Making plans to view a series of movies that were filmed during the Occupation of France,I started talking to a fellow IMDber about what the best titles from the period were,and I got told about a delightful-sounding overlooked flick,which was part of the Fantastique genre that gained popularity during WWII,which led to me getting ready for a fantastic night.
View on the film:
While the screenplay by co-writer/ ( along with Louis Chavance/Maurice Henry and Henri Jeanson-who was unable to get credited due to being banned by the Vichy Govt for his pacifist writings and his non-cooperation with the Govt ) director Marcel L'Herbier largely stays away from any allegorical/ political aspects,the writers do show Denis dreams to be an escape from the filed-down surroundings that he inhabits.
Spilling the lucid dreams over into reality,the writers build an extraordinary dream-logic world,as Denis attempt to get together with his dream girl are blocked by people from his reality,who straddle the line between figures of reality,and those of a slowly seeping nightmare.
Weaving a dream-logic world across the screen, cinematographer Pierre Montazel & director Marcel L'Herbier keep the specific details of the buildings and locations to a bare minimum,which cast an excellent dreamy atmosphere over the title,as the buildings appear to have come from Denis's imagination.
Along with the pulled- back locations,L'Herbier brilliantly spreads over-lapping images on the movie,which subtly puts the viewer into Denis's mind set,with L'Herbier also giving the first appearance of the mysterious girl a hazy texture,so that the audience joins in with Denis in wanting to look into the girls eyes.
Although he was a bit too old to be a student, (with a "mature" student being something that was not common at the time) Fernand Gravey gives an excellent performance as Denis,thanks to Gravey showing Denis's quietness in "reality" be replaced with an overflowing flamboyancy in the "dream" world,as the sight of his dream girl leads Denis to thinking that he can get complete control over what direction his dream takes.
Entering the title wrapped in a silky white dress,the beautiful Micheline Presle gives a tremendous performance as the "dream" girl/Irène,with Presle striking a fine mix of showing Irène slowly developing a closeness to Denis,whilst always keeping the deep feelings of Irène at "fantasy" distance,in what turns out to be a truly fantastic night.
View on the film:
While the screenplay by co-writer/ ( along with Louis Chavance/Maurice Henry and Henri Jeanson-who was unable to get credited due to being banned by the Vichy Govt for his pacifist writings and his non-cooperation with the Govt ) director Marcel L'Herbier largely stays away from any allegorical/ political aspects,the writers do show Denis dreams to be an escape from the filed-down surroundings that he inhabits.
Spilling the lucid dreams over into reality,the writers build an extraordinary dream-logic world,as Denis attempt to get together with his dream girl are blocked by people from his reality,who straddle the line between figures of reality,and those of a slowly seeping nightmare.
Weaving a dream-logic world across the screen, cinematographer Pierre Montazel & director Marcel L'Herbier keep the specific details of the buildings and locations to a bare minimum,which cast an excellent dreamy atmosphere over the title,as the buildings appear to have come from Denis's imagination.
Along with the pulled- back locations,L'Herbier brilliantly spreads over-lapping images on the movie,which subtly puts the viewer into Denis's mind set,with L'Herbier also giving the first appearance of the mysterious girl a hazy texture,so that the audience joins in with Denis in wanting to look into the girls eyes.
Although he was a bit too old to be a student, (with a "mature" student being something that was not common at the time) Fernand Gravey gives an excellent performance as Denis,thanks to Gravey showing Denis's quietness in "reality" be replaced with an overflowing flamboyancy in the "dream" world,as the sight of his dream girl leads Denis to thinking that he can get complete control over what direction his dream takes.
Entering the title wrapped in a silky white dress,the beautiful Micheline Presle gives a tremendous performance as the "dream" girl/Irène,with Presle striking a fine mix of showing Irène slowly developing a closeness to Denis,whilst always keeping the deep feelings of Irène at "fantasy" distance,in what turns out to be a truly fantastic night.