... -late.html