- Actors: Arletty, Jean-Louis Barrault, Pierre Brasseur, Pierre Renoir, María Casares
- Directors: Marcel Carné
- Writers: Jacques Prévert
- Producers: Adrien Remaugé, Raymond Borderie
- Language French
- Classification: PG
- Studio: Artificial Eye
- VHS Release Date: 18 Sep 2000
- Run Time: 190 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00004Y8E2
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 7,964 in Video (See Top 100 in Video)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
A film which regularly charts high in critics' polls of the best films of all time, director Marcel Carné and screenwriter Jacques Prévert's masterpiece Les Enfants du Paradis is as solid a landmark in French film history as the Eiffel Tower is on the Parisian landscape. And at 187 minutes running time, it's a massy edifice indeed, built from a rambunctious cast of characters--ranging from pickpockets and prostitutes to aristocrats and actors--whose lives intersect around the Theatre des Funambules, a popular Parisian theatre on the Boulevard du Crime, during the 1840s. (The title refers to the poor who can only afford seats in the upper galleries of the theatre.)
The heart of the plot is a love story between mime artiste Baptiste (Jean-Louis Barrault) and streetwalker Garance (the magnificent, sand-paper-voiced Arletty). When Garance is falsely accused of pickpocketing, Baptiste provides a mimed alibi for her to the police (one of the film's most famous set pieces). The rose she later throws him in gratitude sets off a romantic obsession, one of several that structure the film, as do love triangles, duels, and tortured confessions of feeling.
Thematically, Les Enfant du Paradis gnaws over typically French cinematic preoccupations: illusion and reality, the nature of performance, the indomitable spirit of the proletariat and so on, all made the more charged and poignant when you know the film was shot during the Nazi occupation. (One actor, Robert Le Vigan, was reportedly a Nazi collaborator and disappeared during the filming under mysterious circumstances and so had to be replaced by Pierre Renoir.) --Leslie Felperin
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
60 of 61 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
'Oh Garance! Tu ne m'aime pas!' Is just about the saddest line ever spoken in cinema.
Four characters, (loosely based on historical French figures) vye for the eye of the beautiful and serene Garance. The four stereotypical male character types that have continuously made great cinema over the last century. The cold millionaire aristocrat, the genius criminal, the amiable noble adventurous lover and finally our tragic hero, the romantic artist. Each seek her in their own way, yet each selfishly encroaches her formidable freedom with their tragic flaws. The romantic needs her exlusively and needs her unconditional love, the aristocratic will only ever see her as an object, he will never 'love as a poor man'. The lover is too full of dramatic hyperbole for her truthful sensibility and the criminal can never love, for his dark humour and excessive intelligence can not grasp its simplicity. For it is true, 'L'amour, c'est simple.' but it is also tragical and farcical. This film does justice to this fact on a grand and beautiful scale and certainly deserves its plaudits as one of the top ten best films of all time.
31 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Simply the greatest French Film of all time. Made in Paris whilst Paris was still under Nazi occupation this quite beautiful Film is wonderfully cast, acted, written and directed. Many great French films can lay claim to being the greatest, but Les Enfants Du Paradis is for me the greatest of all time because it is the richest, most humane & powerful. Let the human emotions of the French Theatre it is set in and around wash over you as you marvel at the performances and the characters journey's. I can't tell you too much as that would be give away what is a gift of a Film. If you like, love or are curious about French cinema, start with this Film and you'll not be disappointed.
43 of 46 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
It is 7 years since I last saw this film and it is time to see it again. I shall post my order today. A deeply moving and tragic film, of huge scope. Please take the time to see it. I think that you will never forget it. The closing scene is one of the most tragic in all cinema.
Arletty is beautifully seductive as the heroine and one can quite understand why the hero, Jean-Louis Tritignant, would leave a wife and child whom he adored for the chance of her love. But the real stars are 'les enfants du paradis' themselves - the audience in the 'Gods' of the popular theatre 'Les Funambules' (sp?) where Jean-Louis is the mime artist.
Sounds gripping? Probably not. But please don't let this review put you off. Nothing in cinema is as great as this film, IMHO.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
DVD Les Enfants du Paradis
Having previously seen this film and enjoyed it, I was perplexed by being unable to access the 3rd and 4th episodes. Read more
Published 24 days ago by philomath
Greatest French Film Ever? C'est un plaisir!
These "Best Ever" lauded movies can be a bit of a minefield. I guess any hyperbolic recommendation has its Achilles heel. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Philoctetes
The greatest French film?
To be honest, I was rather scared of seeing this film. Its reputation, plus the fact that I did not really know many of the actors and that there are scenes of mime in it all... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mr. Geoffrey H. Thorne
a neglected masterpiece
Arguably one of the ten gratest films ever made. We urgeltly need a blu ray version of this masterpiece. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Hans J. van Oort
A cult film and fascinating
Expect to be intrigued and finally stunned by this French classic. It has a highly unusual atmosphere and the acting is superb, especially in the mime pieces. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Doc Barbara
Film of two halves
Carne shows his virtuosity and versatility: Part 1 explores a variety of filmic and theatrical conventions, styles and idioms ... Read more
Published 3 months ago by sporus
An enchanting epic poorly dressed
I watched this film by chance at the BF when having a free evening in London. The film was shamefully unknown to me but the 3+ hours passed all too quickly with this enchanting... Read more
Published 4 months ago by renovelle
"La vie, c'est simple !"
LES ENFANTS DU PARADIS :Marcel Carne', and an extraordinary film. I sincerely hope this masterpiece is still appreciated and enjoyed as a French supreme example in Cinema, of... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Nora Gluckmann
One of the Greatest Films Ever Made
I must admit to being absolutely gobsmacked to see that there were only 13 reviews(!) of this cinematic masterpiece. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Keith M
In the top ten of all time
A delight to watch and experience. This film gets better each time I see it. To have it on DVD is a real treat.
Published 14 months ago by napotoo
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