Annabella and Jean-Pierre Aumont check into the Hotel du Nord. The are shown to their room and talk about killing themselves. Then Aumont shoots Annabella and runs away.
Looking at Marcel Carne's movies from before the Second World War, one is continually struck by his poetic realism. At times it seems as if he is trying to direct movies like Julien Duvivier, except that his characters are not archetypes doomed by some grand fate. They're just people, struggling for a bit of happiness, sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing. Duvivier, one gets the impression, doesn't really like his characters. Carne is willing to judge them on their own merits, with an almost Olympian sense of humor.
Others might prefer one movie or the other, but this is my personal favorite, because of the wonderful way in which the characters are written and depicted by fine actors. No doubt, a great part of this is due to the source of this movie, a novel by Eugene Dabit, that had me thinking "Maybe not everyone comes to Hotel du Nord, but they're very interesting people": the kindly proprietors; the simple and slovenly housekeeper; but most of all Arletty as a prostitute and Louis Jouvet as her creepy and looks-obsessed kept man, who grows slowly throughout the movie.
You might prefer another Carne film or none at all. I can't fault you for differing in taste from me. I'll still stick with my call for this as Carne's best and a great movie.
Looking at Marcel Carne's movies from before the Second World War, one is continually struck by his poetic realism. At times it seems as if he is trying to direct movies like Julien Duvivier, except that his characters are not archetypes doomed by some grand fate. They're just people, struggling for a bit of happiness, sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing. Duvivier, one gets the impression, doesn't really like his characters. Carne is willing to judge them on their own merits, with an almost Olympian sense of humor.
Others might prefer one movie or the other, but this is my personal favorite, because of the wonderful way in which the characters are written and depicted by fine actors. No doubt, a great part of this is due to the source of this movie, a novel by Eugene Dabit, that had me thinking "Maybe not everyone comes to Hotel du Nord, but they're very interesting people": the kindly proprietors; the simple and slovenly housekeeper; but most of all Arletty as a prostitute and Louis Jouvet as her creepy and looks-obsessed kept man, who grows slowly throughout the movie.
You might prefer another Carne film or none at all. I can't fault you for differing in taste from me. I'll still stick with my call for this as Carne's best and a great movie.