La bête humaine (1938)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Jean Renoir

Writer:

Émile Zola (novel)

Release Date:

19 February 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Knife Murder | Jealousy | Train | Misogyny | Headache

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Jean Gabin	...	Jacques Lantier
Simone Simon	...	Séverine Roubaud
Fernand Ledoux	...	Roubaud (as Ledoux Sociétaire de la Comédie Française)
Blanchette Brunoy	...	Flore
Gérard Landry	...	Le fils Dauvergne (as Gerard Landry)
Jenny Hélia	...	Philomène Sauvagnat (as Jenny Helia)
Colette Régis	...	Victoire Pecqueux (as Colette Regis)
Claire Gérard	...	Une voyageuse (as Claire Gerard)
Charlotte Clasis	...	Tante Phasie, la marraine de Lantier (as Germaine Clasis)
Jacques Berlioz	...	Grandmorin (as Berlioz)
Tony Corteggiani	...	Dabadie, le chef de section (as Cortegianni)
André Tavernier	...	Le juge d'instruction Denizet
Marcel Pérès	...	Un lampiste (as Perez)
Jean Renoir	...	Cabuche
Julien Carette	...	Pecqueux (as Carette)

Also Known As:

Judas Was a Woman (UK)
The Human Beast

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Spain:18 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Campagne normande, Seine-Maritime, France

Company:

Paris Film

Movie Connections:

Referenced in La mala educación (2004)

Soundtrack:

Le coeur de Ninon

The evil that people do

Jean Renoir will always be best remembered for his prisoner of war film, La Grande Illusion, but if you ask me; this film is better. Based on a book by Émile Zola, The Human Beast tells of the horrible things that humans can do, and follows the story of Severine and her husband Rouband, who kill a man on a train. A train engineer by the name of Jacques spies upon them, and not only does this man not turn the couple in; he falls in love with Severine. The film plays out much a like an entry from the film noir style that was popular in the forties and fifties. The dark tone and the story, which deals with atrocities, gives the film that feel and as a fan of film noir; I found this pleasing. Nobody in the cast stands out above the rest really, but nobody can be singled out for not delivering a fine performance either; and the ensemble comes together well on the whole in that respect. It's evident that this film was made only shortly after the silent film era, as the music is overdone and, at times, undermines the dialogue in certain scenes. Jean Renoir deserves the title of one of the best French directors ever to grace the director's chair as his direction is superb and his list of directorial credits echoes this fact. On the whole, The Human Beast is a quality dark drama and I highly recommend it to fans of French cinema.