Deburau

Guitry's fascination for getting old was glaring in the last part of his career.Some of his works dealt directly (as in the present work) with the problems faced by an aging director who wonders if he can still keep it together."Si Versailles M'Etait Conté" showed an aging Louis XIV,in the Maintenon years ;"Si Paris M'Etait Conté" showed an old Voltaire .But it was "Debureau" that revealed the director's fears.

Not a very entertaining work,more interesting than really enjoyable;it does not give as much pleasure as such works as "Les Perles De La Couronne" or one of the two movies I mention above.In spite of its dialog written in verse,it's an almost frightening meditation upon mortality,Guitry's most confessional film .

Deburau (spelled Debureau) was a character in Carné's masterpiece "Les Enfants Du Paradis";but Guitry's Deburau has become an old mime whose life is coming to nothing when he has to retire and when his lover leaves him for another younger suitor .The last picture,in spite of its "the show must go on" feeling ,is the saddest in all Guitry's movies.

Like this?Try these....

"La Fin Du Jour",Julien Duvivier 1939 "Limelight" ,Charlie Chaplin ,1952