Sous le ciel de Paris

Sous le Ciel de Paris was the second of director Julien Duvivier's 1950 French films. The story follows the grim and bloody path trod by an unknown psycho killer. Duvivier cannily plays the film's melodrama against the glamorous backdrops of fin de siecle Paris, concentrating on a handful of people whose lives are profoundly affected, directly and indirectly, by the fugitive murder. The best vignettes feature elderly character actress Sylvie as a spinster devoted to her houseful of cats, and Brigitte Auber as a wide-eyed country lass.

It has been often mooted that the Nouvelle Vague was the Second Coming,saving French cinema from tediousness,routine,ennui,mediocrity,you name it.

So on the site n+x comments on Godard and co,and only one on this Duvivier jewel.It's when one sees such marvels one realizes all that the New Wave has deprived French cinema of:the very substance of a film,the telling of a story.And Duvivier comes first for that;here he transcends the film made up of sketches he brilliantly pioneered in the thirties with "un carnet de bal"(1937):he uses now intertwined plots with gusto,and Paris places with taste.All his characters are endearing,and he runs the whole gamut:the young girl coming from her province (Brigitte Auber who will be in Hitchcock's "To catch a thief");you're going to say it's a cliché,but wait and see,you"ll never guess what fate is in store for her,it defies conventions;the old lady and her cats (A marvelous Sylvie),trying to make ends meet;the children who find themselves back on a boat alone on the Seine ;the student who always fails(Daniel Ivernel);a sculptor gone mad;a working man,celebrating his silver wedding,and more,and more....And all that happens in the space of one day under Paris sky (sous le ciel de Paris), all these lives run into each other,or don't,making a whole,under Duvivier's magic wand.

Because magic is the only name that can describe such a treat.Orson Welles used to admire Duvivier,how I understand him!

For one day we shall follow the lifes of very different persons: a young woman looking for love,an old lady taking care of cats, workers in strike, a sculptor ,a student of medicine,a policeman and by magic all their lives will be connected.A wonderful description of Paris, of its people made with poetry. The actors and actresses were really excellent: Brigitte Aubert (Denise Lambert) Sylvie (Mademoiselle Perrier), Daniel Ivernel (Georges Forestier), Paul Frankeur (Milou) Marie-France (La petite Colett Malingret) and François Périer (Narrator). Also "Sous le ciel de Paris" is a masterpiece of photography,The cinematographer Nicolas Hayer was also the cinematographer of "Le Corbeau" (1943). Another important point: "Sous le ciel de Paris" is a tale narrated with tenderness and humour by François Périer. Finally there is one song: "Sous le ciel de Paris",music by Hubert Giraud,lyrics of Jean Dréjac and sung by Jean Bretonnière: very great and famous French singer have sung once this nice song (Yves Montand,Juliette Gréco, Édith Piaf, etc).

Every morning, Fate surveys the world and plays out what people have unknowingly to deal with over the next 24 hours. This happens every day and in this film we begin with a narrator who tells us that we are going to focus on a section of Paris. We watch to see how people's lives are inter-linked and what will happen to our characters. It is not always good....

Even though this is a French film and therefore we can expect tragedy, there is also good news for some. At one point, you may think that everyone has come to the end of the road and will be setting off on the journey to the next stage. In a way, with the passing of each day, we are all getting nearer our end. You see what French films do to me!

I found there were a couple of annoying characters. Firstly, the cat-woman irritated me. She is weird. Why would anyone want to live with so many cats and treat them as her babies? They are not babies, they are cats! I once worked with a lady who referred to her dog as her baby, much to the annoyance of her daughter who would constantly remind and berate her that she was her baby and that her dog was a dog! Secondly, the narrator goes on for too long at the film's beginning - when is the film starting! Apart from these two, the other characters will engage you in their stories. And I only realized after the film's end that new arrival to Paris - Brigitte Auber (Denise) - was Cary Grant's French ex-girlfriend in "To Catch a Thief" (1955).

Finally, can you think of a circumstance in which it wouldn't be ideal to win the lottery? If you are hard-pressed, then this film will give you one answer.

"Sous Le Ciel De Paris" is uneven, episodic, unfocused, but also pioneering: it can be taken as a precursor of both the New Wave movement (it has an improvisational, let's-take-the-camera-out-and-start-filming-and-we'll-see-what-happens style), and of much later "mosaic" urban films such as Robert Altman's "Short Cuts". Its main problem is that most of the individual stories fail to captivate, until they start merging together near the end; the one highlight until then is the brilliantly edited exam sequence. The last section contains some startling surprises, so the film is worth sticking with through some of its early rough patches. **1/2 out of 4.