Lumière d'été (1943)

Director:

Jean Grémillon

Writers:

Pierre Laroche (dialogue), Pierre Laroche (screenplay),

Stars:

Madeleine Renaud, Pierre Brasseur, Madeleine Robinson

Cast

Cast overview:
Madeleine Renaud	...	Cricri
Pierre Brasseur	...	Roland
Madeleine Robinson	...	Michèle
Paul Bernard	...	Patrice
Georges Marchal	...	Julien
Léonce Corne	...	Tonton
Charles Blavette	...	Vincent
Jane Marken	...	Louise Martinet (as Jeanne Marken)
Henri Pons	...	Amédée
Gérard Lecomte	...	Dany
Marcel Lévesque	...	Monsieur Louis
Raymond Aimos	...	Ernest

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

tarot reading | eiffel tower paris | hunting accident | painful memories | drinking and driving | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

26 May 1943 (France)

Also Known As:

Wetterleuchten

Filming Locations:

Barrage de l'Aigle, Soursac, Corrèze, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Films André Paulvé

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in 2 x 50 Years of French Cinema (1995)

User Reviews

Quintet

"Lumière d'Ete " is probably Grémillon's most ambitious work.Made during the Occupation days,many people consider it his best.One should add it's also his less accessible.

Although it's a Prévert/Laroche screenplay ,the main influence here is Renoir's .All that concerns Paul Bernard's character and his fete in the castle strongly recalls "La Règle du Jeu" .Probably the center of gravity of the movie ,this memorable sequence of the farandole -while the tragedy is impending- will find an equivalent in Prévert/Carné's ending of "Les Enfants Du Paradis".

There are only five characters :three men and two women.

Cri-Cri (Madeleine Renaud,Grémillon's favorite actress) ,her lover Patrice and a failed painter (Pierre Brasseur) represent the bourgeois society.

Michèle (Madeleine Robinson) and Julien(Georges Marchal) are the working class heroes .The latter thoroughly deserves this name,in every sense of the term.

Patrice is a perverse man with a racy -and even criminal- past who does not love Cri-Cri anymore :did he ever love her anyway? or was he just pretending because she knew too many bad things about him?A man of leisure,he invites Roland (the artist) in his castle just because he desires his partner Michele .

In direct contrast to that ,we have the working men: they are building a dam and they are useful.And they are here when it comes to lend a helping hand .

There's a good use of the "play in the play " trick;During the costume ball,Roland is disguised as Hamlet ,which makes sense.Apart from Shakespeare, Laroche and Prevert hint at French writer Comtesse de Ségur,since Cri-Cri's hotel is called "L'Ange Gardien" (The guardian angel) and one of the guests thinks of dressing up as General Dourakine .

With all its qualities,"Lumière d'Eté " is less appealing than "Pattes Blanches" where Paul Bernard plays a squire again : the first third of the 1943 work drags on a bit and may put off some viewers.Nonetheless,it is essential viewing for anyone interested in the French cinema.