A Day in the Country (1936) Partie de campagne (original title)

Director:

Jean Renoir

Writers:

Guy de Maupassant (short story)
Jean Renoir

Release Date:

8 May 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Drama | Romance

Plot:

The family of a Parisian shop-owner spends a day in the country. The daughter falls in love to a man at the inn, where they spend the day.

Plot Keywords:

French Countryside | Boat | Flash Forward | River | Cult Film

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Sylvia Bataille	...	Henriette
Georges D'Arnoux	...	Henri (as Georges Saint-Saens)
Jane Marken	...	Madame Dufour (as Jeanne Marken)
André Gabriello	...	Monsieur Dufour (as Gabriello)
Jacques B. Brunius	...	Rodolphe (as Jacques Borel)
Paul Temps	...	Anatole
Gabrielle Fontan	...	La grand' mère / Grandmother
Jean Renoir	...	Père Poulain / Uncle Poulain
Marguerite Renoir	...	La servante / Waitress
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Pierre Lestringuez	...	Un vieux curé / Old priest
Georges Bataille	...	Seminarian (uncredited)
Jacques Becker	...	Seminarian (uncredited)
Henri Cartier-Bresson	...	Seminarian (uncredited)
Alain Renoir	...	Boy fishing (uncredited)

Directed by
Jean Renoir

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Guy de Maupassant		short story
Jean Renoir

Produced by
Pierre Braunberger	....	producer

Original Music by
Joseph Kosma		(as Kosma)

Cinematography by
Claude Renoir

Film Editing by
Marinette Cadix
Marguerite Renoir		(as Marguerite Houle Renoir)

Set Decoration by
Robert Gys		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Eugène Gaidaroff	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Roger Woog	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jacques Becker	....	first assistant director
Henri Cartier-Bresson	....	second assistant director (as Henri Cartier)
Yves Allégret	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Claude Heymann	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Luchino Visconti	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Joseph de Bretagne	....	sound (as Jo De Bretagne)
Marcel Courmes	....	sound (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Jean Bourgoin	....	assistant camera
Eli Lotar	....	still photographer (as Lotar)
Albert Viguier	....	assistant camera (as Viguier)

Editorial Department
Marcel Cravenne	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Roger Desormière	....	conductor (uncredited)

Other crew
Jacques B. Brunius	....	administrator (as Brunius)

Production Companies

• Panthéon Productions

Distributors

• Homescreen (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Joseph Burstyn (1950) (USA) (subtitled)

Also Known As:

"Partie de campagne" - France (original title)
"Picnic" - Japan (English title)

Runtime:

40 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:S | Hong Kong:I | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Bords du Loing, Montigny-sur-Loing, Seine-et-Marne, France

Company:

Panthéon Productions

Trivia:

Cameo: [Georges Bataille]in the procession of priests and seminarians

Movie Connections:

Featured in Jean Renoir: Part One - From La Belle Époque to World War II (1993) (TV)

A Day in the Country

Day in the Country, A (1936)

**** (out of 4)

Incredibly touching and extremely beautiful film from the French master Renoir. A Parisian father takes his wife, mother-in-law, daughter and future son in law on a trip to the country where they plan to have a picnic. While the men fish two gentlemen with not-so-innocent plans take the women on a canoe ride. I've been looking to see this film for quite sometime even though the reviews I've read have been rather mixed. I personally found this film to be incredibly beautiful and I'd probably put it as the greatest French film I've seen. The peacefulness of the country that Renoir brings to the screen is quite breathtaking and he really does capture the freeness of being out in the middle of no where surrounding by silence. I thought all of the characters were very well written and the dialogue suited each of them perfectly. A lot of times all the characters sound the same but I was very please to see how different each of them were. The film runs a very short 40-minutes but Renoir throws everything into the picture. This includes terrific laughs and some very heartfelt moments towards the end of the movie. The film also features some very beautiful cinematography including a terrific sequence near the end where the river is shown with rain drops hitting it. Another great sequence comes early on when the two men are inside the diner and push the window open to reveal what's outside. This scene works even better thanks in large part to the terrific score by Joseph Kosma. All of the performances are great but Sylvia Bataille is the real standout as the daughter who is going to encounter and lose love over the span of a short evening. Jacques Borel is also worth mentioning as the womanizer who adds a lot of the comedy to the film. I've heard various stories about the short running time. It seems Renoir never go to finish the film but to me the running time is perfect and it's amazing what the director does capture and show in the short time.