MOVIE REVIEW: L'Atalante (1934)

[Peter666]

Released in 1934, 89 minutes, France
Directed by Jean Vigo
Starring Michel Simon, Jean Daste, Dita Parlo.

My vote for greatest movie ever made. The story is about a newly married couple who spend their honeymoon on a boat captained by the husband. Also on the boat are the first mate, Pere Jules, a kid, and a bunch of cats. Tensions arise and are resolved.



The genius of this film lies in its ability to straddle realism, surrealism, drama, tragedy, profanity and spirituality all at once. Overall, they call it poetic realism. The backdrop is village, country side, industrial wasteland, big city, and of course the river, which runs through all of these.

The first mate, Pere Jules, played by Michel Simon, is cinema's great character. His extremely gruff exterior masks a profound sensibility. He is also very funny.


The cinematographer for this film was Boris Kaufman. He was the younger brother of Dziga Vertov who's masterpiece "Man with the Movie Camera" was recently reviewed. Its apparent.

The swimming scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR-k_Mp_P3A

Also to be noted is the beautiful romantic soundtrack.

Sadly, the director of the film, Jean Vigo would day a few days after the film's premiere. He was only 29. His fascinating life story is here:
http://www.sensesofcinema.com/conten...s/02/vigo.html

The film was restored with some new footage in 1990. Vigo was still making changes to the film from his deathbed, so it is not fully complete.