WEDNESDAY - Jean Renoir: The Grand Reality
Programmed by: John Litweiler
“Jean Renoir stands on his own: the greatest of European directors: very probably the greatest of all directors.” – Orson Welles
Jean Renoir had all kinds of stories to tell—comedies, tragedies, thrillers, satire, tales from classic literature. These stories are overflowing with life, said Martin Scorsese, "the little surprises and harmonies and beauties of character and atmosphere and light that make up experience." Most of all, Renoir gives us unforgettable human beings from all walks of life. Their passions, their faiths, their failings move us, for as he wrote, “You see, in this world, there is one awful thing, and that is that everyone has his reasons.”
A son of painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Jean began directing in 1921. His great period was the 1930s. By mid-decade, while grim fascist dictatorships in three bordering countries thundered toward world war, his films began reflecting anti-fascist, anti-racist, socialist ideals. After his two greatest movies were banned in occupied France, he escaped to America.
The freedom Renoir allowed his actors, his love of location filming, and his missed deadlines made him unpopular with Hollywood's studios. Though he became a U.S. citizen, he returned to filming, with less success, in France in the 1950s. By then Italian and Indian realism and France's New Wave were strongly influenced by him. Movie lovers rejoice that his masterpiece The Rules Of The Game (1939) is now being rereleased in theaters. In 2022, as smogs of racist, anti-democracy, anti-human rights movements threaten America, Renoir's clear-eyed realism and optimism are most welcome.
7:00PM Wednesday, January 4th
La Chienne (1931)
Jean Renoir · 96m · DCP
Maurice, played by the great Michel Simon, is the ever-so-naive clerk who aspires to be a painter, despite the nagging of his abusive wife. One night he rescues the seemingly-innocent Lulu from a beating and quickly falls for her; he even rents an apartment for her. But when Maurice's wife threatens to trash his paintings, Lulu and her pimp scheme to steal and sell them for a fortune. This dark drama is Renoir's first full-length sound feature.
Tickets can be bought here.
7:00PM Wednesday, January 11th
Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932)
Jean Renoir · 85m · DCP
Michel Simon is gloriously anti-social, dirty, charming, and undomesticated as Boudu, the tramp whom the bookseller Lestingois rescues from drowning. When he brings Boudu home and tries to civilize him, the wild man instead lusts after Mrs. Lestingois and the maid, and otherwise brings chaos into this middle-class household. It's a rich satire that contrasts Boudu's instinctive anarchism with French bourgeois values—oh, and it's funny, too.
Tickets can be bought here.
9:30PM Wednesday, January 18th
Toni (1935)
Jean Renoir · 82m · DCP
In the midst of the Great Depression, Renoir used a true crime story and non-professional actors to show the plight of migrant workers as they struggled in the south of France. Toni is a laborer from Italy loved by his landlady, but he becomes obsessed with Josepha, a new migrant worker from Spain. Josepha then falls in love with a Frenchman, and the conflict of wills leads to inevitable tragedy. Uniquely for 1935, Toni was entirely filmed on location.
Note: originally billed at 7:00PM
Tickets can be bought here.
7:00PM Wednesday, January 25th
The Crime of Monsieur Lange (1936)
Jean Renoir · 84m · DCP
In this romance imbued with a socialist spirit, Arizona Jim is the cowboy hero who saves a small publishing house. When its bullying owner Batala fakes his death to escape creditors, his gang of employees band together to keep the business going and, as meek author M. Lange's bang-bang Western novels become popular, their lively little community becomes successful. When the jealous and greedy Batala returns to life, can the workers' unity survive?
Tickets can be bought here.
7:00PM Wednesday, February 1st
The Grand Illusion (1937)
Jean Renoir · 114m · DCP
It's no wonder Nazi regimes banned The Grand Illusion. Joseph Goebbels called it "Cinematic Public Enemy Number 1," while its themes center on World War I-era class differences and the demise of Western civilization. In the film, a motley group of prisoners must work together to escape the confines of a German prison camp. The beauty of eastern France and great actors like Erich von Stroheim playing the camp commander serve to enrich the tale.
Tickets can be bought here.
7:00PM Wednesday, February 8th
La Bête Humaine (1938)
Jean Renoir · 100m · 35mm
Tormented by alcoholism and uncontrollable rages, engineer Lantier (the eponymous "human beast") takes refuge in his skill and love for his train, which runs daily between Le Havre and Paris. When his assistant stationmaster commits murder, the man's wife turns to Lantier for comfort and even begs Lantier to kill her husband. Jean Gabin and Simone Simon star in a story based on Emile Zola's classic novel, a darkly tinged ancestor of film noir.
Tickets can be bought here.
7:00PM Wednesday, February 15th
The River (1951)
Jean Renoir · 99m · Digital
In Renoir's first color film, five English sisters grow up beside the Ganges in the British colony of India. The eldest sister, Harriet, absorbs Hindu and Christian beliefs as she comes of age, and falls in love with a handsome English soldier. When her love is unrequited and an even worse tragedy strikes, she turns to the river to end her terrible despair. The River helped launch the career of Satyajit Ray, who was the assistant director of the film.
Tickets can be bought here.
7:00PM Wednesday, February 22nd
Elena and Her Men (1956)
Jean Renoir · 95m · Digital
Impoverished Polish princess Elena (Ingrid Bergman) has numerous men pining after her: among others, the famous General Rollan (Jean Marais), although she loves another man, the Count of Chevincourt (Mel Ferrer), who's also the General's aide. Her love life will alter the future of France in this romantic film that led Truffaut to say "sex is the only focus of attention." Was he talking about the uniquely sensuous beauty of Ingrid Bergman? Perhaps.
Tickets can be bought here.
7:00PM Wednesday, March 1st
Swamp Water (1941)
Jean Renoir · 88m · 35mm
This film was Renoir's American debut, filmed while he was learning the constraints of Hollywood. While looking for his dog deep within Georgia's Okeefenokee Swamp, Ben discovers the fugitive Keefer hiding out. Keefer convinces Ben that he's innocent of the murder he was convicted for, and they join to catch the real killers. A lovely daughter, a doubting sheriff, and a pair of mean rural goons are among the colorful characters that enliven Swamp Water.
Tickets can be bought here.
