Os Visitantes da Noite

Unbelievably great film. And chilling. At one point I had to press pause and walk away. Granted I do not watch very many truly shocking films but that never happens with me. The story takes place in 1485 but it's about events in 1940. The great director Marcel Carné, for whatever reason, insisted, until his death, the film was not an allegory for Hitler and WWII and that any correlation was unintentional. Why would he deny it for 52 more years after the liberation of Paris? The similarity is astounding and it's surprising that Nazi censors never caught on to ban this film. Carné was under Nazi leadership when he made this. It could have gotten him sent to a concentration camp. But he was sneaky and to this day we have an amazing film about Hitler's rise and the French Resistance. Tremendously well acted. Some complain the film's a little slow but everything builds so nicely and has its place. A masterpiece and highly recommended!

8.7 / 10 stars

--Zoooma, a Kat Pirate Screener

This was the fifth of the six Great films directed by Marcel Carne between 1937 & 1945, again with writing collaboration from Jacques Prevert, and perhaps the most neglected. So much so I've yet to see a good print, my latest one from French TV seems to have horses galloping (albeit softly) throughout the soundtrack while the film seems to have been bashed about a bit. Never mind; Carne's career was littered with excellent films but Visiteurs was one of his best - maybe it's best seen now without thinking of metaphorical allusions to the then resistance against the Nazis (except as a piece de resistance?) And the best was still a few years off: the utter magnificence of Les Enfants Du Paradis.

France 1485: shady Gilles (square jawed Cuny) and Dominique (worldly wise Arletty) arrive at Baron Hugues castle as melancholic minstrels intent on disrupting the marriage preparations going on – as any self respecting devilish envoy would. Alas it goes awry for Gilles when he actually does fall in love with Anne the Baron's daughter (Dea) but Arletty manages to keep to her usual cynical straight and narrow course, and leads the Baron off his. It's beautifully photographed on black & white nitrate film capturing atmospheric sunny days and romantic arc-moonlit nights, gorgeous costumes and fascinating sets equally well. One can almost smell the fresh air! One slight downer: the three midgets go from startling to plain irritating with their omnipresence. It's all about Love, Honour & Purity poetically and elegantly related – which makes the denouement with the supposedly pure Anne and the for once nonplussed Devil so delightful and droll. Even if out of scope for him he should still have been able to guess that all's fair in love!

Remember: the Devil will always find work for idle hands to do, including his own. Watch it for a thoughtful two hours of breath taking beauty strolling through a lost world as portrayed by another lost world. Next: Les Enfants Du Paradis.

A relatively little-known but fascinating movie. Made during the German occupation of France, the film is set in the Late Middle Ages and deals with two envoys of the devil, Gilles and Dominique (Alain Cuny and Arletty, wonderful both) that arrive posing as wandering minstrels at the castle of a Baron where preparations for an upcoming wedding are being made. Their intention is to create havoc by breaking the hearts of all involved. These envoys have extraordinary powers to achieve these goals, like slowing time to a stop so that they can work on their targets at ease. Eventually, the very devil shows up at the castle in disguise. One can argue that the devil in the movie stands for Hitler and the Nazis and so forth, but the film works even if you don't try to watch it as a metaphor for the contemporary events of the time. The movie is memorable and evocative, with many great scenes and a great ending.

The heavy censorship imposed during the german occupation made it difficult for cineasts to find non controversial subjects. Jacques Prévert and Marcel Carné came up with this medieval tale of love and sorcery with a prestigious cast of great actors. It has been claimed that the beating heart in the statue was a symbol of the Resistance.

This is an 82 years old/2 hours movie. One might expect it drags at some point, but no, pace is excellent, i never lost my interest, there is always something going on. Of course, it helps if you know what this is about. This is a drama/fantasy/romance, like a fairy tale for adults. Any romantic soul will appreciate it. It's not a masterpiece, it's not among the best movies of Carne/Prevert, actually i prefer the other collaborations of them. Still, it's enjoyable, legendary Arletty gives another great acting performance, other actors as well and if you love this genre, you are gonna like it at least, it's possible that you might even love it.