La vie est à nous

Described as a collective film directed by technicians, artists(like Jean Renoir) and workmen, this is a partial,propaganda film first shown in 1936, and made for and by the French Communist Party and their newspaper 'L' Humanitie'. Made partly as a rallying cry for progressives to unite against the growing fascist menace it begins with a teacher informing his pupils what a bountiful country France is, and then with a mix of documentary and dramatisation it features scenes demonstrating how the Communist Party have helped workers involved in industrial disputes, people facing bailiffs and other forms of hardship and exploitation. It reads like snapshots of the state of French politics, worker relations and society in the mid 1930s with parades,marches,protests,slogans and banners.

Many directors worked on this film ,the most famous is Jean Renoir -who was not part of the Communist Party but whose name was put forward by poet Louis Aragon- ,but there is also Jacques Becker and one of the Nouvelle Vague's numerous betes noires,Jean-Paul Le Chanois.It is very difficult to tell who did what.I will not try.The movie was not really theatrically released before 1969 (the year after May 68).

"La vie est à nous" predates Godard's "Cinema Verité" ("la Chinoise" "Tout va Bien" etc)by thirty years but do not panic.It is not as stodgy as JLG's lectures.

Of course it's basically a propaganda movie and it might interest only people who are fans of the directors I mention(and completists at that).It is made of sketches ,telling stories of everyday life: a school teacher tells his pupils about their country's national wealth,but he sadly concludes:"you'll never take advantage of them " Blame it on the 200 families who possess all the money.A photo album shows some of them,notably the Schneider family,whose patriarch Eugene was an industrialist and politician of the nineteenth century (he owned his own factory when he was about 30,thanks essentially to his wife's dowry) Then there are several tales of misfortune:

-A working man is fired.

-Another one is on the dole although he is an educated man.

-A farm is put up for auction.(this segment will remind fans of of "little house (in the prairie)" one of its episodes!!

And every time,the commies come to the rescue! The film ends with speeches by the then big names in the party .It's rather boring.

For historians and sociologists.