The Lower Depths (1936) Les bas-fonds (original title)

Director:

Jean Renoir

Writers:

Maxim Gorky (play)
Yevgeni Zamyatin ...
(more)

Release Date:

10 September 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance

Plot:

A charismatic thief makes friends with a bankrupt baron who comes to live in the thief's slum. Meanwhile the thief seeks the love of a young woman, who is held emotionally captive by her slumlord family.

Plot Keywords:

Thief | Poverty | France | Despair | Husband Wife Relationship

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Jean Gabin	...	Wasska Pepel
Suzy Prim	...	Vassilissa Kostyleva
Louis Jouvet	...	Le baron / The Baron
Jany Holt	...	Nastia
Vladimir Sokoloff	...	Kostylev
Robert Le Vigan	...	The Alcoholic Actor
Camille Bert	...	The Count
René Génin	...	Louka, the wise old man (as René Genin)
Paul Temps	...	Satine
Robert Ozanne	...	Jabot de Travers
Henri Saint-Isle	...	Kletsch, the cobbler (as Saint-Iles)
Alex Allin
André Gabriello	...	The Inspector
Léon Larive	...	Felix, le majordomo
Nathalie Alexeeff	...	Anna, the dying woman
Maurice Baquet	...	Alochka, the accordion player
Junie Astor	...	Natacha
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jacques Becker	...	Un promeneur (uncredited)
Fernand Bercher	...	Un officier (uncredited)
Annie Ceres	...	(uncredited)
Irène Joachim	...	La chanteuse (uncredited)
Lucien Mancini	...	Le patron de la guinguette (uncredited)
René Stern	...	L'employé du comte (uncredited)
Sylvain	...	Le greffier de la prison (uncredited)

Directed by
Jean Renoir

Writing credits
Maxim Gorky		(play "Na dnie")
Yevgeni Zamyatin		(as E. Zamiatine) &
Jacques Companéez		(as J. Companeez) and
Jean Renoir		&
Charles Spaak
Jean Renoir		(dialogue) &
Charles Spaak		(dialogue)

Produced by
Alexandre Kamenka	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Jean Wiener

Cinematography by
Fédote Bourgasoff		(as F. Bourgas)
Jean Bachelet		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Marguerite Renoir		(as Marguerite)

Set Decoration by
Hugues Laurent
Eugène Lourié

Makeup Department
Keldisch	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Koura	....	unit manager
Vladimir Zederbaum	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jacques Becker	....	assistant director
Joseph Soiffer	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Robert Ivonnet	....	sound engineer

Camera and Electrical Department
Jacques Mercanton	....	camera operator

Music Department
Roger Desormière	....	music technical advisor

Other crew
Julian Leigh	....	original subtitler: USA
Julia Wolf	....	original subtitler: UK

Production Companies

• Films Albatros

Distributors

• Arthur Mayer & Joseph Burstyn (1937) (USA) (English subtitles)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• KinoVista (2007) (Russia) (TV)

Also Known As:

"Les bas-fonds" - France (original title)

Runtime:

USA:90 min | France:95 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Tobis-Klangfilm)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Bords de la Seine, Epinay-sur-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, France

Company:

Films Albatros

Trivia:

Cameo: [Jacques Becker]a silhouette.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: As Kostylev lies dead on the anvil, the shadow of the camera can be seen approaching on the ground.

Quotes:

Vassilissa Kostyleva:One day, everything will be ours. We'll go away together. To live the good life where no one knows us.
Wasska Pepel:Stop it.
Vassilissa Kostyleva:You don't love me anymore. Why not?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Cinéastes de notre temps: Jean Renoir le patron, 1re partie: La recherche du relatif" (1967)

Renoir and the classics

It was not the first time Renoir had tackled a literary work:he had already transferred to the screen Zola's "Nana" and Flaubert's "Madame Bovary" .More masterpieces were to follow with Maupassant's "Une Partie de Campagne" -though unfinished,it's my favorite- and Zola's(again)"La Bete Humaine".

I do not think that "les Bas-Fonds" is in the same league as the four works I mention above.The problem lies in the fact that this is a Russian classic and that a French director cannot "feel" it like he does in a celebrated novel of his cultural heritage such as "Madame Bovary".Yes,the names are kept,and they pay in Roubles and Kopecks.It's not enough to create a Russian atmosphere .Renoir told that he wanted to Frenchify the novel :but Gabin and Jouvet ,although they are the creme de la creme of French actors of that era (and of all time) ,are not credible as Russians or Frenchified Russians.

Renoir's permanent features of the thirties are present.His anarchist mind ,present in such works as "La Chienne " and "Boudu Sauvé des Eaux" comes to the fore:the endings of "Boudu" and "Les Bas-Fonds" are similar ,when the two heroes hit the road,turning their back on a society they despise.Suzy Prim's Vassilissa is a distant relative of Lulu "La Chienne".