National Board of Review Magazine (Jan 1939 - Jan 1942)

December, Jpjp 15 Of Monks and Men Two of the recent French importations, Marseillaise and That They May Live, have quite a little history behind them. That They May Live dates right back to the years immediately following the World War, when its silent predecessor, /'Accuse, reached the screen. Abel Gance, then a very young man, made J'Accitsc a gruesome denunciation of wartime horror, aided by torn and mutilated actors from the French trenches. Now, after nearly twenty years, he has resurrected this forgotten silent and re-made it into its present form. As we see it today we think inevitably of the problem of how far a director can safely go in the dej^iction of frightfulness without frightening away his audience or losing the force of his story in the revulsion of the movie-goer. That They May Live concerns itself relatively little with anything outside the starkest content of the story. Technicalities like story-construction, clarity of plotdevelopment, continuity are given only the barest consideration. It is as though Gance were satisfied to let his basic material speak for itself, without anything but the minimum of help from its director. The picture opens with some striking sequences of a poilu's life in the closing days of the War, showing vividly a grey and murky area of mud and destruction peopled by nerve-wracked, shattered soldiers clinging desperately to the hope that an end must come soon. Come it does, and with it what is virtually an end to the picture as a carefully planned story. What Gance tries to go on to tell us is how one soldier, driven half-mad by his Own sufferings and the callousness of war profiteers, seeks to call the mutilated dead from their graves to march against all who would resort to war again. What he gives us is a strained, tortured tale in which emotion and suffering emerge without guidance and control, horrifying and often impressive in their poignancy, but dissipated in their lack of direction. It is Gance's good fortune that Victor Francen is there to play the leading role ; without him the picture would fall in pieces like a frame without a king pin. 71 yTARSEILLAISE is the second pic/ yi ture with a history, though the history is comparatively short. Renoir began work on it mider the Blum regime in France and its production was supported by government subsidies. It was to be a great revolutionary epic, stressing the power of the popular will, and France's leading actors, actresses, directors, writers, et al., were to collaborate in completing it for the Paris Exposition. None of these plans were carried through. The government subsidies ceased with the overthrow of the Popular Front, the making of the picture was taken over by Renoir alone, and the Exposition never saw it. What is showing in the United States today is far from being an epic and far even from being rated with the best French productions. Those who go to it expecting a "great" picture are likely to be disillusioned into ignoring what qualities the picture has. For behind its weaknesses of misconstruction, misplaced emphasis and, often, naivete, the intention of its makers shines through. Sometimes the light is weak, often it is vivid and inspiring. There is enough to let us see that Renoir has tried to portray the spirit of a people in arms — to take us to their towns and villages, show us their homes and meeting-places, and trace their actions to simple, primitive sources. Because he is interested in the people alone he mercifully spares us the customary pomp and trappings of the average historical picture : his Court of Louis XVI is rich indeed, but it is a court of ro3'al function and not a love-nest for white-toothed gallants. Five men — Bourgoin, Douarinou, Maillols, Alphen and Louis — are credited with the camerawork and must share praise with Renoir for the way the camera links its episodes and scenes with a frequently sweeping eloquence. And the musical background, cleverly supporting the action with songs and compositions of the time, adds much to a picture that seeks the spirit of the revolution rather than the spectacle of revolt. Finally, mention must be made of Pierre Renoir and Louis Jouvet in the parts of Louis XVI and the Mayor of Paris. They are the only "names" in the cast and they are unquestionably the best.