Nutshell Review: L’Atalante (1934)
Director: Jean Vigo Starring: Dita Parlo, Jean Daste, Michel Simon Studio: Gaumont My IMDB Rating: 10 Viewing: Criterion Blu-Ray (Complete Jean Vigo) L'Atalante Review was written as part of FREE FOR ALL BLOGATHON: https://cinemavensessaysfromthecouch.wordpress.com/2018/01/05/the-free-for-all-blogathon/
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Plot: The simple story of the captain of the canal barge L’Atalante, his new bride & crew as they make their way down the French canals towards and through Paris.
Thoughts: The simple plot belies the beauty and emotion that director Jen Vigo captures in his masterpiece L’Atalante. From the opening shots of the wedding party solemnly marching through the town, the mood and tenor of the film are quickly set. The landscape and the people are bound together in their starkness, but once on the barge, there is a self-contained world of romantic love surrounded by the mundane and repetitive work of driving the barge through the canals. There is a separateness to life on the boat, filled with wonder & innocence, upon which the foundation of L’Atalante’s greatness is built.
As the wedding party approaches the boat music is played & flowers are gathered in the first real signs of the joy of the occasion. Le Pare Jules (Simon), the crusty old first mate & the cabin boy (Louise Lefebvre), both in ill-filling formal attire, seem thrilled to meet the solemn couple & welcome the new bride to her home, while on shore the townspeople grouse about Juliette (Parlo) leaving for life on the water. Juliette, in her white silken wedding dress, immediately moves to the front of the boat, visually capturing the image of the typical female figurehead at the prow of the boat. The image is the first of many lovely shots captured by cinematographer Boris Kaufman that illustrate the starkness of barge life, but more importantly separates Juliette from the rest of the crew, including her new husband, Jean (Jean Daste). When Jean moves towards her they embrace, but her limpness causes them to fall down on the deck, her white dress once again contrasts the black of the boat. As she makes her way towards the back of the boat, darkness has descended and she is silhouetted on the deck, a white spector marching against the natural movement of the boat as she wades towards the safety of her cabin. Kaufman’s image is both haunting and beautiful as Juliette is captured alone in her new environment, but elegant & serene, as if walking on the water itself. Her reluctance towards intimacy, however, is shortly broken when Jean falls & is attacked by several of the cats that inhabit the boat & she allows him the traditional carriage across the threshold as they kiss intimately, the first time the image fades, instead of cuts.
As the wedding party approaches the boat music is played & flowers are gathered in the first real signs of the joy of the occasion. Le Pare Jules (Simon), the crusty old first mate & the cabin boy (Louise Lefebvre), both in ill-filling formal attire, seem thrilled to meet the solemn couple & welcome the new bride to her home, while on shore the townspeople grouse about Juliette (Parlo) leaving for life on the water. Juliette, in her white silken wedding dress, immediately moves to the front of the boat, visually capturing the image of the typical female figurehead at the prow of the boat. The image is the first of many lovely shots captured by cinematographer Boris Kaufman that illustrate the starkness of barge life, but more importantly separates Juliette from the rest of the crew, including her new husband, Jean (Jean Daste). When Jean moves towards her they embrace, but her limpness causes them to fall down on the deck, her white dress once again contrasts the black of the boat. As she makes her way towards the back of the boat, darkness has descended and she is silhouetted on the deck, a white spector marching against the natural movement of the boat as she wades towards the safety of her cabin. Kaufman’s image is both haunting and beautiful as Juliette is captured alone in her new environment, but elegant & serene, as if walking on the water itself. Her reluctance towards intimacy, however, is shortly broken when Jean falls & is attacked by several of the cats that inhabit the boat & she allows him the traditional carriage across the threshold as they kiss intimately, the first time the image fades, instead of cuts.
When Vigo died from tuberculosis at age 29, just as a rough cut of L’Atalante was being prepared, he left little of the final work to be done, but an initial preview was deemed unwatchable and producers assumed control, shortening the film to 65 minutes, forcing in a popular song of the day & changing the title to “The Passing Barge”. It was not until 1947 that a restored version of the film was shown in New York that the legacy of L’Atalante began to take shape, largely championed by New Republic critic James Agee. Martina Warner, in her BFI Classics study of L’Atalante compared Vigo’s work to Matisse in that “…he’s an artist who inspires everyone who has looked at him, but has no obvious successful emulators.” (p. 13) Directors as diverse as Jean Renoir (La Grande Illusion ‘37), Francios Truffaut (Jules & Jim ‘62, The Story of Adele H ‘75) & Bernardo Bertilucci (Last Tango in Paris ‘72) are just a few who have directly or indirectly paid homage to L’Atalante. Many also point to the camerawork of Boris Kaufman, who later found great success in Hollywood working with Elia Kazan (12 Angry Men ’57, Splendor in the Grass ’61) & Sidney Lumet (The Pawnbroker ’64), as a touch point in L’Atalante, but the real testament lies in Kaufman’s work on On the Waterfront (’54), released 20 years later, that directly ties back to Vigo’s classic in its imagery around the water & stark black & white.
Settling into the regular tasks on the barge Jean & Juliette are able to express their relationship and help move the film from the realism of land to the more surreal aspects of the couple’s relationship. Juliette believes that if you open your eyes underwater you are able to see your true love and dunks Jean’s head in water to help him “see.” Later this element comes into play first in the fog, when Juliette goes silent and more obviously when Jean searches for her underwater, Vigo superimposing Juliette’s love filled face over Jean’s desperate attempt to find her. (Vigo had perfected underwater photography making a short film about a swimmer 2 years prior to L’Atalante). “You’ll see, when you do it seriously”, she chides. Vigo brilliantly uses reflections, in water and superimposition, in the windows of Paris, to open the viewer to the thoughts of the characters, showing desires and dreams, but also foreboding and fear.
Settling into the regular tasks on the barge Jean & Juliette are able to express their relationship and help move the film from the realism of land to the more surreal aspects of the couple’s relationship. Juliette believes that if you open your eyes underwater you are able to see your true love and dunks Jean’s head in water to help him “see.” Later this element comes into play first in the fog, when Juliette goes silent and more obviously when Jean searches for her underwater, Vigo superimposing Juliette’s love filled face over Jean’s desperate attempt to find her. (Vigo had perfected underwater photography making a short film about a swimmer 2 years prior to L’Atalante). “You’ll see, when you do it seriously”, she chides. Vigo brilliantly uses reflections, in water and superimposition, in the windows of Paris, to open the viewer to the thoughts of the characters, showing desires and dreams, but also foreboding and fear.
Later, when, the fog lends a surrealist cast to the story everything but the boat itself disappears, shrouding the crew, and momentarily hiding Juliette, the first of several times when Jean must search for her in fear. At one point he tells Juliette that he has had a dream that she left him, a dream born out in reality later when she flees to Paris. Throughout, this play between reality & the surreal gives the story a fairytale like quality and allows Vigo to reflect the characters inner workings, while keeping the movie firmly grounded in reality. The ethereal nature of the fog, for instance, further separates the crew & the barge from land (reality), and only Le pare Jules threat to leave places the boat back into reality. Instead of leaving, however, he goes below deck to the cramp dining area, where the crew has to literally climb over one another to get to their seat.
L’Atalante focuses a great deal of the film in the tight quarters of the barge and truly emphasizes closeness and intimacy throughout. Jean & Juliette are repeatedly captured in a 2 shot that holds them as if in a bubble of their own making. Juliette & Le pere Jules are practically on top of one another in their scenes below deck, but they are generally shot in a wider view to lessen the sexual overtones of their relationship. When Juliette explores the wonderwall of Le pere Jules personal quarters they both flirt with one another, he overtly & she completely unaware, but the scene helps to reveal both characters innocence. Juliette is naïve, having never been out of her village, while Le pare Jules has seen the world, but views it with childlike wonder. Together they seem to represent the 2 sides of exploration that come to bear in the last act of the film. Le pare Jules & Juliette’s first scene together, when she places the dress on him to act as her mannequin, for instance, tells much about the characters and levels them in importance. She is able to emasculate him, first by pushing him to the ground, and then by having him wear the dress, while he attempts to impress her with his world travels and knowledge of sewing. There is a playfulness between them that helps later in the story as Le pare Jules assumes responsibility for Juliette when she disappears in Paris. She is stern with him, but caring as she hands him his wash that he had no interest in having her do. The spell of their initial time together is shattered with the cabin boy announces that the barge has arrived in Paris.
Michel Simon’s performance of Le pare Jules is simply amazing. He is a land locked pirate, replacing a parrot with a shoulder placed cat, telling tales of the great sea beyond, showing his mementos as a child would share show & tell. Beneath his gruff and oft complaining surface, however, beats the heart of a sensitive creature who longs for connection. He refers to his cats as his babies, but it is in the scenes with Juliette that Simon truly shines. In what was supposed to be a small part, Simon added depth and emotion in his delivery, but also in his facial expressions and body movement. He watches Juliette, studying her and looking for reactions that tell him he is loved. He was the most famous actor in the cast, who took a secondary role, in a movie made by an unknown, but he grounded his performance in humanism and love. It is an amazing performance by the then 39 old actor, playing a much older character who is unique in every respect. His Le Pare Jules has not been jaded by his worldly experiences, but still looks upon even the death of his friend, whose hands he keeps in a jar, with concern & sincerity. When he literally bares his soul, taking off his shirt to show Juliette his tattoos, she reciprocates by combing his hair, a wonderful sign of intimacy that sets Jean off as he misinterprets their relationship.
L’Atalante focuses a great deal of the film in the tight quarters of the barge and truly emphasizes closeness and intimacy throughout. Jean & Juliette are repeatedly captured in a 2 shot that holds them as if in a bubble of their own making. Juliette & Le pere Jules are practically on top of one another in their scenes below deck, but they are generally shot in a wider view to lessen the sexual overtones of their relationship. When Juliette explores the wonderwall of Le pere Jules personal quarters they both flirt with one another, he overtly & she completely unaware, but the scene helps to reveal both characters innocence. Juliette is naïve, having never been out of her village, while Le pare Jules has seen the world, but views it with childlike wonder. Together they seem to represent the 2 sides of exploration that come to bear in the last act of the film. Le pare Jules & Juliette’s first scene together, when she places the dress on him to act as her mannequin, for instance, tells much about the characters and levels them in importance. She is able to emasculate him, first by pushing him to the ground, and then by having him wear the dress, while he attempts to impress her with his world travels and knowledge of sewing. There is a playfulness between them that helps later in the story as Le pare Jules assumes responsibility for Juliette when she disappears in Paris. She is stern with him, but caring as she hands him his wash that he had no interest in having her do. The spell of their initial time together is shattered with the cabin boy announces that the barge has arrived in Paris.
Michel Simon’s performance of Le pare Jules is simply amazing. He is a land locked pirate, replacing a parrot with a shoulder placed cat, telling tales of the great sea beyond, showing his mementos as a child would share show & tell. Beneath his gruff and oft complaining surface, however, beats the heart of a sensitive creature who longs for connection. He refers to his cats as his babies, but it is in the scenes with Juliette that Simon truly shines. In what was supposed to be a small part, Simon added depth and emotion in his delivery, but also in his facial expressions and body movement. He watches Juliette, studying her and looking for reactions that tell him he is loved. He was the most famous actor in the cast, who took a secondary role, in a movie made by an unknown, but he grounded his performance in humanism and love. It is an amazing performance by the then 39 old actor, playing a much older character who is unique in every respect. His Le Pare Jules has not been jaded by his worldly experiences, but still looks upon even the death of his friend, whose hands he keeps in a jar, with concern & sincerity. When he literally bares his soul, taking off his shirt to show Juliette his tattoos, she reciprocates by combing his hair, a wonderful sign of intimacy that sets Jean off as he misinterprets their relationship.
Jean’s outrage and destruction of Le pare Jules’ room sets off the remainder of the plot as his leaving prohibits Jean & Juliette from first experiencing Paris. Triggering a fight as Juliette pouts, Le pare Jules exercises his rights by bedding a prostitute/fortune teller, then proceeds to get drunk, while Jean broods on deck, further disappointing Juliette. Reunited in bed, the couple reconciles, but Le pare Jules drunkenness interrupts them yet again, triggering Jean’s desire to leave at once.
Instead of Paris they proceed to the next town where they run into a peddler at a dance hall who flirts with Juliette, tantalizing her with the idea of the Paris of the imagination. At first the peddler merely attempts magic tricks and temps Juliette with trinkets, but as he becomes more aggressive, trading a scarf for a dance with Juliette, Jean becomes enraged. Played by Gilles Margaritis, the peddler functions “in terms of the fairy-tale structure,… as the advisory, a wily seducer who must be resisted if the lovers are to flourish” (Warner p. 48). He again catapults the story into the realm of surrealism with his rhyming jargon filled song, his bouncing about the cabaret and his nonsensical dancing with Juliette. He is the seducer & Jean recognizes his potential impact on his innocent wife, tempting her with the glories of the big city. Unlike Le pare Jules tales of the open sea, the peddler’s imagery of something outside her small village or his junk case, the peddler sews danger and risk into Juliette as he tempts her. “Wonderful! I can teach you all sorts of things about it (Paris)” he coos to her while they dance. When Jean catches the peddler playing a one man band apparatus, tempting her further, he kicks him off the barge, but the seeds of discontent & longing have been sewn.
Finally Juliette leaves the barge and heads to Paris, literally the city of her dreams. Responding in a fury, Jean decides to set sail on the barge. Vigo initially paints Paris as a series of wonders for Juliette, with performers, fancy clothes and jewelry lighting up her eyes. She is in her paradise, tempted only by the clock as she plans to return to the barge and to Jean. When she returns to find the barge gone, Jean’s rash decision has a cascading effect on Juliette and she ends up a destitute in Paris. Her purse having been stolen, and the thief attacked by an angry unthinking mob, Juliette’s Paris turns into a cold reality, with few prospects. The Paris that existed in her mind is now reflected not in the windows of the shops, but in the cold unemployment lines. Jean too has sunk into a zombie-like state of depression, realizing his mistake but helpless to solve it. Desperate, he dives into the canal water in search of Juliette. As he swims, eyes open, first a floating, then a smiling Juliette appears to him, the smile reflecting all the love they are incapable of expressing in verbally. It’s a dreamlike sequence that fully expresses the abiding love the couple shares, but in a fairy-tale and surrealistic nature.
Together, the two lovers long for each other and in Vigo’s masterstroke of superimposition he creates one of the most erotic scene in movie history. As Jean & Juliette dream of each other, lying in separate beds, they effectively make love in a series of superimposed images, shot through a gauze-like filter. They writhe and touch in unison, fully engulfed in the physical love that their words once again cannot express. It’s an amazing scene that is beautiful to watch and adds to the depth of the characters love and seals the happy ending that every fairy-tale offers. What is left for the story to tell is Le pare Jules to act upon his love for both Jean & Juliette and take action to find Juliette. Thankfully, the music that has underplayed the couple’s existence on the boat is played by Juliette & heard by Le pare Jules, who sweeps her off her feet and returns her to Jean!
Instead of Paris they proceed to the next town where they run into a peddler at a dance hall who flirts with Juliette, tantalizing her with the idea of the Paris of the imagination. At first the peddler merely attempts magic tricks and temps Juliette with trinkets, but as he becomes more aggressive, trading a scarf for a dance with Juliette, Jean becomes enraged. Played by Gilles Margaritis, the peddler functions “in terms of the fairy-tale structure,… as the advisory, a wily seducer who must be resisted if the lovers are to flourish” (Warner p. 48). He again catapults the story into the realm of surrealism with his rhyming jargon filled song, his bouncing about the cabaret and his nonsensical dancing with Juliette. He is the seducer & Jean recognizes his potential impact on his innocent wife, tempting her with the glories of the big city. Unlike Le pare Jules tales of the open sea, the peddler’s imagery of something outside her small village or his junk case, the peddler sews danger and risk into Juliette as he tempts her. “Wonderful! I can teach you all sorts of things about it (Paris)” he coos to her while they dance. When Jean catches the peddler playing a one man band apparatus, tempting her further, he kicks him off the barge, but the seeds of discontent & longing have been sewn.
Finally Juliette leaves the barge and heads to Paris, literally the city of her dreams. Responding in a fury, Jean decides to set sail on the barge. Vigo initially paints Paris as a series of wonders for Juliette, with performers, fancy clothes and jewelry lighting up her eyes. She is in her paradise, tempted only by the clock as she plans to return to the barge and to Jean. When she returns to find the barge gone, Jean’s rash decision has a cascading effect on Juliette and she ends up a destitute in Paris. Her purse having been stolen, and the thief attacked by an angry unthinking mob, Juliette’s Paris turns into a cold reality, with few prospects. The Paris that existed in her mind is now reflected not in the windows of the shops, but in the cold unemployment lines. Jean too has sunk into a zombie-like state of depression, realizing his mistake but helpless to solve it. Desperate, he dives into the canal water in search of Juliette. As he swims, eyes open, first a floating, then a smiling Juliette appears to him, the smile reflecting all the love they are incapable of expressing in verbally. It’s a dreamlike sequence that fully expresses the abiding love the couple shares, but in a fairy-tale and surrealistic nature.
Together, the two lovers long for each other and in Vigo’s masterstroke of superimposition he creates one of the most erotic scene in movie history. As Jean & Juliette dream of each other, lying in separate beds, they effectively make love in a series of superimposed images, shot through a gauze-like filter. They writhe and touch in unison, fully engulfed in the physical love that their words once again cannot express. It’s an amazing scene that is beautiful to watch and adds to the depth of the characters love and seals the happy ending that every fairy-tale offers. What is left for the story to tell is Le pare Jules to act upon his love for both Jean & Juliette and take action to find Juliette. Thankfully, the music that has underplayed the couple’s existence on the boat is played by Juliette & heard by Le pare Jules, who sweeps her off her feet and returns her to Jean!
L’Atalante is quite simply about love. Critic John Grierson, quoted in Warner’s essay, captured the movie’s and Vigo’s uniqueness by writing “(Vigo) tells it in a style peculiar to himself. It is an exciting style…but on top of the realism is a crazy Vigo world of symbols & magic.” (Warner P 10) He was writing in 1934 and captures the essence of L’Atalante’s startling brilliance; it simply defies genre, style and mood and becomes simply one of the greatest & truest depictions of love ever captured on film. Jean & Juliette ultimately exist for one another and their relationship is reflected in the “otherness” that exists around them like the idea of Paris, the peddler & Le Pare Jules. Vigo’s mixture of realism & surrealism blends together to tell the three dimensional story of their love, both what is visible and what exists in the deep recesses of the couple’s minds. It is a simple story, but oh so rich and filled with the depth of genius!
Category: Drama
See Also: Zero for Conduct (Vigo, 1933), A Propos de Nice (Vigo, 1930), Man with a Movie Camera (Vertov, 1929)
Random Notes & Quotes:
*The title reflects the name of a frigate an ancestor of writer Jean Guinee captained in the US War of Independence.
*Original scenario ended with “…And love has left the boat,” but Vigo didn’t want to end on a note of despair and had Juliette return and the lovers reunite.
*Jean Daste was later used by Francois Truffaut in The Man Who Loved Women (1977) as a quiet homage to Vigo.
*Daste & Parlo also appeared together in Renoir’s La Grande Illusion (1937).
*British film journal Sight & Sound named L’Atalante as the 6th greatest film of all time in a 1992 poll.
Category: Drama
See Also: Zero for Conduct (Vigo, 1933), A Propos de Nice (Vigo, 1930), Man with a Movie Camera (Vertov, 1929)
Random Notes & Quotes:
*The title reflects the name of a frigate an ancestor of writer Jean Guinee captained in the US War of Independence.
*Original scenario ended with “…And love has left the boat,” but Vigo didn’t want to end on a note of despair and had Juliette return and the lovers reunite.
*Jean Daste was later used by Francois Truffaut in The Man Who Loved Women (1977) as a quiet homage to Vigo.
*Daste & Parlo also appeared together in Renoir’s La Grande Illusion (1937).
*British film journal Sight & Sound named L’Atalante as the 6th greatest film of all time in a 1992 poll.