Rating: 
Summary: Children of ....?
Review: The film is as good as most reviewers say, and yet there is an important, perhaps essential aspect of the film that has received less attention than it deserves. It is the theater milieu in which the main characters lived and worked. One of my favorite sequences in the film is that in which Frederick, already a famous and esteemed actor but chaffing under a contract to perform in an asinine play, takes his revenge on the authors during an actual on stage performance, simultaneously ridiculing them and turning the play into a hilarious smash hit (at least for that evening).
The word "paradis" in the original French title of the film, "Les Enfants du Paradis", had a meaning, at least as it related to the film, alternate to the English word "paradise". "Paradis" was the term generally applied to the highest galleries of the French theaters where the cheapest seats were located, and it was most likely the meaning of the word in the French title of the film. The people filling those seats were the least inhibited of the audience when expressing either scorn or appreciation for the play. And the actors knew that their careers and lives depended on these, the "children of the galleries".
Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece on Multiple levels
Review: Marcel Carne's Children of Paradise succeeds on so many levels that it rightfully deserves to be called one of the greatest films of all time. Carne filmed the movie piecemeal during the Nazi occupation of Paris. His film was officially supported despite the occupation, as the Nazis wanted to show that they were friendly to the arts. This created the ironic situation where Carne was taking money from the government to support a film by day and funneling help to the French resistance at night.One actor was supposedly a nazi collaborator. He mysteriously disappeared during filming and had to be replaced. Despite all of these obstacles, Carne has managed to recreate 19th Century Paris magnificently. In this manner, the film itself is a triumph of the creative spirit. The title refers to the poor, who could only afford seats so high in the theater that they were almost in the rafters... and yet, these were the real audiences the actors performed for. The story is a series of intersecting lives that all revolve in one way or another around the bohemian, world weary Garance (played in Mona Lisa fashion by Arletty). Beyond this, the film also revolves around 1840's theater life in Paris: the actors, the audience, and all those in between. Garance is almost a courtesan: she moves conveniently between four men who love her, seemingly unaffected by any of them... in the end, she falls in love with the mime Baptiste (Jean-Louis Barrault).... but Baptiste is married to another woman after missing his chance with Garance years earlier. Will they get together? In the end, we, the viewers are as much the Children of the Gods, or Children of Paradise, that the title refers to as the theater audiences in the film. Indeed, both the opening and closing credits are played against a theater curtain. We are the viewers in the Gods, and the actors are performing for us by living their lives: loving, living, dying... feeling both pain and joy. Carne's film is over three hours long, but never lags. The stories intersect each other and cannot be adequately described in a simple review such as this... Four men love Garance, and in a way all their lives intersect in and around the theater. The cinematography is amazing. There is a crowd scene at the end of the film that stands up to anything ever filmed: it is simply magnificent. Baptiste is lost (in many ways) in a seething moving mass of humanity. This scene alone is reason enough to see the film. I suspect that this is a film that people either love or hate. The long length may put off many people, but this is a shame. The film isn't for those who want instant gratification. Instead, it is something to be enjoyed and savored. If all of this makes it sound too serious, be assured it isn't. Children of Paradise is a tragedy in some ways but it is also a comedy in the Shakespearian sense. This was a film made for a company like Criterion, and they do it justice in their dvd edition. The two halves of the film are presented on individual disks, so the film never suffers from compression flaws or other problems. The restoration is flawless: you would never know that this film is almost sixty years old. The audio is mono but very clean, with no hiss or static. Criterion has also included some supplements, inverviews, filmographies, trailers, etc, but the real treat is the film itself. It is timeless.
Rating:
Summary: extraordinaire, prodigieux
Review: Gold standard. Now more than 50 years old, this film offers a fascinating glimpse into the world of Parisian theater and art in the 19th century, an actress and her lovers. The black and white cinematography is transporting.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Truly Great Films of World Cinema
Review: CHILDREN OF PARADISE has a history almost as remarkable as the film itself. Production was just beginning when Paris fell to the Nazis; the work was subsequently filmed piecemeal over a period of several years, much of it during the height of World War II. And yet astonishingly, this elaborate portrait of 19th Century French theatre and the people who swirl through it shows little evidence of the obvious challenges faced by director Marcel Carne, his cast, and his production staff. CHILDREN OF PARADISE seems to have been created inside a blessed bubble of imagination, protected from outside forces by the sheer power of its own being. The story is at once simple and extremely complex. A mime named Baptiste (Jean-Louis Barrault) falls in love with a street woman known as Garance (Arletty)--and through a series of coincidences and his own love for her finds the inspiration to become one of the most beloved stage artists of his era. But when shyness causes him to avoid consumation of the romance, Baptiste loses Garance to her own circle of admirers--a circle that includes a vicious member of the Paris underworld (Marcel Herrand), rising young actor (Pierre Brasseur), and an egotistical and jealous aristocrat (Louis Salou.) With the passage of time, Garance recognizes that she loves Baptiste as deeply as he does her... but now they must choose between each other and the separate lives they have created for themselves. While the film is sometimes described as dreamy in tone, it would be more appropriately described as dreamy in tone but extremely earthy in content. Instead of giving us a glamorous portait of life in theatre, it presents 19th Century theatre as it actually was: dominated by noisy audiences perfectly capable of riot, the actors usually poor and hungry and mixing freely with criminal elements, the desperate struggle to rise above the chaos to create something magical on stage. And while the film is not sexually explicit by any stretch of the imagination, by 1940s standards CHILDREN OF PARADISE was amazingly frank in its portrayal of Garance's often casual liaisons; American cinema would not achieve anything similar for another twenty years. Everything about the film seems to swirl in a riot of people, costumes, and overlapping relationships, a sort of mad confusion of life lived in a very elemental manner. And the cast carries the director's vision to perfection. Jean-Louis Barrault is both a brilliant actor and brilliant mime, perfectly capturing the strange innocence his role requires; the famous Arletty offers a divine mixture of exhaustion, sensuality, and self-awareness that makes Garance and her fatal attraction uniquely believable. And these performances do not stand in isolation: there is not a false note in the entire cast, the roles of which cover virtually every level of society imaginable. With its complex story, vivid performances, and stunning set pieces, the film has a longer running time than one might expect, and some may feel it is slow; I myself, however, did not read it as slow so much as precise. It takes the time to allow the characters and their various stories to develop fully in the viewer's mind. I must also note that while a knowledge of theatre history isn't required to fall under the spell of this truly fascinating film, those who do have that background will find it particularly appealing. I regret to say that I have not seen the film on DVD, and I look forward to that. But the double-tape video release, while plagued with occasional blips and streaks, is still very nice; the sound quality is good; and the subtitles are very clear and easy to read and follow. But be it on DVD, video, or better still the big screen, this is truly a film that must be seen by any one that appreciates world cinema. CHILDREN OF PARADISE is one of the few films that can be viewed repeatedly, one of the truly great masterpieces of cinema. Strongly, strongly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Exquisite!
Review: This film, "Les Enfants du Paradis" is absolutely splendid and remarkable. The people, the places, the images, the words, the gestures are all verses in a monumental three-hour narrative poem. The characters are fantastic! Arletty as Garance is a sphinx, young and ancient, a creature of wisdom and whimsy. And Barrault is absolutely a beautiful actor, and an incredibly sympathetic character. Then again, all the actors are quite good. Aside from those mentioned, fantastic performances are given by Brasseur (Gene Wilder 25 years early, and speaking French), Herrand, Casares, Renoir, and, well, everyone. The closing shots are some of the most perfect in all of cinema!
Rating:
Summary: A great re-mastering of the best movie ever!
Review: I've been in love with this film for many years and still remember my accidental (and brief) 1979 meeting of Jean-Louis Barrault on the streets of New York City as one of the greatest thrills of my life. The classic has been beautifully repaired for this DVD. The film has been "cleaned" and the soundtrack cleared up. In addition, the new subtitles are more complete and far superior to those of years ago. As if this weren't enough to sell the package (frankly, I'd have bought the old, unimproved version if it were the only way I could get it), the "extras" are extra-ordinary! The full three hours of commentary is intriguing and detailed. There is a world of fascinating information about the making of the film under Nazi occupation; then there are the tales of the lives and careers of the cast and crew members. All add much of interest to the fascinating culture of this, the greatest movie of all time.
Rating:
Summary: A MASTERPIECE OF FRENCH CINEMA by CRITERION
Review: Children of Paradise (Les Enfants du Paradis) possibly stands as the best french film ever made. It's production took many years due to the German invasion of France. Yet despide all problems the film is a total triumph.
The film is divided in two parts: "The Boulevard of Crime" and "The Man in White". The story spans several years in the lives of Babtiste (Barrault) who loves Garence (Arletty) who seems to end up destroying the hearts of those who fall for her. To reveal more would be unthinkable and the film presents us many subplots with great characters.
The sets are beautiful and the theatre numbers are fantastic. This is one film that brings us the true magic of Cinema with great stories, powerful drama and unforgetable characters. No other film ever captured the nineteenth century Paris like this one. A true work of art and a great homage to the french theatre. It will make you cry. It will make you laugh.
CRITERION (as always) did a wonderful job digitally restoring many print demages that were in the film. The extras are very nice (specialy the section devoted to the art direction - one of this film's greatest assets).
The film is long (but not overlong) and the two parts are placed in separate discs. So are the extras. The image is great and camera work is not to be believed!
A film that deserves to be loved! buy it now!
Rating:
Summary: Poetry on screen (VHS Edition)
Review: I was only a girl when I saw 'Les enfants du paradis' for the first time. But this film would have a lasting impression on my consciousness. It is set in the theatre world of nineteenth century Paris and directed by Marcel Carne with a scenario by poet Jacques Prevert. And features such unforgettable actors as Arletty, Jean-Louis Barrault, Pierre Brasseur or Marcel Herrand. The tragic story revolves around the courtesan/actress Garance and the four men who desire/love her [a mime-artist, an actor, a criminal cum playwright and a count]. Of the four Garance herself only loves Baptiste, the mime-artist. Which is enough to cause several tragic events. With 'Les enfants du paradis' Carne and Prevert created poetry on screen. This film tackles diverse themes such as love, life, the theatre or art. The wistful mood which pervades this film is enhanced by Prevert's poetic texts. But the luminous center of 'Les enfants du paradis' is Arletty's superb performance as Garance. Elusive, wistful, independent and assured, she easily became my heroine and favourite character. Since Arletty's Garance dominates this film from the beginning to the end, she was simply born to play Garance. Another favourite character is that of the criminal/playwright Lacenaire. Lacenaire gifted with razor sharp intelligence and sarcasm has yet tender feelings for Garance which whom he enjoys a sparring friendship. Despite the tragic story 'Les enfants du paradis' is one of the true masterpieces of the French Cinema and this film will always be very dear to my heart!
Rating:
Summary: Timeless mimesis.
Review: A movie that was much-needed at the time and place -- France under the bloodsucking tyranny of Vichy. Though massively informed by the Occupation, *Children of Paradise* tells such a universal story that any concerns about its appeal being too narrow are very quickly put to rest. Indeed, the thing is so universal that it has become an almost stuffy "classic", to be shelved on your Harvard Classics bookshelf somewhere between the Complete Works by Shakespeare, *Les Miserable*, and *Gargantua and Pantagruel*. The result was probably by deliberate design: director Marce Carne and writer Jacques Prevert wanted, it seems, to make a very big movie in the traditional style of classic French cinema, perhaps as a sort of national affirmation during a terrible time. But just because this aim coincided with Nazi aims, none of which included anything that would be considered "avant-garde" or liberating or noncomformist (basically, anything the Nazis, Hitler most especially, were too blockheaded to "get"), doesn't mean *Children of Paradise* is now a musty curio for us. Looking at it now, one can only conclude that the Nazis were even stupider than we thought: any idiot who knows the context of the making of the film can see what the moviemakers are up to here. In any case, the traditional style of the movie has its benefits, particularly the rapier-sharp dialogue and the larger-than-life performances. The setting is as full as any fat novel: Paris, pre-Belle Epoque, with all its denizens . . . from the local ragman-seer to the prostitute to the dandy assassin to the out-of-work actors and mimes to the lugubrious nobility. While the movie is essentially about French cultural traditions, specifically French theatrical traditions, it's also about 4 very different men, each of them so wholly characterized as to be much more than mere "archetypes", who are in love with a beautiful prostitute-turned-count's-mistress with the magnificent name of "Garance". Ultimately it's these characterizations that make *Children of Paradise* still worth watching today. Garance's sublime loneliness is tragically necessary because not one of the 4 men in the story are worthy of her. While it can arguably seem silly that all these men spend all their time mooning and swooning over a middle-aged matron (Arletty, the actress, was pushing 50), there's just no way that an ingenue of 22 could've cut the mustard that the part requires . . . and it definitely requires someone who's been around the block. I think that the triumph of the film is the character of the scribe / dandy / murderous thief Lacenaire, played with relish by Marcel Herrand. What started out perhaps as an Iago-type villain (*Children of Paradise* is deeply infected by Shakespeare's *Othello*) becomes a joyously poisonous anti-hero worthy of comparison with the Bard's best creations. His lack of sensuality, his frilly shirts, his curly bangs, his deadly intelligence, his sense of humor, his cultivation, and especially his ruthlessness, make him not just the French Resistance ideal, but one of the most original characters ever seen on screen. The last thing I'll add is that the movie's much discussed length, unlike my movie review, is justified. Any cuts would be disastrous. I don't know if *Children of Paradise* is really the best French film ever made, as some claim . . . such things are a matter of taste, after all. But it's certainly the most EMINENT French film ever made.
Rating: 
Summary: from buffoonery to opera buffa to drama
Review: thickly-brushed characters yet meshed poetically by a libretto-like story except for a modern (open) end and the ever french-wit dialogues. rising tension while poetry and buffonery alternate so that, overall, the 3 hour long movie just flows. superior presentation on dvd--sound, image, commentaries.
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