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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Atmosphere, atmosphere!",
By
This review is from: Hotel Du Nord [1938] [DVD] (DVD)
Sandwiched between Quai des Brumes and Le Jour Se Leve and with a plot beginning and ending with acts of suicide, Hotel Du Nord is in many ways the lightest of Marcel Carne's classic poetic realist movies - at least some characters get a happy ending here. Although a quite lavish production, this is no Grand Hotel exercise in glamour, following instead the thwarted lives and loves of the occupants of a small hotel by the side of Paris' Canal Saint-Martin (in reality built on the studio backlot). At times it almost feels like a Jean Renoir film, never judging its characters but allowing them the occasional moments of hope that make their lives worth living.
The film does at times feel a little unbalanced by the shift of emphasis from the would-be doomed lovers to Arletty's streetwalker and even more by Louis Jouvert's pimp who disastrously briefly discovers his true self (a performance compelling and powerful enough to make you regret the fact that Jouvert chose to make so few films), while co-writer Henri Jeansen's dislike of Jean Pierre Aumont does mean he's too busy describing himself as a piece of merde to display his usual screen charisma, yet the film is such a marvellous match of style and content that you willing go along with the film's ebb and flow. With Louis Née and Armand Thirard's gliding camerawork complimenting Alexandre Trauner's truly amazing set while Maurice Jaubert effectively reuses part of his score that had been dropped from the reissue prints of L'Atalante on the soundtrack, it's practically a masterclass in pre-war French cinema. And the ending - with one character announcing the end of the Hotel Du Nord and the coming Jour se Leve - is a neat touch that feels just right rather than just showing off. Soda's DVD is highly recommended, offering a good 18-minute introduction by Paul Ryan and a beautiful print that looks like the film was made only yesterday.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hotel du Nord,
By
This review is from: Hotel Du Nord [1938] [DVD] (DVD)
This classic among French poetic realist films of the mid-1930s was adapted from a 1929 novel by Eugene Dabit. Director Marcel Carné, best-known a decade later for CHILDREN OF PARADISE, added major star-power(Annabella, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Arletty, and Louis Jouvet)to turn Dabit's populist novel toward melodrama. Arletty's retort to Jouvet -- "Atmosphere? Atmosphere? Do I look like an atmosphere kind of girl?" (Atmosphère, atmosphère, est-ce-que j'ai une gueule d'atmosphère?)is justly memorable. Image quality and subtitles on this DVD are superb.
1 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
B Crawford review,
By
This review is from: Hotel Du Nord [1938] [DVD] (DVD)
I bought this and another film Amelia for my daughter who is visiting Paris, and this old classic just gives you a quick Parsis buzz even though it was made over 70 years ago
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