- Actors: Simone Signoret, Raf Vallone, Jacques Duby, Maria Pia Casilio, Marcel André
- Directors: Marcel Carné
- Writers: Marcel Carné, Charles Spaak, Émile Zola
- Producers: Raymond Hakim, Robert Hakim
- Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
- Language French
- Subtitles: English
- Region: Region 1 (US and Canada DVD formats.)
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3 - 1.33:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: Unrated (US MPAA rating. See details.)
- Studio: Kino Video
- DVD Release Date: 22 Nov 2005
- Run Time: 102 minutes
- ASIN: B000BO0LB8
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 147,371 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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4.0 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not Zola, but worth watching, 4 July 2010
By Dale Miller - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Therese Raquin [DVD] [1953] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] (DVD)
This 1953 film by Marcel Carne (Children of Paradise) bears very little resemblance to Zola's 1867 novel on which it is based. They share most of the same set of characters. And both novel and film deal with an adulterous affair and the murder committed by the lovers. There the resemblance begins to come undone.
Simone Signoret gives a one-dimensional performance as Thérèse. This may be the result of her (Thérèse's, not Simone's) deadening upbringing, though in the novel at least her stolid temperament is roused to heights of passion when she meets Laurent, who has been transformed in the film version from a civil servant into an Italian truck driver, played by Raf Vallone. Again, Vallone seems capable of only a limited range of expression. Missing are the agonies experienced by the lovers following the murder, and Zola's lengthy dissection of them. What remains, then, is a stripped-down story, lacking great depth of character or profundity, but with enough intrigue and suspense to keep things moving until the unexpected ending.
However, it is unfair to compare, the film with Zola's novel. Carne's adaptation needs to be considered on its own merits. The treatment is excellent as one would expect from the director of Children of Paradise, once voted by French film critics as the best French film ever. Though Thérèse Raquin comes nowhere near Carne's masterpiece, it is worth watching. Just don't expect a faithful adaptation of Zola's early work. Better to read the novel instead.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Modern retelling of a classic tale, 28 Mar 2009
By Arnold Cusmariu - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Therese Raquin [DVD] [1953] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] (DVD)
Loose adaptation of the famous Zola novel that has been made into movies quite a few times before this version and after, as well as stage plays. Simone Signoret, looking radiant, is in the title role and Raf Vallone is her lover Laurent. The chemistry between the two stars is real and makes this movie worth watching. Vallone speaks French with an accent and it was a wise decision by the director (the legendary Marcel Carne, who also made "Children of Paradise") not to dub him. Signoret's patrician icy coolness became something of a trademark that set a tone beautiful French stars after her have followed, e.g., Catherine Deneuve and Carole Bouquet. Beauty must be calm, says Baudelaire in a famous poem. Indeed.
The Zola novel, of course, is much better. If this movie gets people reading the book, so much the better.
6 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Well acted, but not faithful to Zola's tale. Spend your money on the book, 21 Jan 2008
By Utah Blaine - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Therese Raquin [DVD] [1953] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] (DVD)
Therese Raquin was a novel written by a young Emile Zola prior to penning the monumental Rougon-Macquart series. This film adaptation of the novel is a decent story in it's own right, but does not remotely convey the emotion or drama of the original story. If you don't know who Zola was, he was one of the two greatest French writers, an icon in France, whose work seems largely (and sadly) forgotten in the US. Therese Raquin (played by Simone Signoret) is a tale of a woman in an unhappy marriage to a man (Camille) we would today call a mama's boy. The couple lives with their mother-in-law. Camille is winey and subservient to his mother, but controlling to his wife and not much of a husband. Therese silently dreams of escaping her unhappy plight, but without any financial resources of her own, has little opportunity. Camille brings a friend home one night, a strong, confident truck driver who is smitten by Therese. They begin a secret tryst, but Therese refuses to leave with her lover. In a moment of passion and anger, Laurent throws Camille from a train to his death. Unfortunately there is a witness, and both Laurent and Therese must live with the murder hanging over their heads as they try to make a deal with the witness.
This film starts out faithfully to Zola's original novel, but degenerates into a relatively standard film noir story of murder and blackmail. The setting has been transformed from the pre-Sedan world of Zola to the post-WWII era. The film is extremely well cast and well acted. Raf Villone does a great job as the not-too-intelligent but love-starved working man. This may also be one of Signoret's best performances as her underplayed acting as Therese fits the part to a tee. The main drawback of this film is that the feel of Zola's tale has not been captured. The original story is about obsession and madness, this is a pretty standard film noir story of murder and revenge. Bottom line is that this is definitely worth watching (as a rental) if you like film noir, or simply for the performances of Signoret and Vallone, but if you are going to spend the money, my advice is buy the book, it's much better than this film.
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