Les enfants du paradis (1945)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Marcel Carné

Writer:

Jacques Prévert (scenario and dialogue)

Release Date:

15 November 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

This tragic tale centers around the ill-fated love between Baptiste, a theater mime, and Claire Reine...

Plot Keywords:

Count | Love | Actor | Mime | Actress

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Arletty	...	Garance (Claire Reine)
Jean-Louis Barrault	...	Baptiste Debureau
Pierre Brasseur	...	Frédérick Lemaître
Pierre Renoir	...	Jéricho
María Casares	...	Nathalie (as María Casarès)
Gaston Modot	...	Fil de Soie
Fabien Loris	...	Avril
Marcel Pérès	...	Director of the Funambules
Palau	...	Stage manager of the Funambules (as Pierre Palau)
Etienne Decroux	...	Anselme Debureau (as Étienne Decroux)
Jane Marken	...	Mme. Hermine (as Jeanne Marken)
Marcelle Monthil	...	Marie
Louis Florencie	...	Policeman
Habib Benglia	...	Turkish Bath Attendant
Rognoni	...	Director, 'Grand Theatre'

Also Known As:

Children of Paradise (USA)
L'homme blanc (France) (second part title)
Le Boulevard du crime (France) (first part title)

Runtime:

USA:163 min (edited) | France:190 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Brazil:18 | West Germany:12 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | Sweden:7 (1986) | UK:PG | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France

Company:

Pathé Consortium Cinéma

Trivia:

The name of the theatre, Funambules, translates to Tightrope in English.

Goofs:

Continuity: The positions of Avril and Lacenaire in the Turkish baths changes between the shot of their entry and the closer shot.

Quotes:

Anselme Debureau: A kick in the ass, if well delivered, is a sure laugh. It's true. There's an entire order, a science, a style of kicks in the ass.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in La petite Lili (2003)

The film is Life itself.

One day in 1966 I was walking along 8th Street in the Village. The Village was where I went when I had no where else to go, when I belonged no where, where I thought I could discover myself. It didn't hurt that there were people to stare at, without being too obvious about it.

It was a gray day and it started to rain. I stopped under the first protection I found, a movie marque - neither handsome nor attractive.

The photos promoting the film were behind glass at odd angles, held by tacks. I just wasn't in the mood. It wasn't what I was looking for. But the rain got worse, and I needed warmth. So I bought my ticket to join the twenty or so people who comprised the full audience.

From its first moment, the film pulled me in. After a frenetic start, it quieted to Jean-Louis Barrault sitting alone on a barrel. I'd seen Marceau before, but not until now had I seen the quiet poetry of true mime.

Barrault's character, Baptiste, had silently observed the theft of a watch. Baptiste pantomimed the theft but staged his pantomime as if people's perceptions were a mistake, as if the theft never took place. In the doing, he made everyone laugh. He did this for the love of Garance, played by Arletty, whom he had seen for the first time.

There follows in the film first love - unrequited, poetic, soulful. We see villainy, melodrama, danger, heroism, satire, plays within plays - a host of stories all integral to the whole of the play. And we believe completely.

It is the most complete film ever made. It changed my life.