Remorques

A simple story. at first sigh, too simple. because it could seems be well known. but not the love story is the axis. but the atmosphere. the performances. the ocean. the mixture of duty, romance and clash against reality. the strange beauty of the meet between Morgan and Gabin after "Quai des brues"). and, sure, the moving end. a film who remains bitter -seductive against the decades. for its remarkable simplicity. for admirable performances. and for reasons escaping to precise definition.

Jean Gabin stars as the captain of a tugboat. On a job, he rescues Michele Morgan. Later, they begin a romance, though Gabin is married to the lovable but perpetually worried Madeleine Renaud. This is a pretty good film, though it has some major flaws. The scenes in the stormy seas (which is what the title literally means) look particularly great for the time. The major flaw, as I see it, is that the relationship between Morgan and Gabin just happens too quickly, and is thus not that believable. In the scenes between Gabin and Renaud, their relationship seems so wonderful and loving that it's hard to believe he'd dump her so quickly - like later the same day, pretty much. The film's finale is quite powerful. The performances throughout are excellent, especially Gabin's. Jacques Prevert co-wrote the script.

Andre Laurent, the captain of a tugboat, married Yvonne ten years ago. She has a heart disease but does not want to tell him. She dreams he quits his job so they can live quietly. One night, during a sea rescue, he meets Catherine. She wants to leave her husband, the captain of the rescued ship.

Jean Grémillon (1901-1959) seems to be a director who knows what he wants. He started this film as the war began (or just prior), and despite France being taken over by Germany, and having to reshoot some footage, he kept at it. And what we get is actually a really good movie. Sometimes I think Criterion releases their eclipse sets just to make a point of saying France, Japan, etc still had movies during World War II, and is not necessarily concerned about how influential or important they may be.

This one looks beautiful and surely had an impact. It reminds me of the sort of cinematography we got from the val Lewton-produced films.

No denying the magnificent, moody visuals are done with mastery. Gabin and Morgan are commanding in their roles as always. Supporting cast similarly excellent. Makes it clear from the beginning that it's a moody film, unlikely to end in the bright light of castles. And carries through that tone with grace. Human emotions often cause melodrama and tragedy. Sometimes, all we can do is carry on with what we know best. We had a nice detour; we make our decisions in life, though, and sometimes that's that. It was fun to live in fantasy for a while, but real life snapped us back and it's back to the grind. Poetic realism defined.

Title: An always vexing choice, "Stormy Waters" is the altered title chosen, rather than the original French "Remorques", which refers to the boat tuggers or trailers used for sea rescues, such as protagonist Captain André's "Cyclone".

Seas cover seven tenths of the terrestrial globe and have inspired painters, writers, composers and not a few film-makers and this adaptation of a novel by Roger Vercel is one of the very best of its type.

Considered by the French to be among their most gifted directors, Jean Grémillon is fated to be little known abroad except to a coterie of cinéphiles. He had envisioned a far more realistic storm sequence to be filmed in Brittany but this was deemed impracticable for health and safety reasons and he was obliged to shoot in UFA's studios at Billancourt. Nonetheless this sequence still comes off pretty well. Filming came to a grinding halt with the outbreak of war and it was not completed and released until 1941 by which time its two stars had gone to Hollywoodland.

Navigating the stormy waters of desire are Jean Gabin and Michéle Morgan, one of Cinema's most memorable couples. On-screen chemistry is hard to define but their deep fondness for each other off-screen is evident whilst her ethereal quality is perfectly allied to his earthiness. As his wife is Madeleine Renaud who was later to star in Grémillon's excellent but underrated 'Le Ciel est a vous'. Renowned as a stage actress her sporadic appearances in film represent quality over quantity. Fernand Ledoux makes the most of a thankless role and if you blink you'll miss an uncredited Alain Cuny.

Stunning cinematography by one of his nation's finest, Armand Thirard, powerful score by Roland-Manuel whilst at the insistence of Grémillon and Gabin, the screenplay has been entrusted to Jacques Prévert whose poetic/realist style is perfectly suited to this tale of doomed love and the forces of Nature.

Grémillon's ambitious projects were constantly thwarted by the constraints of commercial cinema but his comparatively small output is a legacy to be treasured.