Daybreak Reviews

A superb example of French poetic realism, and probably the finest of the several collaborations between director Marcel Carne and screenwriter Jacques Prevert. Jean Gabin is Francois, a tough, romantic loner who barricades himself in his apartment after committing a crime of passion, the murder of the lecherous Valentin (Jules Berry). While police surround his Normandy home, Francois remembers (in flashback) the two women he loved--Francoise (Jacqueline Laurent) and Clara (Arletty)--and Valentin, the man who wooed both. Every facet of the film's production values is expertly realized, but perhaps the most awe-inspiring is the set design of Alexandre Trauner--a re-creation of a city street corner decorated with Dubonnet posters that is one of the most memorable ever filmed. More poetic than realistic, it is very much a film of a mood, but despite the optimism of its ironic title, melancholy and despair predominate. This inherent irony was then mirrored by real-life events as the film was released not long before Paris became an occupied city, and its citizens, like Francois, were left with no way out. Recognizing the similarities, the Vichy government banned the picture as "demoralizing." Remade in Hollywood as THE LONG NIGHT. (In French; English subtitles.)