I thought this was more cinematic and I loved the story of The Baron and his friendship with Pepel.
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I liked the Kurosawa version better. I did like the Renoir film but felt it was too light hearted to the subject matter. Kurosawa's film was dark and I felt the story needed this darkness
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I do like this better than the Kurosawa version if only slightly.
Kurosawa is my #1 director of all time, so I have certainly given this some thought.
The Criterion set is one of my favorites. In one set are two of my favorite directors and two of my favorite actors: Toshiro Mifune and Jean Gabin.
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This one is GREAT but I still prefer Kurosawa'sWhen there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...
I think I prefer Kurosawa's version slightly more although ultimately, I'm not a huge fan of either. But then, I've never been big on such loud, boisterous tales that attempt cover every facet of human emotion (positive and negative) amidst poverty in obvious ways so perhaps I'm not the right audience. 6.5/10
Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.
Hm... I don't think I quite get what you mean there. To me, about 3/4 of the movie played like a pleasently loose, amusing comedy. Rated 8/10.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan
If pure cinema is what you want, it's Kurosawa. If great performances from the best French actors is what you want, then it's Renoir. The acting actually gets in the way of the story-telling, from my point of view.
shareI'd have to disagree with that - Renoir is one of the most poetic and "pure" of filmmakers, and I found this version much more cinematic than Kurosawa's rather dour rendition (and I usually really like Kurosawa.)
In general, I love the warmth and humanity that most of Renoir's films exude - and even in a dark tale like this he manages to make the characters feel supremely human and relatable. The script and the acting and the direction all work together perfectly - it's storytelling at its finest.
That's just my opinion, of course, I just found it interesting that we seemed to have such different reactions to Renoir's filmmaking.
I like Les bas-fonds a lot, and the actors are at the top of their game. Has Jouvet been more moving as he tries and fails to light a cigarette after one of his casino disasters? Isn't the scene between Jouvet and Gabin splendid, when the baron surprises Pepel in the act of breaking in? Did you not love the scene between Junie Astor and Gabriello in the café (talk about rejecting an importunate man). And I didn't mention Le Vigan's performance: so extraordinary like everything he did in those days. These stick in my memory, but the story hardly does. I had to look up the entry in my film guide to remember what happens.
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