RÉALISME POÉTIQUE

20.01 -02.02.

Great homage to French cinema of the 1930s at Babylon in the middle of winter.

The masterpieces of seven masters of the Réalisme poétique will be shown: Jean Grémillon, Julien Duvivier, Jean Vigo, René Clair, Jacques Feyder.

At the centre of this retrospective are the protagonists of this decade: Marcel Carné and Jean Renoir.

MARCEL CARNÉ best films Les portes de la nuit/Port of Shadows (1938), Le Jour se lève (1939), Les Visiteurs du Soir (1942) and THE FILM THAT has been cited as on the the great films of all time:  Les Enfants du Paradis(/Children of Paradise (1945)

Jean Renoir best films: La grande illusion and  La Règle du Jeu/The Rules of the Game)

& of Course:
   Le crime de monsieur Lange
   La Bête Humaine
 

OUR FRIEND DIRECTOR RICK MINNICH SAID:

Berlin film fans, make sure to check out the French poetic realism series running at the BABYLON from now until Jan. 31st.

During my first semester of college in NYC, I discovered the masterpieces of French poetic realism during a Jean Renoir retrospective at the old Regency Theater.

I was mesmerised by films such as "La grande illusion" and "Rules of the Game/La Règle du Jeu", and decided then and there that I wanted to become a film director.
Last night I had the pleasure of watching in BABYLON a beautifully restored 4K version of Marcel Carné's "Les Enfants du Paradis" (Children of Paradise) – one of the most beautiful films ever made.

Check out the full program below. If you'd like to meet up at one of the screenings, drop me a line. It would be a fun way to re-connect.
All of the films are playing in French with English subtitles.

This special connection between realism and poetry is the result of a collective work.

The best directors of this period are those who surround themselves with the best creators: Screenwriters, dialogue writers, set designers and production managers. The work of directing is like that of a conductor who knows how to bring the talents together and harmonise the various skills.

It is obvious that Marcel Carné's great successes are linked to the dialogues of Jacques Prévert.

From Drôle de Drame1937) to Le Quai des brumes (1938) and Les Enfants du Paradis (1945), the poet's signature is just as important as that of the director.

Their fruitful collaboration spanned more than ten years.

Henri Jeanson, Charles Spaak, Jean Aurenche and Pierre Bost were among the most renowned screenwriters in Prévert's entourage.

On the set designer side, two names quickly made a name for themselves: Lazare Meerson and Alexandre Trauner. Together they designed sets typical of poetic realism: desolate wastelands, dark and deserted alleyways, run-down buildings, smoky bistros, railway platforms and eerie harbour areas.

Characteristic places of transit and the periphery that lie on the edge of the ordinary social world. Cinematographers such as Boris Kaufman, Eugen Schufftan and Curt Courant work with a peculiar lighting design inherited from German Expressionism, which makes the glaring streetlights and wet cobblestones shine.

 The style of poetic realism was developed almost exclusively in the studio. The growing ambition of the directors demanded perfect mastery of all visual and acoustic parameters.

This gave the design of the sets a new direction. Until then, directors had usually been content with three-sided sets like those used in the theatre. Réalisme poétique literally recreated the city in the studios. Examples include the Saint-Martin Canal inHôtel du Nord (1938), the Boulevard du Crime in Enfants du Paradis (1945) and the labyrinth of the Kasbah of Algiers in Pépé le Moko (1937).

All these places recreated in the studio have become part of the mythology of French cinema. These sumptuous and gigantic backdrops are typically emphasised by the lighting work, with the use of deep black creating strong contrasts between the surfaces. The sophisticated light of poetic realism is not natural light. Pronounced shadows are often used, which are superimposed over the figures and create a symbolism that enhances the dramaturgy. Réalisme poétique, which was an important trend in French cinema from the 1930s until the end of the Second World War, is characterised above all by a constant oscillation between the search for authenticity and the transfiguration of the real into the dreamlike.

    In the films of réalisme poétqiue, the darkness of the cities harbours the darkness of life. There is a clear preference for tragic figures who are relentlessly pursued by fate. The case of Jean Gabin is particularly symptomatic in this respect. The most important actor of the time, who embodies the proletarian hero par excellence, always meets a disastrous fate in his leading roles. Even in the period of the Front Populaire (1936-1938), the hopeful mornings are short-lived or dubious.

Even if Renoir often plays with the characteristics of vaudeville and sophisticated marivaudage in his films, the change in tone to tragedy is symptomatic of this sick society. In general, the réalisme poétique testifies to a latent feeling of unease that pervades Europe in the period between the two world wars. A time characterised by the painful memory of the First World War as well as the foreboding and fear of this other war that was brewing behind the scenes.

Renoir’s “Toni” (1935), for example, is widely considered a major precursor to Italian Neorealism, with its authentic depictions of the working class, use of non-professional actors, and emphasis on on-location shooting.

Mit Unterstützung vom Institut français