Les Enfants du Paradis (French)

Director : Marcel Carné
Written by : Jacques Prévert
Starring : Arletty, Jean-Louis Barrault, Pierre Brasseur, Pierre Renoir

I came across this film, considered to be the best French films ever made, in the Alliance Française library. Often, I cannot appreciate black and white films due to the theatrical acting prevalent in those days. But since this film is presented as a play (it is shown in two acts/parts and the curtain rises and falls at the beginning and the end), I quite enjoyed it this time. My only disappointment was the actress who played the central character: she looked a little too old for her role, was too passive throughout and did not look as beautiful and enchanting as she ought to have.

The film is about Garance, a small-time actress and a courtesan, and the four men who fall in love with her – Lacenaire, a criminal, Baptiste, a mime-artist, Edouard de Montray, an aristocrat and Frédéric Lemaitre, an actor. Each of them loves Garance in their own way and this forms the crux of the film. Baptiste’s love for Garance is pure and sublime, but he expects a similar affection from her. Frédéric is a Casanova. But his love for Garance (which seems frivolous in the first part) leads him to experience ‘jealousy’, an emotion he had never known before. Lacenaire prides himself on his cold heartedness, but his love for Garance makes him commit a grave crime. De Montray tries to buy Garance’s love with expensive gifts. She does become his mistress but never reciprocates his love. Garance on the other hand runs away from each of these men when she finds her freedom encroached upon. At the end however, she finds her true love but circumstances force her to run away from him again.

The beauty of the film lies in its well-defined characters and the light that it throws upon human nature. As for its name “Les enfants du paradis” can be translated as “The children of the Gods”. The Gods refers to the gallery where the working-class people sat in a theatre. They were the ones who freely appreciated the actors’ performances. It should be noted that all the characters in the film belong to the working class (except, of course De Montray).

The film was made during the German occupation of France. The lead actress Arletty had an affair with a German soldier at the time and was thus banned from acting in films later. An interesting view is that Garance represents the France under Vichy (occupied France). Lacenaire, the anti-hero/hero, represents those French who joined the Resistance movement and wanted to free France at all cost (Hence the murder at the end). Baptiste represents the French who loved their nation but could not, or did not strive to free her (hence his inability to express his love for her).

Personally, I quite enjoyed the film. For those who love classics, here is one which is hailed as the French ‘Gone with the wind’!