"Hotel du Nord" is a somewhat forgotten film by Marcel Carné, wedged in as it is between the better known movies "Le quai des brumes" (1938) and "Le jour se lève" (1939). It is nevertheless an interesting film, a mixture between poetic realism (critical worldview, the world is not good but can become better) and film noir (cynical worldview, the world is bad and will always remain bad).
The film is about two couples who meet one another in Hotel du Nord. A young couple and a somewhat older pimp and his prostitute.
The young girl is in despair.
The young man turns out to be a coward.
The pimp is very cynical and the prostitute is pragmatic, on the edge of opportunistic.
Not a company of characters that cheer you up very much. Although I don't believe in interpretations that establish a direct relationship with concrete political events in France at that time, I understand that the French political elite was not very amused with this gloomy atmospheric sketch of French society.
Lesser known to the general public the film has nevertheless influenced the development of the film noir genre in France. I think Jacques Becker was directly influenced by this film. Jean Pierre Melville on the other hand was more oriented towards the American examples of the '40s and '50s.
The film is about two couples who meet one another in Hotel du Nord. A young couple and a somewhat older pimp and his prostitute.
The young girl is in despair.
The young man turns out to be a coward.
The pimp is very cynical and the prostitute is pragmatic, on the edge of opportunistic.
Not a company of characters that cheer you up very much. Although I don't believe in interpretations that establish a direct relationship with concrete political events in France at that time, I understand that the French political elite was not very amused with this gloomy atmospheric sketch of French society.
Lesser known to the general public the film has nevertheless influenced the development of the film noir genre in France. I think Jacques Becker was directly influenced by this film. Jean Pierre Melville on the other hand was more oriented towards the American examples of the '40s and '50s.