Monsieur Vincent

A beautiful film for must be grateful to director and lead actor. Because, obvious, it represents more than an inspired biopic. No doubts, in the splendid interpretation of pierre fresnay, it offeres a slice from the life of Vincent de Paul.

But you feel this film as an interogation for yourself, again and again.

Because it is a wise crafted definition of the relation with the other, poor, ill, alone, brutal as result of cruel conditions of life, idealistic or lazy.

The discover of social aspects, from the men on the boat to the poor neighbors, from the abandoned babies to the oldnes and close death are the good points of this real moving film , so modern, including the technique aspects, so honest, grace including the impressive job of mister Fresnay.

More than a simple to defined masterpiece.

But a profound useful ball of questions.

There are many heart-rending scenes in this film, like taken directly from the reality of the 17th century with all its infernos of gutter life of the poor, the hungry, the sick and the invalids - they are all here, collected in Monsieur Vincent's hospitals for everyone in need, in whatever condition they are, and his hospitals and almshouses are always crowded, even with beggars and invalids fighting over beds that just have become vacant after one patient has died. Pierre Fresnay makes an unforgettable impersonation of the great pioneer of charity, penetrating deeply into the mind and character of the humble priest, who basically had to stand alone all his life against the overwhelming inhumanity of man, and even of women. It is a rich film, not hesitating to expose every aspect of the saint's difficult life and all his adversities, as even the beginning of the film brings you right down the shocking abyss of the horrible recklessness of man, as he gets stoned by the villagers, hiding behind their closed windows, when he comes to take his office as a vicar in a village that has been without a priest for ten years, all the villagers having turned savage as a result. It is a walk through a hell that never ends, and when Monsieur Vincent finally feels his end is coming (at almost 80 years), his dominating feeling is of insufficiency, that he hadn't done enough, that he hadn't really done anything at all during his 50 years of constant overwork, only for the poor and the endless crowd of interminable and eternal incurable misery...

A very good biopic about a great man,Saint Vincent de Paul,whose charity,abnegation,generosity and humanity were so huge that Queen Anne d' Autriche used to call him "the kingdom's conscience" Filmed in black and white ,in a style close to early Bresson,the film features many unforgettable scenes : the reunion with the noble ladies who are willing to "do something" but whose world is far from them ,the Poor;the scene on the royal galley where the legend tells that Monsieur Vincent took the place of an exhausted galley slave .

Pierre Fresnay,whose unquestionable faith would turn to bigotry in his late parts ("le Défroqué" "Tant d'Amour Perdu" )finds here his lifetime part.Sometimes it seems that the Saint rose from the dead.

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Before the welfare state there was private charity. Often springing from the ranks of the Christian church, private individuals founded hospitals, hospices, orphanages, and attempted in general to alleviate the misery of the impoverished. Seventeenth century France saw the apogee of the French monarchy, of French power and culture. The monarchy itself sometimes created hospices for the poor. One such was the hospice of Salpétrière founded to help women in trouble or without means. Today it is the hospital that made headlines for a while, since Princess Diana died there.

This film is the story of one man's private endeavor to alleviate suffering. He must be distinguished from today's bleeding heart types in that Vincent de Paul gave up the totality of his possessions to actually go live among the poor. Interesting questions are raised about the psychological underpinnings of poverty itself and the nature of a man willing to renounce comfort to dwell amidst filth, germs and other indignities. He himself acknowledges with some alarm that he is as dependent on the poor as they on him.

He learns that the poor are violent, petty, selfish and arrogant, demanding more than they give in return. But he also finds people willing to improve their lot and to assist him in his Herculean efforts. He is shocked at the conditions in which they live, shocked even more at their resistance to improvement. But Christian charity is a burden that requires one to redouble one's efforts by giving love unrelentingly to those who unrelentingly shun personal responsibility and who hate the one toiling on their behalf. Still, even Vincent de Paul would not continue with such exertions did he not perceive that he was making progress.

The depiction of his wealthy female benefactors is fascinating because they are well-intentioned women willing to do good works, but unable to go beyond a certain limit of generosity. They are painfully honest about the repugnance they feel at the sight of an illegitimate baby.

Few of us could do what Vincent did, living like one obsessed. Likewise, few actors could match the electrifying performance of Pierre Fresnay, whose charisma seems to be divinely inspired. He was one of several great French actors of the classical theater who left an enduring legacy on film. Sir Alec Guinness said Fresnay was his favorite actor.

All in all, a classic with unforgettable performances and haunting black and white photography.

I saw this film at St. John's Prep in Brooklyn, NY, around 1959. The school was run by the Vincentian Fathers (Congregation of Missions-CM). I was surprised to see that Jean Anouilh had written the screenplay; he also wrote Becket. It was somewhat episodic. But I remember each one. He was not a patsy. Food line for the needy. He stops one man and feels his muscles and asks what's wrong with him. Instead, he steers him to a job on the docks. A job is a job and one could argue about unionizing later.