L'Atalante (1934) User Reviews

Tales of the riverbank

[Spondonman · 9/10 · 29 August 2004]

My big problem with "L'Atalante" is how much of what we see and hear was really Jean Vigo's intention (as he didn't finish it) when he was making it? The restored version is the only version and was reconstructed from many disparate bits about 15 years ago, meaning it has had running order interpretations foisted upon it. I think most of the film we see came from the BFI in London, remixed with other clips into some kind of logical sequence by Gaumont in Paris and sold as a Forgotten Masterpiece.

Well, if you can call such luck ending up as a masterpiece it was purely unintentional by Vigo - he didn't see what we do now.

What we have though is definitely a series of relentlessly beautiful, thought-provoking, impressionistic black and white images hung together for 87 minutes with a very flimsy story of 3 people on a barge. The kid was background fluff and doesn't really count. Simon was his usual farcical self, I wish he'd been background as well. Daste and Parla were both later in "La Grande Illusion", can you really forget her as the German widow Elsa in favour of this? The framings and compositions are wonderful to see - how important was it to include distant shots of power stations, cranes etc? Why did Daste stare right into the underwater camera? How come every available surface seems uncomfortable or strewn with bizarre objects or people? Why just the one short aerial shot? And so many other questions which are either pointless or beyond my intelligence; somebody somewhere must know!

I find every time I watch "L'Atalante" it grows on me - I thought it was pants in '91, now I think it's brill! We all move at different speeds - some people will never be able to see this as anything but boring while some people thought it was a classic before they saw it! Whereas I'm still on the voyage of discovery with this one and will definitely watch it again, but not as an indispensable film, more as akin to a trip to the Art Gallery.

To See Paris and ...

[Galina_movie_fan · 9/10 · 5 May 2005]

"People are strange when you are stranger

Faces look ugly when you're alone

Women seem wicked when you are unwanted

Streets are uneven when you are down…" by Jim Morrsion (1963-1971)

…And city of light and love is dark and depressing when you are there without your beloved.

Director Jean Vigo died young (at 29, of septicemia) just after he finished his third and last film, "L'Atalante" which is one of the screen's great romances, about a young barge captain Jean (Jean Daste), who takes his bride Juliette (Dita Parlo) to live aboard his boat. They are in love, they fight, she disappears to see Paris, he goes searching for her, can not find her, they are both desperate and miserable until the first mate (Michel Simon in a superb comical performance) decides to find her and bring her back…

The film has many magical moments, such as the young man searching for his sweetheart under water or the movie's most erotic scene that display both Jean and Juliette tossing in their lonely beds during one aching night of separation searching for each other, longing for each other, realizing how painful and meaningless life is without the one they love.

Vigo knew that he was dying – "I am killing myself with L'Atalante", he said. His death at 29 is one of the cinema's great losses. We can only imagine what masterpieces he could've created. L'Atalante with its simple compelling story, humanity, intense, lyrical romanticism and candid eroticism shows that Vigo was a visionary and experimentalist of outstanding quality.

Filmmakers as diverse as Francois Truffaut and Lindsay Anderson have acknowledged Vigos's influence on their work.

Highly recommended: 9/10

Come and let me take you on a sea cruise

[wandereramor · 7/10 · 11 June 2012]

L'Atalante is one of those films that doesn't really survive it's critical reputation. It's not so much that it's overrated as that its status as a Cinematic Masterpiece by a French Auteur casts a heavy burden on it which the light, airy film can't escape.

But enough meta-criticism. Taken on its own, L'Atalante is a charming film about a honeymoon whose light nature and relaxed pace manages to immerse the audience in a realm of simple pleasure. There's little dialogue, and Vigo draws on the attractions of silent film, with a lot of light humour and simple representational images. It's a world you would want to step into, and one that you almost think you can.

Alas, things cannot stay so serene forever, and so trouble eventually arrives in our honeymooners' relationship. The plot is believable and well-observed, if not exactly captivating, but I have to say I missed the more leisurely early parts.

I can't help but compare L'Atalante with a film with a similar storyline and inverted structure, F. W. Murnau's Sunrise. L'Atalante undeniably comes off worse in the comparison: it simply doesn't achieve the epic grandeur that Sunrise does. That doesn't mean it's bad, but it seems unavoidably like a prototype for a film released in the previous decade, and that makes it hard to live up to the hype. Still, it's a nice experience, and that's more than you can say about most films.

A Gentle, Contemplative Classic

[Snow Leopard · 16 November 2004]

There aren't many classics that are as deceptively simple as "L'Atalante". Its gentle, contemplative tone - punctuated by occasional stretches of Michel Simon's antics - conceals a carefully made film with some worthwhile themes that go beyond the story itself. The lavish praises that it sometimes receives have perhaps created unrealistic expectations, which is unfortunate, because it is a fine, though understated, classic.

Jean and Juliette, the two main characters, both have strengths and weaknesses that make them believable. Jean is responsible and disciplined, while Juliette is easygoing and gregarious (which makes her the easiest of the two to appreciate and to sympathize with). But Jean's rigidity and his occasional impatience, in combination with Juliette's naiveté and her occasional impulsiveness, make for difficulties in their relationship.

If they seem boring when compared to the couples in many other movie romances, it is precisely this that makes the film worthwhile. It focuses closely on two ordinary people, without distracting frills or forced social commentary. Most of us are not all that interesting to others, and our lives and problems are usually important only to us. It is part of Jean Vigo's achievement that he takes two such commonplace characters and makes them worth caring about, and by implication he tells us that we are all worth caring about, even if we and our lives may not matter much to others.

By keeping most of the action on board the boat, Vigo not only creates an atmosphere, but also forces the attention onto the characters. Simon's rather exaggerated character is used both to vary the pacing when appropriate, and to respond to the traits and actions of Jean and Juliette. The photography and the score are also used to round out the picture.

It may be true that the film is sometimes over-praised, but in large part that is simply an over-reaction to the unfortunate lack of attention that this kind of classic must so often endure. In an era when so many very weak recent movies have received regular television airings, special edition DVD's with all kinds of pointless "extras", and undeserved critical acclaim, it's all too obvious that movies requiring more effort to appreciate are too often ignored entirely.

Many recent romance movies have tried to use lavish production values, disaster or crisis settings, trendy techniques such as "non-linear" story-telling, and other such devices to cover up a lack of substance. Movies as different as "Titanic" and "The English Patient" (just to name two of many possible examples) use such methods in an attempt to pass off a romantic couple as heroic or admirable, when the characters in actuality are usually self-absorbed, vapid, and truly less worth caring about than Vigo's Jean and Juliette are.

Jean and Juliette, like most of us, know that they are not important in the grand scheme of things, and they are probably rather well aware of their own weaknesses. They are neither saints nor sinners, neither victims nor heroes, they are just human, and therefore worth caring about. "L'Atalante" itself is not "the greatest movie ever made", especially since there is no such thing anyway, but it is a thoughtful and carefully crafted classic that stays with you well after you have seen it.

One of the greatest of all films

[Jaime N. Christley · 10/10 · 20 April 1999]

Pauline Kael told us that "L'Atalante" was one of those films that are more pleasurable in the memory than while seeing it. Maybe so, but not for me. I knew I was witnessing a masterpiece after the first thirty seconds.

There was not a false step in the whole thing, and many wonderful surprises. There's a brief flash of strange eroticism when Dita Parlo sticks out her tongue at Michel Simon, the old seaman who runs the boat (and I can't even remember why she did it). There's some comedy, with an astoundingly nimble Vaudeville-like cafe performer/one-man-band who serenades Parlo, to her husband's dismay. There's aching heartbreak, with the separated lovers who long for each other so much that it wakes them up in the night and hear each other's yearning. And after all those things, the sensuality, the humor, and the tragedy, the movie just dreams on by as smooth and as fragile as a film can be. I fell in love with it the same way I did with "The Third Man"--the heedless, foolish romanticism just got to me in the end.

Simply Perfect

[Ben_Cheshire · 10/10 · 17 March 2004]

Finally saw Vigo's L'Atalante, his only feature film, which he reportedly died before completing, and instantly its one of my top favourite movies and easily one of the best pictures ever made. L'Atalante has everything going for it: its sexy, romantic and incredibly funny. Its also immensely genuine - the performances are so good, you are completely drawn into the action. Which is not to say that L'Atalante isn't imbued with the sense of fun and visual fantasy which makes Vigo's Zero de Conduite so great, in fact, its much more developed here. Vigo gets to tell a complete story in L'Atalante, the only complete story he ever told, and it is wonderful. Aside from its great story and vivid, unique characters, the most remarkable thing about L'Atalante is the masterful way it is directed. Vigo had such an eye for what was cinematic - so much of his stuff is communicated through images, yet when he uses words he uses them well (and for comic purposes here). L'Atalante is simply a beautiful film to look at. It has so many beautifully filmed sequences and images (some favourites: the grammophone music scene, the street seller's scene, the swimming underwater scene, the drunk scene). Surely one of the best shot films ever. Watch where Vigo places his camera, and the multitude of exciting compositions here. L'Atalante is a movie buff's dream come true. I'm so glad i found it, and am eternally grateful to the art gallery for giving me the opportunity to see it. The audience i saw it with had a rollicking good time - we enjoyed it immensely. If you ever see it playing at a revival house, or at an art gallery, i thoroughly recommend you go there and discover Jean Vigo.

A perfect 10/10 - the only one i've ever given.

One of the Greats of Cinema! A Poetic Masterpiece!

[antonio-21 · 10/10 · 23 June 2000]

The beauty of this film is undeniable, unfortunately, it was butchered upon release, harming it's initial critical and audience reception. Thankfully! Today, we can glory in the masterful restoration of this true cinema classic. If you know anything about Jean Vigo and his work, you are familiar with his place in cinema history. He is the true "enfant" genius of film.

Zero pour Conduite and L'Atalante are two films which routinely appear on those annoying "Ten Best Films of All Time" lists. Lists which normally seek to squeeze in as many films as possible into 10 slots. (Those Sight & Sound people don't seem to be able to understand what 10 means!) Anyway, if you are a REAL Movie Lover (not somebody who ranks Tarantino or The Sixth Sense as masterpieces, get real) you will come to the films of Jean Vigo at some point in your moviegoing experiences.

Be prepared for poetic visuals which manage to combine the grittiness and mundane of everyday life with flourishes of surreal moments and true romantic splendor which captivate the heart of the movie lover.

This film should not be overly analyzed. Just sit back and enjoy the beauty of this mood piece. Vigo was a genius who could make a filthy barge look like the most beautiful object in movie history! All of the traditional elements are there. The acting and design are perfect without being showy. The cinematography can FINALLY be enjoyed due to the terrific restoration process! WHY ISN'T THIS FILM ON DVD????

But the magic of this film is due only to the indefinable genius that was Jean Vigo. If you truly love movies, you must watch this gem. (but please try your best to see the restored version, it will captivate you!)

Poetic masterpiece

[GoranSkalArmand · 10/10 · 19 December 1999]

Arguably the best French film of all time. It can only appeal to those who love the cinema. Its poetic, dream-like effect is truly enchanting and proves that Jean Vigo was a master. Great performances by the whole cast with Michel Simon a standout. Brilliant photography too. A simple, flawless masterpiece.

Good but its hardly one of the greatest films ever made

[dbborroughs · 6/10 · 5 May 2009]

Captain of a barge with the titled name, marries a young provincial girl and travels the waterways of France. Times are rough and life is not what she expected and after a rough patch she runs off. Eventually the pair are reunited to presumably live happily ever after.

First feature and final film by Jean Vigo who died not long after the films release. Its hailed as one of the great films of all time in various polls, and I for one am left to ponder why. Certainly I have my beef with any number of the "classics" of cinema, but more times than not I can walk away from the film and at least understand why someone would argue that say Citizen Kane is great film, even if I don't feel that way. Here I'm completely at a loss to explain why it's a great film. I suppose its all due to how someone connects or doesn't connect with the romance. I never really connected since I never saw what either person saw in the other. Okay yes I'm coming from a different time and place and how I look at romance and even relationships that become marriage is different but beyond that I saw nothing. For me there was too much to take on faith.

This isn't to say that L'atalante is a bad film, it's not, actually it's a good one, its just not a great one. If there is anything that is great about the film it's the photography. Shot on location on the barrage and the environs around it this film shows beautifully a time and a place. I love how the film looks and how it makes you feel how that you are there.

Is this worth seeing? Yes. I don't think it's a bad film, and if you strip away the useless and uncalled for baggage of this being one of the greatest films of all time its an enjoyable one. See it for itself and you'll have a good time, bringing anything else to the table will only serve to disappoint you.

the most sublime triumph of French cinema I've seen yet (pre New-Wave)

[Quinoa1984 · 10/10 · 29 January 2007]

Not to discount the many great French filmmakers that were already around and thriving long before Cashiers du Cinema took over and turned movie-making on its head, but even with the great works of Renoir, Melville or Cocteau, Jean Vigo's only theatrical film L'Atalante struck me immensely for being such a luminous, constantly humorous, everlasting tale of finding the right kind of connection. There's all those details that end up building up in much of the early part of the picture, and it's all practically all predicated on behavior, and how the warm company of others can sometimes also have the flip-side of the cold shoulder. But is it really a sudden turn of distaste for someone, or just insecurity at not being good enough? The relationship between Juliette and Jean is one of the most moving of all screen romances because it keeps everything on a level anyone can cling to, or recognize at the least. Vigo understands not just what beauty can come out of seeing two people who suddenly really find themselves, what they mean for each other against the most minute moments that add up, but how there's so much life, and passion for life around them, it's hard to resist the basic impulses. It's a very mature film about the childish impulses in men and women.

Yet seeing the genre classified as drama/romance is not really correct (it's not one of those easy films to classify anyway). For a film that is touted as a masterpiece of a simple romantic entanglement, on first glance it could seem to be more serious than it really is. If anything, Vigo achieves a sublime level of comedy here, and true 'human' comedy and touches of the absurd in hopelessness, balancing the dramatic parts. Take when Jean, in the midst of his 'what have I done' frame of mind after he abandons Juliette in Paris- when she decides to go off on her own for a night of fun when Jean refuses (tempted by a clownish peddler)- takes a leap into the river and swims around, himself submerged as thoughts fly by with Juliette at one point superimposed to his left. Part of this, of course, is perfectly poetic, illustrating without words (and not needing to) what a mistake can do to a man's psyche not ready to take things on properly. But it's also sort of funny seeing him swimming down there, not feeling a need to come up, even if it's questionable whether he'd really kill himself. It's one of the great love-sick scenes ever.

But by then L'Atalante has kicked into something exactly 'happening', and there's no need for suspense because we'll know what will happen at the end. That's not important part, anyway; here it's to see how how one scene will go into another, or how one shot will suddenly transition into something else- character. In fact, for the first part of the picture we're given just the simplicity life on the L'Atalante ship, where we start to see the tension between husband and wife due partly to Jules- a scraggly old man who is sloppy and a little degenerate, but also loves his many, many cats and cute kittens and just wants some good music to listen to- and how she sort of wastes her time there from time to time. There's a great feeling that comes out too in seeing how both old man and young wife are sort of similar in their moments of escapism, except that Jules has more of a long-lived and much traveled spirit too, while Juliette is like a wide-eyed kid in a candy-store, who can't do too much on such a small ship, and certainly not with the not un-emotional but somewhat estranged husband Jean. I loved the bits between the two of them as well, where there's a moment of peace and happiness- like when Jean finally takes Juliette out to see a song & dance number at the hall- but also the contrasted tension. And when the peddler/singer does tempt Juliette with the ideas of Paris and dances with her, just the look on Jean's face is priceless.

So in the meantime that Vigo gets such rich, daringly but incredibly captivating moments of the light and mundane on the ship (radio channel change, fun on top deck, the accordion to the record not playing, the drunk Jules, the flowers meant for the newlyweds that go overboard), he matches up this to his cast with his style. Michel Simon, already exceptional in Boudu Saves From Drowning, is just a pure delight as Jules, a fool's fool but not an idiot by any means, a performance that is layered even in the broadest strokes. The couple played by Daste and Parlo are also really well cast, as Daste is believable as the professional skipper, but even more so at being completely frustrated- then dazed as hell- at his lack of attention to his wife; Parlo is understandably the honey of (seemingly) every man's eye in Paris, and she too walks a fine line of believable malcontent and happiness. And meanwhile with this, Vigo and Boris Kaufman create indelible cinematic images, like the guy wrestling with himself on the boat where his movements sort of go in a haze like flipping through pages, or the aforementioned superimposition. Or just the total control over the space and angles of scenes (overhead in Jules's apartment, a low-angle when husband & wife exit the dance hall in a huff, the shots of Jean at the bottom of frame isolated, kitten on Simon's shoulder).

In short, not only does it make very clear, in wonderful poetic terms, the power of love, without a convention or typical moment becoming the slightest irksome, as something to be re-evaluated, but that being around people can be the most enjoyable thing in the world, even if it's on a small little steamboat. A++

A nice little film

[valadas · 7/10 · 22 December 2013]

This movie was classified in a recent critics' poll as one of the best 100 films ever made. Though I don't put it on there in fact I liked it enough to classify it as a good one. Immediately after their wedding in church a young couple goes running to live in a barge where the husband is a skipper and navigates on river Seine. The action takes place within the barge most of the time which begins to annoy the wife. There besides they, only live and work a boy and and eccentric mate, Père Jules with his bunch of cats, acted by the great Michel Simon whose performance only by itself could make the film worth to be seen. Tensions between husband and wife begin to arise and turn out soon a bit dramatic as expected. Everything is told in lively images and some unexpected and surprising scenes. A firmly directed movie and well acted.

An all-time favorite due to its sustained dreamlike effect

[monk-12 · 10/10 · 17 January 1999]

L'Atalante is one of my favorite movies of all time because it is one of the very few films which sustains a dreamlike effect from beginning to end. It is full of magical images and curious non sequiturs. Michel Simon's old seaman is a wonderful invention.

The Studio and the Director

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 16 May 2016]

Newly married couple Juliette and a ship captain Jean struggle through marriage as they travel on the L'atalante along with the captain's first mate Le père Jules and a cabin boy.

"L'Atalante" was mutilated by its distributor. Gaumont cut the film's run time to 65 minutes in an attempt to make it more popular and changed the title to Le chaland qui passe ("The Passing Barge"), the name of a popular song at the time by Lys Gauty, which was also inserted into the film, replacing parts of Jaubert's score. Vigo was too weak to defend the film as his condition grew worse. The film was a commercial failure, which is somewhat startling considering how it is now regarded as one of the all-time greats.

This film is what has made Jean Vigo so celebrated. It is his only full-length film, and one of only four films total. And yet he remains a towering figure in France approximately 80 years later.

Learning curve

[keith-moyes · 5/10 · 7 April 2009]

L'Atalante is frequently cited as one of the greatest movies ever made. This judgement clearly baffles many people. Having just viewed the fully-restored 1991 version on DVD, I confess to being one of them.

The print now looks great, with good detail and only the occasional scratch, so we can finally appreciate the exquisite cinematography. Scenes that were trimmed or deleted by distributors and censors have now been restored, along with the original music track. Apparently, this version is as close to Vigo's original cut as will ever be possible.

This statement needs qualification. Vigo fell ill shortly after shooting and L'Atalante was cut by an editor with only minimal involvement by him. Moreover, it is still only a rough cut. It was originally planned to do some further tightening.

L'Atalante undoubtedly has its merits. Vigo used the trite story as a framework from which to hang a number of notably good scenes which often veer off in unexpected directions. It has a loose, lyrical quality that evokes poetry rather than prose.

Unusually for early Sound movies, much of it was shot on location, but I am not sure how much. The interiors look cramped enough to have been shot on an actual barge and this would account for the tight close-ups, awkward camera angles and strange compositions (in one scene both protagonists go briefly out of shot, leaving an empty screen), but there are also indications that these scenes were shot on studio sets (e.g., the shot from inside Jules's cupboard).

In both subject and treatment, L'Atalante looks and feels quite different to other films of its time and its quirkiness can be a refreshing change from the predictability of most other movies. However, much of that quirkiness is simply incompetence. Vigo had a great visual sense and the movie often looks ravishing, but in most other respects his grasp of movie technique was still somewhat weak.

Cinematically, he was still rooted in the Silent era. Dialogue is little more than background sound and rarely adds much to the visuals. Most of it was improvised by the actors (never a good idea). The soporific pacing that alienates many modern viewers was simply the characteristic pacing of Silent films.

At the micro level, the cutting is often very amateurish. Vigo doesn't know when to enter or leave scenes. Shots are assembled out of sequence, so that visual information is only given after it is needed. Sometimes, it is not given at all: for example, we only know about the near-collision with another barge through the dialogue, not the visuals. Individual shots don't cut together properly (e.g., the sequence of Juliette discovering that the barge has gone). Often, we simply don't know where we are until half-way through a scene. We cut to Juliette in Jules's Aladdin's cave of a cabin without any preparation (she has shown no curiosity about how he lives) and don't even know where we are until he turns up to tell us.

Individually, these examples could be dismissed as mere quibbles but they occur in almost every scene.

At a macro level, the movie has a weak dramatic structure: it alternately gallops and crawls. Marginal scenes run on far too long (the gramophone scene, the checkers game, the bar scene with the peddler, and so on) while essential scenes are truncated or missing altogether.

It doesn't even tell its simple story very effectively. Scenes don't flow naturally from one to another, so story jerks forward in fits and starts. The evolving relationship between Jean and Juliette (and her growing frustration with life on the barge) is actually quite poorly documented. Jean's decision to abandon Juliette in Paris is under-motivated. We see almost nothing of how she survives there. We see Jean's distracted manner after her loss, but not the neglect of duty that alarms the barge owners and puts the crew's livelihood at risk. The recovery of Juliette is simply miraculous. One second, Jules is in Le Havre, the next he wandering aimlessly around Paris. He hears music coming from a record shop and - Hey Presto!

At the end, the characters are nearly as opaque as at the beginning.

For all the excellence of the cinematography and the originality of individual scenes, Vigo's 'let's make it up as we go' approach means that L'Atalante is little more than a glorified home movie. It is so choppy that it feels like he shot a three-hour movie and lost half the reels, so he had to do the best he could with what was left.

In the Thirties, L'Atalante sank without trace, but it was rediscovered after the War by the French directors of the 'New Wave'. They were becoming increasingly frustrated with the stodgy movies of their time and soon found ways to slash through the plodding story-telling conventions of established movie-makers. I can understand why they saw Vigo as a pioneer and came to laud L'Atalante as a precursor of everything they were trying to do.

Nonetheless, you have to master the rules before you can throw away the rule book. In 1933, Vigo was still learning how to make movies. If he had been able to supervise the editing of L'Atalante it might have been a somewhat more accomplished picture: but then again it might not. Zero de Conduite suggests he was still on a steep learning curve.

Vigo had a unique sensibility and was a singular voice in the cinema. If he had lived long enough to make a few more pictures he might well have given us a really good movie. Then, even his most delirious advocates might see L'Atalante for what I believe it to be: not a fully-achieved work in its own right, but a fascinating, still very flawed, practice piece.

enchanting

[postmanwhoalwaysringstwice · 27 October 2004]

Jean Vigo's 1934 work "L'Atalante" has a very timeless quality about it. It is far more visual than much of the early sound films that were released in America or abroad at the time, and really keeps more with the intensely artistic side of much of the best silent works. My eyes were completely transfixed on the screen the entire time, as I enjoyed the brilliant cinematography and took in the realistic, almost tragic, performances of the leads. Being very low on dialogue, or at least pertinent dialogue, and telling a rather simple story, this film may not be for everyone, but I would certainly highly recommend it for anyone who considers film to be an art form. Sadly Vigo dead within months of the film's release, and could not create any more masterpieces.

Boat Love

[ArchObler · 10/10 · 10 October 2002]

There's always something going on in this movie, a lot of it not even really explained outwardly. You can totally get a sense of the dreariness of life in that Dita Parlo is attempting to escape from by sailing away with her new husband, just by the brief shots of the town. Instead of an ideal romantic getaway with Jean Daste, she actually starts spending a good deal of time with Michel Simon, the barge hand. He's sort of alien to her, she's horrified by many of his behaviors but she can't seem to keep away. In that sense she represents the audience, I was fascinated by this character, one of the most unpredictable I've seen in a movie. When he talks about his friend's hands it seemed very longingly and I think it's hinted in this scene that he's bisexual. In any case this is a fascinating movie, overflowing with detail, and yet never straining for effect. The reality of living together on a boat puts a cramp in the couple's romantic ideals, but the movie is ultimately hopeful about how people who really love each other can work things out. **** out of ****

Hauntingly beautiful

[SLK6087 · 10/10 · 26 October 2002]

Before I first saw this film, I read somerwhere that the director died just before it was released. Whenever I explain this movie to someone that's exactly what I tell them. I tell them that it is a film made in 1930, about a newlywed couple starting to live their married life on a boat in France.

I also say that it is probably the most beautiful movie I can think of, and that the director was a young, dying, artist who was in a fever during most of the filming...and it SHOWS in every frame of the movie.

Realistic poetry from Jean Vigo.

[Boba_Fett1138 · 10/10 · 22 September 2008]

Jean Vigo was a director who now more is being appreciated then during his lifetime. This movie was his only full length feature and he died shortly after completing it (he had been in bad health for basically all of his life). His movies get admired for its poetic-realism and if you've seen one of his movies you'll know why. It are always beautiful looking movies, with also a touch of surrealism to it but always with heart and realism. The characters and emotions within the movies are always feeling very real. It's a shame he died so early, for he could had surely delivered some fine many more movies, with his unique and great style.

I was impressed by the movie its acting, which seemed to be ahead of its time with its more realistic approach involved. It made the story and therefore also the entire movie as a whole work out as a tender and believable one. It's a very humane movie with real characters and warmth involved. Of course biggest star of the movie is Michel Simon, who had starred in some well known, mostly 1930's, French productions. He plays his character in his trademark strange and comical style. Seriously, has this guy ever played a 'normal' character in his career?

It's a movie that gets carried by its actors and main characters but also really the movie its fine script obviously help. The movie is basically like a random slice of life and about a young married couple who live on a ship, along with its other colorful crew members. When the woman discovers the Paris night life, she decided to stay ashore, much to the grief of the husband, who slips into a depression. What follows is a story with many different emotions to it but always with a very realistic touch and feeling to it.

The movie is really wonderful looking, with some good nimble editing and fine cinematography from later Oscar winner Boris Kaufman and two assistants Louis Berger and Jean-Paul Alphen. But its fine visuals should not in the should also be credited to Jean Vigo's directing approach and way he chooses to tell the story. It's a beautiful movie to look at, as well as it is wonderful to follow the movie its story and get involved with the movie it's main character, portrayed by capable actors.

I simply loved watching this movie!

10/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

It's Old and Black and White and Foreign And Unforgettable

[museumofdave · 10/10 · 9 May 2013]

If you have patience for a black and white foreign film that's seventy years old, that takes you to a world which no longer exists, a honeymoon on the Seine, the young couple attempting to find some romance amid quirky squalor, a sailor's world of work and drink, a place where a bride must learn to shift for herself when her husband fails to understand her need for a little magic, well-this is that film.

An actor named Michel Simon essays an eccentric boatman who loves cats, keeps his perhaps-lovers severed hands in a jar, and who loves his old phonograph, steals much of the picture, but the cinematographer swipes even more, with moods of shadows and light hovering around some of the most erotic non-explicit lovemaking ever put on film. Director Vigo's longest film is a challenge to watch, but worth filing in your movie gems library. It is both groundbreaking and heart-warming, intelligent and experimental. L'Atlante is a classic that continues to earn it's status.

L'Atalante

[jboothmillard · 7/10 · 9 March 2012]

I didn't realise that director Jean Vigo only made four films before dying at a young age, this film and Zero for Conduct are the two that appeared in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, so naturally I had to watch. Basically the L'Atalante is a canal barge, and the captain Jean (Jean Dasté) has married Juliette (Dita Parlo), despite not meeting much, and after a march they start their trip together. They are travelling between Le Havre and Paris on the barge with a cargo delivery, while on honeymoon, and there are tensions between the hardly used crew members. But the bigger conflict with tempers flaring and things smashed comes when Jean is jealous of Juliette having an affair with first mate and obsessive cat lover Père Jules (Michel Simon). Another argument and scuffle comes while in Paris and a Peddler (Gilles Margaritis) who wants to run off with Jean's wife, but having become tired of barge life she runs off anyway. Jean starts suffering near-catatonic depression having furiously left Juliette behind after casting off, and he tries a few things to try and get over it, but they do not work. Juliette meanwhile has found nothing but despair and crime since going onto the mainland, and it is only after Jean tries to kill himself jumping into the river that they are both reunited, and in the end they are happy once again together. I will be absolutely honest, and say that this explanation for what happens in the film is not something I would have recalled myself. Also starring Louis Lefebvre as Cabin Boy, Fanny Clar as Juliette's Mother, Raphaël Diligent as Raspoutine, Juliette's Father and René Blech as Best Man. I did not understand everything that was going on to be honest, but the relationship between the main characters was good, the realistic documentary style material for life on the barge is alright, and I can see that it did start influence the French New Wave of cinema, from what I did understand it is a most watchable romantic drama. Very good!

L'Atalante

[quinimdb · 9/10 · 17 July 2016]

"L'Atalante" is about two newlyweds that start their marriage on the husband's (Jean) boat. Juliette has never left her hometown, and she desperately wants to go to Paris, envisioning it as a paradise and utopia for her. Basically, she's a romantic. She even says that if you open your eyes underwater, you can see your beloved one, and that is where she first saw him. However, when she gets on the boat, Jean begins to kiss her, but Juliette pushes him away and starts walking back toward her family and friends and the town she is so familiar with. But as we see, her walking back is still going nowhere. She's already left. But then she turns around to see her husband running after her, with cats attacking him, and she realizes he is right there with her, and he is what she must focus on now.

We find out that Jean gets jealous easily and is a bit overprotective in a scene involving a worker on the ship named le peré Jules. Jules is simply showing Juliette some items from his travels, but he is a bit sloppy and crude. Suddenly, Jean comes in and has a fit. He throws plates on the floor and overreacts. Then when they finally get to Paris, they can't go because of Jules. They do however stop in a nearby city, and Jean tries to make up for it by going there. But the trip goes awry when a street peddler begins to follow Juliette and she almost falls for his scams to make them buy something, since she is a romantic. Jean really loses it when he sees her dancing with him, and then once he says Juliette can no longer go out to the city, he tries to sneak her out. He finally leaves her alone, but she can't stop thinking about her potential night in the city, and decides to sneak out. Her romantic illusions are crushed after the first few hours of shopping and sight seeing however, when she sees the rudeness of the city dwellers and is mugged. The men take off, but Jean doesn't recover, and he realizes he cannot function without her. Juliette realizes the same and in one scene the shots of Juliette and Jean sleeping apart fade into each other to show that they are both thinking of each other. When Jules fixes the gramophone and Jean first hears that music, Jean jumps into the water in a desperate attempt to get a glimpse of his wife and finally sees her in the water, showing that to a certain extent, Juliettes romanticism was true. Then Jules realizes they need to find Juliette after their boss almost fires Jean. And of all places he finds her listening to that song they once sang her on the boat earlier in the film.

While Jean was right in some ways in his protectiveness, and Juliette in her romanticism, they both had too much of it, and ultimately let those distract them from what really mattered, which was each other.

Sole Showcase for Director Gone Too Soon

[ASuiGeneris · 7/10 · 7 May 2018]

L'Atalante (1934) (French: Le Chaland Qui Passe {The Passing Barge}) Director: Jean Vigo Watched: March 2018 Rating: 7/10

{Clue: This film proves that more is not always better; sometimes, this is best.}

Silent film spirit with limited dialogue- instead spotlighting poetic images and enchanting scenes,

Interesting supporting characters with colorful personalities, like the one-man band street peddler that tries to woo Juliette,

Magical realism elements like the folk tale that says one can see the face of their true lover in the water and that celestial underwater love scene,

Père Jules is the glue that holds this little barge party together- with his wiseness disguised by comical antics,

Lacks character and emotional depth; more a playful work of art than a film masterpiece,

Easily makes the list of magical, timeless love stories- though overrated by critics and top ten lists.

Acrostic is a form of poetry where the first letters in each line, paragraph, or word are doubly used to spell a name, phrase, or word. The word "acrostic" comes from the Greek words "akros" (outermost) and "stichos" (line of verse). Read the appropriate letters in the poem vertically to reveal the extra message, called the "acrostich"! #Acrostic #PoemReview #Classics

There is something...

[nirvano · 10/10 · 18 March 2012]

Very magical about this film. But one have to be patient because it will not completely manifest itself before the last scene. I literarily got goosebumps and I could feel my heartbeat.

I my opinion, the reason so many are disappointed about this is because it's not a page turner. (but neither is Moby Dick or Thus Spake Zarathustra)

Seeing old movie for me is much like meditation.

What makes this movie great are: the characters and wonderful combination of sound and image, mind blowing at times.

My top 10. No doubt about it.

the love boat (rental)

[leplatypus · 7/10 · 7 May 2018]

I have mixed feelings about this one: the history of its editing is so long, complicated and all the more dramatic that Vigo died just after having finished it. Famous director Truffaut passion for it is contagious. The story is original even today (the way to become a sailor wife on a ship) and some moments are really beautiful and poetic and offers a vision of Paris faraway of cliches of the city of light and closer to Eraserhead world...

But i'm french and this is France and i just can't stand this old, rustic country! It's always the same thing: With King Kong, America just showed how past and future could rejoice while in France, this boat tale doesn't exit a dark, gloomy country, with no comfort, peasant traditions, no visions for a bright future! Actor Simon is a very painful character to watch, between Quasimodo and Planet of Apes, no hygiene, drunk, half mad: for me, he is the anchor that drowns the ship!

At the end, Vigo could claim some rights to Cameron Titanic because its poster (Atalante) is clearly the inspiration for the cult moment at the bow (Titanic)!

I wonder how on earth this outdated and confused film became a French sensation?

[SAMTHEBESTEST · 5/10 · 6 January 2021]

L'Atalante (1934) : Brief Review -

I wonder how on earth this outdated and confused film became a French sensation? Whatever bad your definition of Greatest Film of All Time is, L'Atalante is still not enough to make it to the list. In my book i won't even like to mention this film ever after this review. One of the critic's review from the initial release says, "It's a confused, incoherent, willfully absurd, long, dull, commercially worthless film." I agree with this after knowing the good status film has carried till date. I really want to ask people that what did you actually see in it and forget Classic but why do you even call it a good film? A Newly married couple struggle through marriage as they travel on the L'atalante along with the captain's first mate Jules and a cabin boy. What was so there to adore? I mean what was there even take a note? The script was outdated even for its time as Hollywood had gone far ahead in 30s. This script might have been helpful in silent era and that too only to be called 'Good' in best case. L'Atalante doesn't even make conflict look reasonable. Look, the couple is travelling but nobody knows why. They dock at Paris and then wife suddenly starts fancying the other guy and the beautiful city forgetting all about her husband, what the heck? The partition scenario was so dumb amd confused that even small school-kids look more matured than the couple. There are many mistakes in plotting that cannot be forgiven but somehow relationship values and generous drama makes a decent film out of it. Dita Parlo and Jean Daste makes a good pair, at least bearable with the looks and acting even after such a disastrous writting. Jena Vigo doesn't stretch it much and thank god he doesn't or else it would have sunk at halfway only. Overall, it's a strictly average film with nothing great in it as said and it should/must be skipped.

RATING - 5/10*

By - #samthebestest