Les visiteurs du soir

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.

Here is a fine production by Julien Duvivier.

I had the impression to be one of the castle's festivity and the arrival of the "Visiteurs" added a mysterious ingredient that had, at the beginning at least, nothing of the despair that was part of their demoniacal mission.

The enchantment provoked by the satanic couple was a pure wonder. That momentary paralysis of a whole small world between two exciting scenes emphasized Arletty's and Cuny's masterly talent.

Jules Berry's play (the Devil) was so fascinating that it made me longing for a ticket to Hell.

That high class "fantasia" glide far over all those easy big budget "fantastic" productions which flood the film fans since too long.

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.

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.

At the end of the 15th century, two minstrels (Gilles and Dominique) come from nowhere into the castle of Baron Hugues. Gilles charms Anne, Hughes' daughter, while Dominique charms both Hugues and Ann's fiancé. Gilles and Dominique are not really in love: they are sent by the Devil to desperate people. But Ann is so pure that Gilles is caught to his own trap. How will they fight against the Devil?

One of the reasons that the film was such a huge success was due to murmuring before the film was released that the film was an allegory for the current situation. Many people saw the character of the Devil as representing Hitler and the continued beating hearts of the lovers as representing France living under German rule, but not giving up hope. Carné maintained until his death that the film was not an intentional allegory for the war and that any relationship was purely unconscious.

As far as French fantasy films go, this is not the greatest one out there. For me, that would probably be "Donkeyskin". But this does have a few things going for it. One, it is much earlier than "Donkeyskin", so has the advantage of being first. Two, it has the Devil, which rises it from fantasy or fairy tale to a more religious context, meaning that deeper symbolism can be found (whether intended or not).

But I think its best quality is the association with Hitler that the Devil has, as noted above. I am willing to believe this was not intentional. But it does seem like a great message to get out of a film made during the occupation... this is a country of Frenchmen who had to keep their French pride in check. That turns this into a patriotic film, even if it has nothing to do with 20th century France on the surface.