LSC Event Descriptions

February 23, 2007

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Rated unrated
163 minutes

Les Enfants du Paradis (Children of Paradise) (1945)
February 23, 2007 at 6:30 and 10:30 pm in 10-250

Set in the Parisian theatrical world of the 1840s, Jacques Prévert's screenplay concerns four men in love with the mysterious Garance (Arletty). Each loves Garance in his own fashion, but only the intentions of sensitive mime-actor Deburau (Jean-Louis Barrault) are entirely honorable; as a result, it is he who suffers most, hurdling one obstacle after another in pursuit of an evidently unattainable goal. Amazingly, the film was produced over a two-year period in virtual secrecy, without the knowledge of the Nazis then occupying France, who would surely have arrested several of the cast and production staff members (including Prévert) for their activities in the Resistance. Children of Paradise has gone on to become one of the great romantic classics of international cinema. Voted by Cannes as the best French film of all time. [video.barnesandnoble.com]

Sponsored by MISTI (MIT France). English Subtitles.

Children of Paradise, Marcel Carné's 1945 vox populi masterpiece, has been oft-dubbed 'the French Gone With the Wind.'
      -- Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine. Read this review.


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