Remorques

... from screenwriter Jacques Prevert and director Jean Gremillon. Jean Gabin stars as Andre Laurent, a rescue tugboat captain living and working in a stormy seaside village. He's 10 years married to the pleasant Yvonne (Madeleine Renaud), but he's become a bit bored and complacent with their union. On his latest rescue outing, his crew brings aboard a woman from a stranded ship. Her name is Catherine (Michele Morgan), and she's very unhappy in her marriage with the other ship's captain, a sleazy crook that she has grown to detest. Despite their better judgement, Andre and Catherine begin seeing each other.

Gabin is my favorite actor in French cinema, and this film is another example of why, as he deftly assays his role with a naturalism and honesty that eschews big showy moments but still ably projects the necessary emotion for the scene. Renaud is also good as the fragile wife, and Morgan is outstanding as the woman trapped in terrible circumstances. Director Gremillon shots a number of scenes in a visually striking manner, although the excessive use of obvious miniatures in the ships-at-stormy-seas scenes takes one out of the action a bit. Still, for a film shot over a period of three years due to a world war interrupting things, it's remarkable they accomplished what they did. Recommended.