Continuing my countdown of the final 10 in 100 consecutive movie nights!
Les Enfants du Paradis / Children of Paradise (1945) dir. Marcel Carné, starring Arletty, Jean-Louis Barrault, Pierre Brasseur. Another film shot in wartime, with a fascinating backstory. During the occupation of France, German authorities decided to keep the French film industry going, as a kind of public relations move, and many French films were produced during this period, under Nazi supervision. The Germans restricted subject matter and put limits on film length, which is why this three-hour epic is ostensibly broken into two parts – it was shot as two films, but has always been shown as one.
The director Marcel Carné had made his name with poetic realism – gritty romances in a contemporary setting – but the Nazis had banned films of this sort so he had to come up with a different kind of project. An epic period piece fit the bill, pitched as a kind of French Gone With the Wind. Les Enfants du Paradis was the largest production of that period, taking two years to make, and involving the largest set build in French film history at the time: a quarter mile of street frontage, in scrupulous period detail depicting the Parisian theatre district in 1830, nicknamed le Boulevard du Crime. With a war going on, construction materials were scarce, electricity was intermittent, and the set was damaged at one point by a storm and had to be rebuilt, so the fact that it was accomplished at all is a marvel.
1,800 extras were hired, including members of the French Resistance – given parts in the film as a cover for their other activities – as well as Vichy sympathizers and Nazi informants. Jewish actors involved had to have their scenes shot in secret, and since both the production designer and composer were Jewish, they worked in hiding and submitted their notes to the production through intermediaries. The actor who played the rag merchant Jéricho had to be replaced after he was accused by the Resistance of being a Nazi informant and had to flee for his life. He was replaced by Pierre Renoir (brother of the director, son of the painter), and most of his scenes were reshot, except for one which remains in the film. (TBH, I didn’t even notice the switch.)
Difficulties, complications, and mishaps all conspired to extend the production period to 18 months. Another contributing factor: Carné himself prolonged the length of the shoot to protect the Resistance members in the ranks, and because he wanted the film’s release to occur after France was liberated. Upon finishing he hid three prints in three different locations, to ensure the film’s safety until it could be released. Emerging triumphantly after liberation, Les Enfants du Paradis was rapturously received by public and critics alike.
The film’s theme is freedom, and how the arts can only flourish in a free society, though this had to be kept subtle so as to slip past the Nazi censors. The plot centres around the model/actress/courtesan Garance and the four men who love her. The character of the beautiful woman who refuses to bend to any man’s dictates and remains totally free, would have certainly have resonated with the patriotic audience as a symbol for France. And it is to the credit of the writer Jacques Prévert and the actress Arletty that Garance is such a complex and intelligent character.
Carné intended this film to be a celebration of the theatre, and lovingly recreates the nineteenth century world of the pantomime theatre and its backstage chaos. The title comes from the tradition of calling the cheap upper balcony seats le paradis. (I’m no expert on theatre lore, but apparently the English equivalent is the gods; this term is used in the English subtitles.) The actors all play to the gods, the rowdiest but most passionately devoted of the French audience members.
I could go on and on… this is really just the tip of the iceberg about this movie. I haven’t even mentioned the rich traditions of the pantomime, or the true historical personages depicted in this film. Wonderful performances, luxurious period detail, humour and tragedy, romance, despair… mimes, actors, beggars, criminals, aristocrats, and the jubilant rabble of le paradis. This is an entire world on film and well worth seeing.
