Le quai des brumes (1938)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Marcel Carné

Writers:

Pierre Dumarchais (novel)
Jacques Prévert (scenario and dialogue)

Release Date:

29 October 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

...A Story Which the French Have Put On the Screen With Daring Skill!

Plot:

A military deserter finds love and trouble (and a small dog) in a smoky French port city.

Plot Keywords:

Dog | Deserter | Le Havre | Ship | Male Female Relationship

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Jean Gabin	...	Jean
Michel Simon	...	Zabel
Michèle Morgan	...	Nelly
Pierre Brasseur	...	Lucien
Édouard Delmont	...	Panama (as Delmont)
Raymond Aimos	...	Quart Vittel (as Aimos)
Robert Le Vigan	...	Le peintre (as Le Vigan)
René Génin	...	Le docteur (as Genin)
Marcel Pérès	...	Le chauffeur (as Perez)
Jenny Burnay	...	L'amie de Lucien
Roger Legris	...	Le garçon d'hôtel (as Legris)
Martial Rèbe	...	Le client

Also Known As:

Port of Shadows (USA)

Runtime:

91 min | Canada:90 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone System)

Certification:

USA:TV-14 (TV rating) | USA:Approved | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Argentina:Atp | Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:16 (f) (bw)

Filming Locations:

Le Havre, Seine-Maritime, France

Company:

Ciné-Alliance

Quotes:

Le peintre: You have to be an idiot to go on living with such discontent, such anxiety.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in C'est arrivé près de chez vous (1992)

If we have lost the war.....

...blame it on the "Quai des Brumes" !Both the right wing and the leftist reviews were chilly ,calling the movie " morbid" .Military censorship quickly banned "Le Jour se Lève" which was,if it were possible,even more depressing -and in my opinion even better,though at such a stratospheric level of art,this is minor quibble.

"You do not blame a barometer which forecasts the storm" was Carné's famous answer.

"Quai des Brumes" belongs to the legend of the French cinema.In a poll made around 1980,it was 8th best French film of all time (the number one,another Carné's masterpiece " Les Enfants Du Paradis" was a safe ,predictable choice ).More than the detective plot (there are many deaths in this film) ,the atmosphere of this misty harbor,with its ships about to sail away for these islands in the sun you'll never know ,is all that counts.It was the triumph of the Réalisme Poétique ,a label Carné himself did not like : these stories were poetic but they were not that much realistic,for they were filmed in studios ;masterpieces of cinema de studio of these golden years ,when the French were the best in the world : the harbor is unforgettable,as are the Canal Saint-Martin in "Hotel Du Nord" ,the metro station in "les Portes de la Nuit" or Le Boulevard Du Crime" in "Les Enfants Du Paradis".

After an odd effort -which is today considered ahead of its time- " Drôle De Drame" , " Quai Des Brumes" is actually the follow-up to "Jenny" (1936).The gallery of sinister-looking persons was already present in Carné's first movie,and Françoise Rosay's last lines indicated that the relatively optimistic ending would mute .

"Quai Des BRumes" leaves no hope to the viewer .This harbor which should mean freedom,escape is actually a blind alley ;nobody can escape.When Gabin appears in his shabby uniform and the gorgeous Michele Morgan in her raincoat and wearing her famous beret ,we know that their fate is already sealed.All the b.... around cannot understand true love .This is Carné's favorite subject: Michel Simon and Michèle Morgan are the prototype of the director's odd couple :see also Jules Berry and Jacqueline Laurent in "Le Jour Se Lève" or Pierre Brasseur and Nathalie Nattier in "Les Portes De La Nuit".

Extraordinary scenes: Michel Simon,playing loud classical music which becomes "exotic" in such a rotten world.The same ,crying his heart out for love which he has never known "Nobody loves me!" ;Nelly and Jean on the harbor,exchanging Prevert's haunting lines " Every time the sun rises ,we hope something fresh will be born,but when it goes down,it the same old gloomy world" "The bottom of the sea is full of rubbish" ;the opening scenes ,with this truck running through a foggy country .

All the endings of Carné's movies of that era are mind-boggling:from the sun rising as the tragedy is complete ("Le Jour Se Lève") to the still beating hearts ("Les Visiteurs Du Soir"),from Baptiste lost in the crowd ("Les Enfants Du Paradis" ) to the stunning editing which concludes "Quai Des Brumes" : Jean,Nelly,the ship,the dog ,all this ,more than the other endings had a strong influence on more movies I can think of: Yves Allegret 's "Dédée D'Anvers ",Carol Reed's "Odd man out" -also influenced by Duvivier 's 'Pepe le Moko" are two prominent examples.

We may have lost the war...but we have gained another masterpiece by one of our greatest directors and one of our greatest writers.