FR 89m Dir: Jean Vigo Key Cast: Michel Simon and Dita Parlo
Sometimes fate can be a terrible thing. It feels to me like director Jean Vigo could have become one of the most famous director's of his day if things had worked out differently. He made three silent short films, the most famous of which is Zero for Conduct, and went on to make this sole feature film. Vigo had tuberculosis whilst making this film and was bedridden for portions of the filming. He got as far as making a rough cut before being too ill to continue and died shortly after the film finished it's initial run in theaters, aged only 29.
Canal barge captain Jean marries village girl Juliette and they begin married life together aboard the barge L'Atalante. The relationship quickly becomes strained though and Jean is furious when he finds Juliette in the quarters of barge-hand Jules and is livid when a street peddler flirts with her at a dance hall.
The film does two main things. One is that it's an interesting exploration of life on a canal barge, mostly told through barge-hand Jules. There's something charming about the life that is shown and it's filmed beautifully. It's one of those films that makes you want to spend a few weeks in the setting. Apparently in the early 30s films and songs about barge-dwellers were hugely popular in France so this film taps into a cultural moment that has largely been forgotten.
The film is also an exploration of a relationship. Jean and Juliette are a happy couple at the start of the film as they get married and begin the romantic life of living on a barge. But then what? The characters never fall out of love with each other but there's a conflict between them with Jean being hugely jealous and Juliette wanting to expand her horizons. It's deeply sad at times but the story works well and ends satisfactorily.
The production values of this film are really high and it can't have been an easy film to make. With Vigo struggling with his health and much of filming taking place in a cold winter where blocks of ice were floating down the river it must have been quite an onerous shoot. A real barge was hired for the exterior shots and Vigo trawled through flea markets to pick up items for Jules' room of objects from around the world. Vigo wasn't that keen to make a barge dwellers film but he undoubtedly worked hard to do it as well as he possibly could.
It's not really my cup of tea but nonetheless I have to admire the incredible film-making that went into this. It's such a shame Vigo never go to make any other feature films.
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