Why is it that I'm the first to comment on this excellent classic. It's Renoir and Gabin at their very best. Renoir managed to do something personal without even being much in control. The opening sequence is really stunning. Renoir proves again that he's not less inventive and meticulous than Hitchcock or Welles. It's an unusually dark film for Renoir but everything works perfectly.
shareI've just finished watching La bête humaine for the first time, I think it's stunning, a real masterpiece. I already knew the film Fritz Lang made based on the same novel, shot in the States in the 50's, Human Desire, which I think has its own merits, but it's not as dark as this one, and far less explicit about subjects such as Séverine's past or Lantier's disease -I don't remember Glenn Ford being anything but "normal" on Lang's film-. Anyway, I think the two films have different approaches to the story, and to me both of them are very interesting. Trains work perfect on film, especially those old machines, they were noisier and dirtier, but much more cinematic than our current high-technology trains, I think.
By the way, it's surprising so few people have written here about this wonderful film so far!
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How do I find this 'classic film board' on imdb? Don't see a link and when I typed these words in search, all I got was TCM's classic film festival.
Thanks!
Classic Film Board : http://www.imdb.com/board/bd0000010/threads/
The idea is that you go to the main boards section which is on the right top of your screen and from there on to any board you like.
Main Boards link: http://www.imdb.com/boards/
Thanks so much for writing to me. I clicked on your link and got to the Board, but could not enter a search title. Then I tried going through my own login and had no link to Boards whatsoever. I think this must be a feature of IMDBpro, which I do not have. Do you know if it is? If so, what a drag!
shareClassic and beautifully dark. Gabin is his ususal doomed-and-tragic self. And he could die beautifully - he did in almost all '30s movies. What a wonderful athmosphere! These old French movies knew something about suspense.
shareI just saw it today and I was terribly disappointed. Jean Gabin is one of my favorite actors and Renoir is one hell of a director too. Also it had the gorgeous Simone Simon, so what could go wrong? Well it was just too thin! It's like it just speeds through a plot and hope you get the most of it. The character development is really poor, the interactions are often rather silly and Simon seemed quite awkward.
Not too say it's bad. It's entertaining enough and the frames are excellent. One of Gabins least convincing performances but hell that still makes it a good one. And I did quite enjoy Gabins character's humorous friend.
Overall it's only ok though. My rating would be 6/10.
Somebody here has been drinking and I'm sad to say it ain't me - Allan Francis Doyleshare
Although I am a huge Renoir & Gabin fan, after reading the description I was not sure if I would like La Bete Humaine. But I just finished watching it and I shouldn't have doubted. The last 20 minutes were so difficult for me to watch because I just had this complete sense of dread, and while it was dreadful the ending surprised me even more than I thought.
Anyways there were some gorgeous shots in this film: various shots on the railway, the kiss in the rain, the time Lantier almost strangles the girl from the boat, the final shot of Lantier.
So now I know that I should not doubt the combination of Gabin & Renoir. :)
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Yea, I'm going to have to disagree. I think the execution was marvelous... Yes, there is a certain amount of artifice to the movie, but that hardly detracts from it. In fact, Renoir "playing God" behind the scenes only re-enforces the deterministic, doomed atmosphere of the movie.
Ford and Renoir were both masters of the technical aspects of cinema. I find it difficult to critique either one.
I'm not going there to die. I'm going to find out if I'm really alive.
It's Renoir and Gabin at their very best.