A weird, great, creative, and pure fantasy, with a fresh approach, like you can't find one like this, even now!
Marcel L'Herbier's style was like Max Ophuls mixed with Jean Cocteau.
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Hamidreza Rafatnejad
7 Reviews
Ophuls's dinner with Jean Cocteau!
hamidrezarafatnejad24 April 2018
A Night To Remember
writers_reign14 January 2007
Warning: Spoilers
In 1942 it was all too easy to interpret any movie set in the distant past (Les Visiteurs du soir) or in a dreamscape as here as a metaphor for avoiding the present and/or commenting obliquely on the Occupation but be that as it may both the Carne-Prevert 'Visiteurs' and this entry from Marcel L'Herbier more than stand up well when viewed today. True, Fernand Gravey was never much of an actor and, as has been noted, was too old to pass for a student - 'mature' students were more or less unknown at the time - but provided you didn't ask him to 'act' anything more demanding than bemusement he could get by. It's also a joy to see Micheline Presle in her prime - she continues to act to this day including small roles in films written and directed by her talented daughter, Tonie Marshall - and understand just why she was so prominent among French actresses. Marcel L'Herbier was, of course, himself a veteran who deserves to be much better remembered than he is and here he turns in a charming melange of comedy, drama and fantasy predicated on student Gravey being so worn out from holding down two jobs AND trying to study that he is prone to fall asleep anywhere and dream of a mysterious - but beautiful, natch - lady in white which amateur psychologists would say was trying to tell him something about his real-life unfaithful girlfriend. In a masterstroke L'Herbier allows Gravey to 'enter' his dream - paving the way for Cocteau to put spin on the technique in Orphee - and set up a story within a story with more twists than a bag of pretzels. Bernard Blier - who would also father a future director, Bertrand - is also on hand to add a little class and Saturnin Fabre chews the scenery to everyone's satisfaction. Overall a fine movie and one I'll be adding to my 'wants' list to France and Norway.
Not bad, not fantastic
vostf13 February 2003
The feeble beginning made me fear a very bad movie. The main character is dull and the rest of the cast just can't make you forget the studio they are playing in.
Then the Fantasy Night begins and this journey through the night is well paced with funny situations all taking place in bizarre surroundings. There's never a grand scene but on the whole it's entertaining.
Theme overlapping
Maybe the wooden thing in it is the start point with this White Lady the hero uses to dream of. It aims to be poetic whereas the following is mostly a comic adventure. The most interesting focus should have been on this shy guy's behavior as a hero for he thinks he's dreaming. Unfortunately it's not the main theme in La Nuit Fantastique.
Last point: the work on sound is somewhat interesting too for a movie made more than 60 years ago.
Then the Fantasy Night begins and this journey through the night is well paced with funny situations all taking place in bizarre surroundings. There's never a grand scene but on the whole it's entertaining.
Theme overlapping
Maybe the wooden thing in it is the start point with this White Lady the hero uses to dream of. It aims to be poetic whereas the following is mostly a comic adventure. The most interesting focus should have been on this shy guy's behavior as a hero for he thinks he's dreaming. Unfortunately it's not the main theme in La Nuit Fantastique.
Last point: the work on sound is somewhat interesting too for a movie made more than 60 years ago.
Belle de Nuit
dbdumonteil11 July 2006
The main problem is the choice of the lead:he is supposed to be a philosophy student and Fernand Gravey was 38 when he made this movie.It is impossible to believe he is a young romantic lead (Jean-Pierre Aumont or Louis Jourdan would have been better in such a part).
All that remains is original,inventive,and it is probably Marcel Lherbier's best talkie.After his brilliant silent works,his career had its highs (this movie,"le Mystere de la Chambre Jaune","le Bonheur","l'Affaire du Collier de la Reine") and its lows (dreadful melodramas such as "l'Enfant de l'Amour",les Hommes Nouveaux","la Porte du Large" or stodgy propaganda films such as "Entente Cordiale"). Ten years before René Clair's "les Belles de Nuit" ,Lherbier tells a tale of a dreamer :a student who is forced to work in "les Halles" and dreams his life away.It was the Occupation time in France and escapist works were par excellence the prevailing genre(along with "moral'" melodramas such as "le Voile Bleu" ): 1942 also brought Marcel Carné's "les Visiteurs du Soir" and the following year Delannoy-Cocteau's "l'Eternel Retour" .You could even call Gremillon's work "le Ciel est à Vous" an escapist film:a woman who had a dream to fly.
"La Nuit Fantastique" is a movie of its time.Certain of its aspects are dated ,but its best moments are still impressive today.The student meets a woman in his dreams :she will be nothing like he pictured her to be and he can never see her face;in real life,his lover cheats on him with one of his so-called pals.
One night,he "enters " his dream .The gap between dream and reality is brilliantly rendered:using time warp,masterfully working on the pictures (fuzziness) and on the soundtrack (sometimes the words become incomprehensible),Lherbier builds a sensational dreamlike atmosphere.And by introducing magic and conjurers,he gives his movie a fourth dimension.Melodrama is also present (Who is really Irene?)but it is kept to the minimum.Perhaps the final is a bit disappointing but it might have inspired Jean Cocteau for the last picture of his celebrated "la Belle et la Bête".Anyway "la Nuit Fantastique" is sometimes close to a fairy tale too ,with a smart use of Tom Thumb;and the scene on the roof recalls Andersen's "the shepherdess and the sweep" which Grimault/Prevert transferred to the screen as "le Roi et l'Oiseau"
One should also note that Lherbier's movie was made five years before "the secret life of Walter Mitty" a movie which borrows some ideas from it (making the hero out to be a lunatic ;here,the heroine)
"You can be brave when you know you are dreaming" the hero says.
All that remains is original,inventive,and it is probably Marcel Lherbier's best talkie.After his brilliant silent works,his career had its highs (this movie,"le Mystere de la Chambre Jaune","le Bonheur","l'Affaire du Collier de la Reine") and its lows (dreadful melodramas such as "l'Enfant de l'Amour",les Hommes Nouveaux","la Porte du Large" or stodgy propaganda films such as "Entente Cordiale"). Ten years before René Clair's "les Belles de Nuit" ,Lherbier tells a tale of a dreamer :a student who is forced to work in "les Halles" and dreams his life away.It was the Occupation time in France and escapist works were par excellence the prevailing genre(along with "moral'" melodramas such as "le Voile Bleu" ): 1942 also brought Marcel Carné's "les Visiteurs du Soir" and the following year Delannoy-Cocteau's "l'Eternel Retour" .You could even call Gremillon's work "le Ciel est à Vous" an escapist film:a woman who had a dream to fly.
"La Nuit Fantastique" is a movie of its time.Certain of its aspects are dated ,but its best moments are still impressive today.The student meets a woman in his dreams :she will be nothing like he pictured her to be and he can never see her face;in real life,his lover cheats on him with one of his so-called pals.
One night,he "enters " his dream .The gap between dream and reality is brilliantly rendered:using time warp,masterfully working on the pictures (fuzziness) and on the soundtrack (sometimes the words become incomprehensible),Lherbier builds a sensational dreamlike atmosphere.And by introducing magic and conjurers,he gives his movie a fourth dimension.Melodrama is also present (Who is really Irene?)but it is kept to the minimum.Perhaps the final is a bit disappointing but it might have inspired Jean Cocteau for the last picture of his celebrated "la Belle et la Bête".Anyway "la Nuit Fantastique" is sometimes close to a fairy tale too ,with a smart use of Tom Thumb;and the scene on the roof recalls Andersen's "the shepherdess and the sweep" which Grimault/Prevert transferred to the screen as "le Roi et l'Oiseau"
One should also note that Lherbier's movie was made five years before "the secret life of Walter Mitty" a movie which borrows some ideas from it (making the hero out to be a lunatic ;here,the heroine)
"You can be brave when you know you are dreaming" the hero says.
6.7/10. Recommended
athanasiosze5 March 2024
It's different than i expected. I thought this is an art dramedy/fantasy/romance movie but this is a lighthearted comedy romance. No drama neither artsy, just a comedy movie with a romantic element. It's not hilarious, don't anticipate laughing out loud moments but it's a fun ride, enjoyable with a totally satisfying ending. Micheline Presle is the damsel in distress, Gravey the sentimental leading character and the rest of the actors embodied the comedy relief element. A nice movie for all the family. Nothing groundbreaking or mindblowing, just a fairy tale. Not a MUST WATCH for sure, but i am glad i watched it.
Joyous slumber
oOgiandujaOo_and_Eddy_Merckx9 January 2007
La Nuit Fantastique, as directed by Marcel l'Herbier... Those who have watched the director's silent classics l'Argent or l'Inhumaine may have their expectations upset by this movie. Stylistically it is poles apart. It is all fun, chic and froth, nothing much serious going on.
The plot is very simple, Denis a French arts student tends to fall asleep during his nighttime work at the flower market. He has dreams of a beautiful woman in white, and falls in love with her. One night whilst asleep he follows her on a series of fantastic adventures, beset by charming villains on all sides.
As mentioned elsewhere it is ludicrous to believe that Fernand Gravey is young enough to be a student. On the whole though I thought his performance made him a lot more youthful, full of ephebe sensitivity and brass, boyish insolence and naivety. As in all art, but here particularly, disbelief must willingly be suspended, and there will be ample reward. Christiane Nère is brilliant as Gravey's waking girlfriend/shrew who competes with the dream lady. Saturnin Fabre as Professor Thales hams it up brilliantly with the most superb facial expressions you'll ever see. You'll notice that no place names or dates are given, this adds to the intensity of atmosphere. I think it could be quite easy to mistake this movie for an auteur's potboiler. However quite a lot of care obviously went into making this truly escapist fantasy, the characters get to play dress up, make love on roofs, thwart dream plots, thumb there noses at suitors, sleep in flower markets etc. And in my opinion the craft and the acting are seamless. Quite a lot of shadows in this film, probably due to lack of budget, but makes for true magic realism.
Tale a holiday from yourself, a purely ecstatic roller-coaster of dream logic awaits, see if you can get your hands on the OOP DVD, mine cost a pretty penny.
N.B. This movie deserves to win the award for worst opening credits ever, truly shocking, don't let them put you off.
The plot is very simple, Denis a French arts student tends to fall asleep during his nighttime work at the flower market. He has dreams of a beautiful woman in white, and falls in love with her. One night whilst asleep he follows her on a series of fantastic adventures, beset by charming villains on all sides.
As mentioned elsewhere it is ludicrous to believe that Fernand Gravey is young enough to be a student. On the whole though I thought his performance made him a lot more youthful, full of ephebe sensitivity and brass, boyish insolence and naivety. As in all art, but here particularly, disbelief must willingly be suspended, and there will be ample reward. Christiane Nère is brilliant as Gravey's waking girlfriend/shrew who competes with the dream lady. Saturnin Fabre as Professor Thales hams it up brilliantly with the most superb facial expressions you'll ever see. You'll notice that no place names or dates are given, this adds to the intensity of atmosphere. I think it could be quite easy to mistake this movie for an auteur's potboiler. However quite a lot of care obviously went into making this truly escapist fantasy, the characters get to play dress up, make love on roofs, thwart dream plots, thumb there noses at suitors, sleep in flower markets etc. And in my opinion the craft and the acting are seamless. Quite a lot of shadows in this film, probably due to lack of budget, but makes for true magic realism.
Tale a holiday from yourself, a purely ecstatic roller-coaster of dream logic awaits, see if you can get your hands on the OOP DVD, mine cost a pretty penny.
N.B. This movie deserves to win the award for worst opening credits ever, truly shocking, don't let them put you off.
"I'll reminisce about the youth I never had."
morrison-dylan-fan17 May 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Making plans to view a series of movies that were filmed during the Occupation of France,I started talking to a fellow IMDber about what the best titles from the period were,and I got told about a delightful-sounding overlooked flick,which was part of the Fantastique genre that gained popularity during WWII,which led to me getting ready for a fantastic night.
View on the film:
While the screenplay by co-writer/ ( along with Louis Chavance/Maurice Henry and Henri Jeanson-who was unable to get credited due to being banned by the Vichy Govt for his pacifist writings and his non-cooperation with the Govt ) director Marcel L'Herbier largely stays away from any allegorical/ political aspects,the writers do show Denis dreams to be an escape from the filed-down surroundings that he inhabits.
Spilling the lucid dreams over into reality,the writers build an extraordinary dream-logic world,as Denis attempt to get together with his dream girl are blocked by people from his reality,who straddle the line between figures of reality,and those of a slowly seeping nightmare.
Weaving a dream-logic world across the screen, cinematographer Pierre Montazel & director Marcel L'Herbier keep the specific details of the buildings and locations to a bare minimum,which cast an excellent dreamy atmosphere over the title,as the buildings appear to have come from Denis's imagination.
Along with the pulled- back locations,L'Herbier brilliantly spreads over-lapping images on the movie,which subtly puts the viewer into Denis's mind set,with L'Herbier also giving the first appearance of the mysterious girl a hazy texture,so that the audience joins in with Denis in wanting to look into the girls eyes.
Although he was a bit too old to be a student, (with a "mature" student being something that was not common at the time) Fernand Gravey gives an excellent performance as Denis,thanks to Gravey showing Denis's quietness in "reality" be replaced with an overflowing flamboyancy in the "dream" world,as the sight of his dream girl leads Denis to thinking that he can get complete control over what direction his dream takes.
Entering the title wrapped in a silky white dress,the beautiful Micheline Presle gives a tremendous performance as the "dream" girl/Irène,with Presle striking a fine mix of showing Irène slowly developing a closeness to Denis,whilst always keeping the deep feelings of Irène at "fantasy" distance,in what turns out to be a truly fantastic night.
View on the film:
While the screenplay by co-writer/ ( along with Louis Chavance/Maurice Henry and Henri Jeanson-who was unable to get credited due to being banned by the Vichy Govt for his pacifist writings and his non-cooperation with the Govt ) director Marcel L'Herbier largely stays away from any allegorical/ political aspects,the writers do show Denis dreams to be an escape from the filed-down surroundings that he inhabits.
Spilling the lucid dreams over into reality,the writers build an extraordinary dream-logic world,as Denis attempt to get together with his dream girl are blocked by people from his reality,who straddle the line between figures of reality,and those of a slowly seeping nightmare.
Weaving a dream-logic world across the screen, cinematographer Pierre Montazel & director Marcel L'Herbier keep the specific details of the buildings and locations to a bare minimum,which cast an excellent dreamy atmosphere over the title,as the buildings appear to have come from Denis's imagination.
Along with the pulled- back locations,L'Herbier brilliantly spreads over-lapping images on the movie,which subtly puts the viewer into Denis's mind set,with L'Herbier also giving the first appearance of the mysterious girl a hazy texture,so that the audience joins in with Denis in wanting to look into the girls eyes.
Although he was a bit too old to be a student, (with a "mature" student being something that was not common at the time) Fernand Gravey gives an excellent performance as Denis,thanks to Gravey showing Denis's quietness in "reality" be replaced with an overflowing flamboyancy in the "dream" world,as the sight of his dream girl leads Denis to thinking that he can get complete control over what direction his dream takes.
Entering the title wrapped in a silky white dress,the beautiful Micheline Presle gives a tremendous performance as the "dream" girl/Irène,with Presle striking a fine mix of showing Irène slowly developing a closeness to Denis,whilst always keeping the deep feelings of Irène at "fantasy" distance,in what turns out to be a truly fantastic night.
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