La golfa

If you're someone who likes the films of Jean Renoir this is a must-see – that's my highest praise. It's pretty essential in the history of French cinema too, although the keeping of it in perspective is now absolutely essential thanks to the onslaught of Time. As someone who has loved the works of Renoir all my life I don't know why it's taken me decades to get round to La Chienne - I've had it to watch for years, but at least I've finally managed it. Advice: don't leave it too long.

Timid art-loving bank clerk with a scold for a wife who carries a torch for her dead previous husband falls in love with a woman who carries a torch for her rather violent waster of a boyfriend. Everyone is on the make, everyone is dislikeable, and everyone gets what they deserve – with one apparent exception. Michel Simon as Legrand acted his heart out surrounded by the circling human sharks, both direct and in the case of all the art-dealers, indirect. In Boudu he became a rather shabby shark. Janie Marese also had an intensely realistic part in the Tart without a heart Lulu – a tragedy that she died in a car crash on the way to the film's premiere. The gleaming photography was inventive for the time, almost magical in its spareness, and you're utterly immersed the world of 1931 its atmosphere, its people and their mores. The sound was a bit primitive, but it is in real life.

Marvellous stuff - the realism is complete, it's either a human tragicomedy or not, or a simple dark moral tale or not or nothing at all, or not. Anyway, imho it's most definitely a perfect companion piece for the classic Boudu which was to follow the next year from Renoir.

A henpecked bank clerk and part time painter (Michel Simon) takes on a mistress (Janie Marèse) in a rented apartment after he rescues her from her pimp (Georges Flamant) who also continues to be her lover. Both lover and pimp are fleecing the mild and meek man for all his worth.

Director Jean Renoir's second sound feature is a dare I say a very French melodrama in its subject matter, based off a novel by George de la Fouchardière. Simon is as good as ever, but sometimes the dialogue delivery feels a little leaden. Nevertheless, it is not short on atmosphere which it delivers in spades.

Marèse died young in a motor accident not long after the film was completed, ironically in a car driven by Flamant.

"La Chienne" is a tragic crime drama and one of the pioneers of sound film in French cinema.

The plot follows Maurice, a kind-hearted banker who is also a talented amateur painter. He is in an unhappy marriage with his abusive wife, Adele, whose husband died during World War I. One evening, after a company celebration, Maurice notices a man's violent behavior towards a woman on the street. He decides to help this attractive woman, named Lulu...

The thematic focus of this film revolves around the interpersonal relationships of the protagonists, who find themselves in an emotional and social conflict. In addition, their options for escaping their life situations are very limited. The film also addresses themes of passionate desire, manipulation, revenge, and social decay.

Director Jean Renoir skillfully uses the plot to reveal the most intimate emotions in a decaying and corrupt circle of human relations. He sets a trap for the main protagonist, who, in fleeing from an unhappy marriage, enters a manipulative relationship filled with moral ambiguity and deceit, even though all Maurice seeks is a bit of affection and love. This leads him to play his manipulative game.

The atmosphere of the film leans towards tragic melodrama, and the relationships between the protagonists are complex. The camera work constantly emphasizes the emotional struggles, especially in the main character. Here, the grimness of morality is highly evident. Renoir insists on portraying social realism, which leaves a mark on character development.

Michel Simon plays Maurice, a man who emotionally exhausts himself in the search for attention and love. His character, although insecure and introverted, believes in a certain spark of love, through which he fails to see the truth. Janie Marese portrays Lulu, a beautiful and seemingly innocent yet manipulative prostitute, who seeks to satisfy the ambition of her pimp (Dede), played brilliantly by Georges Flamant, a malicious and selfish character only interested in money.

Then there is Magdeleine Berubet (Adele), Maurice's emotionally cruel and abusive wife. The performances are very strong.

This is a good melodramatic crime film that shows where a person can be led by the need for love and affection. The psychological aspects and portrayal of the darker side of intimate relationships were, in my opinion, spot on.

This 1931 Jean Renoir French movie has a story of all times. It's about a man who falls for the wrong girl and gets deeper and deeper into problems because of it. What can be more lethal than a woman? The drama is complex and multiple layered and mostly works out so well in this movie since the story by no means is a standard formulaic one. The movie does a very good job at remaining an unpredictable one throughout its entire running time and you just never know how the movie is going to end or in which direction its heading to.

Jean Renoir was one the greatest early French movie directors from the 20th century. With this movie he makes his first 'talkie'. It's notable in parts that this was still all fairly new and all for him and there are some small clumsiness's. He fairly much keeps the same style as movie-making he used for his earlier silent productions. This is mostly notable with the compositions within this movie. Not that this is a bad thing in my opinion. It gives the movie a great look and style that also seems really fitting for this particular movie and its story.

It's a great looking movie with high production values. The camera-work is just great and the movie in parts also uses some great editing, that shows a scene from different camera angles. It doesn't do this throughout the entire movie though, since like I said before, the movie mostly keeps is made silent-movie style. Perhaps it was an early sign of things that yet had to come for Jean Renoir, when he in 1937 with "La Grande illusion", that used lots of deep focus and camera-movements, something that also heavily inspired Orson Welles, among others, which is also really notable in "Citizen Kane" of course.

Michel Simon gives away one fine performance as the movie its main character but the rest of the actors in acting within this movie is perhaps a bit uneven. But perhaps this also had to do with the fact that this was Jean Renoir's first sound movie and he had to become yet accustomed to working with dialogs and actors performing them.

Unfortunately the movie uses some of its speed toward the ending but the movie at all times remains interesting and compelling enough to make you keep watching and just loving this movie right till the very end.

A great first sound movie from Jean Renoir.

9/10

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The meek cashier of a company and aspirant painter Maurice Legrand (Michel Simon) is married with the abusive widow Adèle (Magdelaine Berubet) that mistreats him. After a celebration in the company where he works, Maurice stumbles upon a man called André "Dédé" Jauguin (Georges Flamant) hitting a young woman called Lucienne "Lulu" Pelletier (Janie Marèse) on the street. Maurice protects Lulu and brings her home. Lulu, who is a prostitute, tells to the naive Maurice that Dêdé is her brother but he is actually her pimp. Maurice rents an apartment for Lulu and she becomes her mistress. Soon he brings his paintings to the apartment since Adèle intends to throw them away. But Dêdé sells the paintings to an art dealer for a large amount telling that Lulu had painted them using the alias Claire Bloom. When Maurice stumbles upon Adèle's former husband that was supposed dead in the war, he plots a scheme to get rid of Adèle. He succeeds in his intent and surprises Lulu and Dêdé on the bed during the night. He leaves her apartment and in the morning he returns to talk to Lulu. She discloses that she loves Dêdé and humiliates Maurice, telling that the only reason she stayed with him was his paintings and the money. Maurice kills Lulu and leaves the apartment with no witness. What will happen to him?

"La chienne" is a dramatic film ahead of time directed by Jean Renoir with an amoral story of triangle of love, greedy and perfect crime. For a 1931 film, the production and the conclusion are excellent. In 1945, Fritz Lang remade this drama as "Scarlet Street" with improvements and many differences in a film-noir style but an extremely moralist conclusion maybe because of the Hayes Code. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): 'A Cadela" ("The Bitch")