La Nuit fantastique
Encyclopedia
La Nuit fantastique is a 1942
French fantasy film directed by Marcel L'Herbier
. It is regarded as one of the most successful films made in France during the German occupation.
in order to pay for his studies. Constantly weary, he falls asleep and dreams of a beautiful girl in white, Irène, with whom he falls in love. An adventure follows in which he tries to save the girl from being married off for her money. When he awakes, he discovers Irène alive and real.
, though in his later memoirs he made a link rather with a style derived from the Lumière
brothers, in which realistic images were here pushed towards a kind of surrealism.) It gave him the opportunity to return to the kinds of experiment with visual style, and now also with sound effects, which had marked silent films such as L'Inhumaine
and Feu Mathias Pascal
.
The dialogue was written by Henri Jeanson
, uncredited because he was at the time forbidden to work for the press or the cinema following his imprisonment for pacifist writings and non-cooperation with the Vichy government.
Filming began in December 1941 at the Joinville studios in Paris. L'Herbier described the working conditions as being the worst he had known because of the extreme cold, sometimes as low as -15°C, but at the same time he found it an exhilarating experience because he felt a creative freedom that he not known for many years.
to write a substantial review article in which he asserted the film's significance in establishing a new spirit of independence to French film-making and in rehabilitating the spirit of Méliès and "the marvelous". Another critic who saw the film on its release recalled it later with enthusiasm, saying that it had restored a sense of innovation to the Occupation cinema.
1942 in film
The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:...
French fantasy film directed by Marcel L'Herbier
Marcel L'Herbier
Marcel L'Herbier, Légion d'honneur, was a French film-maker, who achieved prominence as an avant-garde theorist and imaginative practitioner with a series of silent films in the 1920s. His career as a director continued until the 1950s and he made more than 40 feature films in total...
. It is regarded as one of the most successful films made in France during the German occupation.
Plot
Denis, a poor student, works as a night porter in the Paris market of Les HallesLes Halles
Les Halles is an area of Paris, France, located in the 1er arrondissement, just south of the fashionable rue Montorgueil. It is named for the large central wholesale marketplace, which was demolished in 1971, to be replaced with an underground modern shopping precinct, the Forum des Halles...
in order to pay for his studies. Constantly weary, he falls asleep and dreams of a beautiful girl in white, Irène, with whom he falls in love. An adventure follows in which he tries to save the girl from being married off for her money. When he awakes, he discovers Irène alive and real.
Cast
- Fernand GraveyFernand GraveyFernand Gravey , also known as Fernand Gravet in America, was the son of actors Georges Mertens and Fernande Depernay, who have appeared in silent films produced by pioneer "Belge Cinéma Film" .- Early life :He started performing at the age of five, under his father's direction...
, as Denis - Micheline PresleMicheline PresleMicheline Presle is a French actress also known in English language films as Micheline Prelle.Born Micheline Nicole Julia Émilienne Chassagne in Paris, she wanted to be an actress from an early age. She took acting classes in her early teens and made her film debut at the age of fifteen in the...
, as Irène - Saturnin FabreSaturnin Fabre-Selected filmography:* Casanova * Pépé le Moko * The Woman Thief * Le corsaire* Nine Bachelors * La Nuit fantastique...
, as Thalès - Jean Parédès, as Cadet
- Michel Vitold, as Boris
- Bernard BlierBernard BlierBernard Blier was a French character actor. His rotund features and premature baldness allowed him to often play cuckolded husbands in his early career. He proved to be one of France's most versatile and sought-after character actors, performing interchangeably in comedies and dramas...
, as Lucien - Marcel Lévesque, as Doctor Le Tellier
- Charles Granval, as Adalbert, the blind man
Production
As L'Herbier was finishing Histoire de rire, his first film made during the Occupation, he was presented with a scenario written by Louis Chavance and Maurice Henry which immediately suggested to him the possibility of creating a film in the spirit of some of his earlier silent films, on a theme that he characterised as a "realistic fairy-tale". (At the time he seemed to be thinking of a tradition begun by the films of Georges MélièsGeorges Méliès
Georges Méliès , full name Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès, was a French filmmaker famous for leading many technical and narrative developments in the earliest cinema. He was very innovative in the use of special effects...
, though in his later memoirs he made a link rather with a style derived from the Lumière
Auguste and Louis Lumière
The Lumière brothers, Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas and Louis Jean , were among the earliest filmmakers in history...
brothers, in which realistic images were here pushed towards a kind of surrealism.) It gave him the opportunity to return to the kinds of experiment with visual style, and now also with sound effects, which had marked silent films such as L'Inhumaine
L'Inhumaine
L'Inhumaine is a 1924 French drama-science fiction film directed by Marcel L'Herbier. It was notable for its experimental techniques and for the collaboration of many leading practitioners in the decorative arts, architecture and music...
and Feu Mathias Pascal
Feu Mathias Pascal
Feu Mathias Pascal is a 1925 French silent film written and directed by Marcel L'Herbier. It was the first film adaptation of Luigi Pirandello's novel Il fu Mattia Pascal.-Background:...
.
The dialogue was written by Henri Jeanson
Henri Jeanson
Henri Jeanson, was a French writer and journalist. He was a "satrap" in the "College of Pataphysics".- As a journalist before World War II :...
, uncredited because he was at the time forbidden to work for the press or the cinema following his imprisonment for pacifist writings and non-cooperation with the Vichy government.
Filming began in December 1941 at the Joinville studios in Paris. L'Herbier described the working conditions as being the worst he had known because of the extreme cold, sometimes as low as -15°C, but at the same time he found it an exhilarating experience because he felt a creative freedom that he not known for many years.
Reception
La Nuit fantastique was first shown in Paris in July 1942, in a version running for about 90 minutes because of nearly 15 minutes of cuts made by the distributor. L'Herbier blamed this for the film's lack of success with the public during 1942 and 1943. It was only in 1944 that a complete version was released. This prompted André BazinAndré Bazin
André Bazin was a renowned and influential French film critic and film theorist.-Life:Bazin was born in Angers, France, in 1918...
to write a substantial review article in which he asserted the film's significance in establishing a new spirit of independence to French film-making and in rehabilitating the spirit of Méliès and "the marvelous". Another critic who saw the film on its release recalled it later with enthusiasm, saying that it had restored a sense of innovation to the Occupation cinema.