Port of Shadows

Port of Shadows [Les Quai des Brumes] (Criterion #245).
1938 Osso Films, Janus Films and StudioCanal.
Starring: Jean Gabin, Michel Simon, Michèle Morgan, Pierre Brasseur, Edouard Delmont
Director: Marcel Carné
Amazon.com listing (only a few copies left).

An example of French "poetic realism", where characters often had a negative view of life and were either working class stiffs or criminals. Usually, these people got a last chance of love, but something would always go wrong, and the film would end in either disillusionment or death. Think of it as a nostaglic bitterness. Port of Shadows is a fine example of this genre, and it's a story of a man and his dog.

Jean (Gabin) drifts into a French port city called Le Havre, having deserted the army and seeking to escape France completely. He falls in with a loose knit group of misfits and outcasts who largely congregate at Panama's (Delmont) bar, just to hear Panama's stories about traveling the world. Among the group is Nelly (Morgan), a beautiful woman, and her godfather Zabel (Simon). Zabel is being stalked by a small-time hood named Lucien (Brasseur) because the gangster believes Zabel knows something about another crook named Maurice Brevin. Jean also has a dog following him throughout the film, who he saved at the beginning from being hit by a truck.

Jean acquires a fake passport, intending to leave for Venezuela, but he also falls in love with Nelly. In addition to that obstacle, Jean later finds himself at odds with Lucien!

Port of Shadows came out in 1938, just months before World War II erupted on the European continent. Surprisingly, even if the main character had deserted the military, there is no hint through the film of the imminent bloody conflict. Director Carné also had some problems producing the film, as the studio, Germany's UFA, had fallen under control of the Third Reich's propaganda minister, Josef Goebbels, who had already driven off the other major German directors and talents, including Fritz Lang. In the booklet that comes with the Criterion disc, an excerpt from Carné's autobiography goes into detail about finding a reasonable producer for the film, and how the French largely disliked the movie, since it wasn't an upbeat one, and it was linked to a Nazi-run film studio.

Recommended film.