MovieChat Forums > Les enfants du paradis (1946) Discussion > WWII allegory faded away

WWII allegory faded away

posted 13 years ago by chuck-526
10 replies | jump to latest

Most descriptions of "Children of Paradise" say something like: a thinly disguised allegory of occupation by and resistance to German forces by the French. Well to me this particular possible reading wasn't just "thinly disguised"; it was invisible.

On a naive viewing I didn't pick up any hint of this supposed allegory. And even on another viewing -watching for it specifically- I couldn't figure out who was what or where the messages might be. What was apparently clear to the original viewers in 1945 escaped me in 2011.

I saw a deep, multi-layered "classical romantic tragedy", but not an "allegory". I'm curious what others saw.

[–] multiplepov-1 13 years ago

I absolutely agree with you.

I think expecting filmmakers in occupied Paris to make anything other than a movie that denied their current reality and portrayed an earlier time as more romantic than what they were living through is naive. I remember reading something written by Pauline Kael claiming the film was made by the French underground. Ridiculous! The costumed crowd in the opening scene, the huge productions of plays, and so on went unnoticed by the German occupiers?

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"I've always resisted the notion that knowledge ruined paradise." Prof. Xavier

[–] Tchoutoye 12 years ago

The film wasn't produced by the French underground, but the story goes that many of the film's extras were members of the underground. One of the cast members, ironically playing the snitch, was executed by the underground and had to be replaced by Jean Renoir's brother.

[–] rogerscorpion 12 years ago

Robert le Vigan wasn't executed. He was sentenced to 10 years, after the war---& served 3. He relocated to Argentina (large Italian & German population) & worked in a few Argentine films. He died in '72.

Carpe Noctem!

[–] Strausszek 11 years ago

Towards the end of the war, when the German trops had left France, and in the aftermath, not a few people were killed, accused or abused on rather shoddy grounds of having supported or helped the Nazis. At one point in '45 it was reported in newspapers that Maurice Chevalier, the legendary song-and-dance man, had been executed (legally) for collaborating with the Germans. That was a blooper, but he could quite easily have been purged more or less officially - he had done some shows at theatres in Paris that welcomed German soldiers and officers. Arletty (Garance) was bashed for having sold out to the Germans too, for similar reasons.

I don't see any very clear allusions to the occupation or the war in the film, though it is about human freedom or the right to choose your own life, in a general way.

You are a lunatic, Sir, and you're going to end up on the Russian front. I have a car waiting.

[–] didierfort 11 years ago

It's the very first time I'm hearing (or reading) such an allegation.

Are you sure you're not confusing this movie with "Les Visiteurs du soir" which is supposed to be, partly, an allegory of etc. ?

[–] chuck-526 11 years ago

Nope, it's definitely Children of Paradise.

The Turner Classic Movies precis says for example:

Children of Paradise is often described by critics as an allegory of the Resistance

[–] didierfort 11 years ago

Well then… Turner Classic Movies can say crap, from now we know.

[–] ivandegroof 10 years ago

To understand the allegory intended you have to know a little bit about the history of the theatre in France in the 18th century where the film is set. Louis XVI and his wife Marie-Antoinette were as you propably know supreme rulers. In the 18th century the biggest part of the population (not just in France) was illiterate. The French monarchs considered the theatre quite dangerous because it was a place where ideas against any current regime could be freely spread and the common people could understand them without being able to read or write. Louis XVI thought this was pretty dangerous and to prevent critisism being spread he instituted a 'gagging order' for the theaters. The only plays with words that could be performed were those written for the Académie Francaise and, after censorship, could only be performed there. One of the plays they weren't allowed to play was 'The marriage of Figaro' by Beaumarchais, deemed too controversial by Louis XVI because a servant tricks his master. In the theaters for the common folk, most of them located at 'the Boulevard du Temple' better known as 'The Boulevard du crime' where the film is set, only pantomine was allowed to prevent actors from speaking out against the regime. The gagging order and censorship form a clear allegory of the gagging and censorship of the nazi's. Speaking out against the nazi-regime would, as it did in 18th century France, cost you at least your freedom and probably your life.

[–] ccherry-1 10 years ago

Thanks for interesting and accurate information about 18th c. theater. However, the film is set in the middle of the 19th century at the time of Emperor Napoleon III (Louis Napoleon). There are no obvious allusions to the previous century.

[–] ghtx 9 years ago

I don't think that it's so much an allegory for the resistance. Rather, it's a film that was released right after the liberation of France, and it highlighted French culture and brought about a great deal of nationalism and pride.