Lumière d'été (1943)

A shimmering glass hotel at the top of a remote Provençal mountain provides the setting for a tragicomic tapestry about an obsessive love pentangle, whose principals range from an artist to... See full summary »

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 Le Verdier
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

A shimmering glass hotel at the top of a remote Provençal mountain provides the setting for a tragicomic tapestry about an obsessive love pentangle, whose principals range from an artist to a hotel manager to a dam worker. Scripted by Jacques Prévert and Pierre Laroche, the film was banned from theaters for the duration of the occupation for its dark portrayal of the hedonistic excesses of the ruling class. Today, it is often singled out as Jean Grémillon's greatest achievement.

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Plot Keywords:

boys and girls | shakespearean quotation | reference to william shakespeare | southern alps | 1940s | 

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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 Usher (2004)

User Reviews

My kind of strange

A real strange one this, pretty flabbergasting even. A load of Frenchies high up in a mountaintop hotel, the neighbouring castle and dam project behave like lunatics. Superb light relief from Marcel Lévesque as Monsieur Louis, the hotel dogsbody who finds everything that happens just as quizzical as I did. An immensely contrived plot seems to have been contrived absolutely apropos of nothing, a bit like Ayn Rand without an agenda. Often compared to Renoir's Rules of the Game, somewhat to my mystification, as it's severely lacking in existential resonance by comparison and nowhere near as seamless. There's a huge deficit in chemistry in all the many romantic connections. The sheer weirdness of it is however utterly compelling. Many symbolic moments occur, but are hard to nail to their objects. Two of the men at one point discuss going fishing, the first points out that equipment is not necessary as the trout sleep under rocks in the stream at one place and can be caught by hand. Allegorical of the rather quick and humiliating capitulation of France (the film was shot during the reign of the Vichy government)? Anyone's guess. A whole bagful of mad.