Rating: 
Summary: A Valentine to the Theatre
Review: In 1940's France, a country occupied by enemy troops, the atmosphere is tense with threats and resistance. That a sparkling work of art could have thrived in such a morass is as incredible as the idea of champagne being cultivated in a swamp. Yet it was in this atmosphere that the director Marcel Carné, the screenwriter Jacques Prévert. their cast and crew created "Les Enfants du Paradis", the film that goes back to the first half of the 19th Century and the colorful world of pre-Belle Epoque Paris. It is one of the best-directed, best-acted movies ever made; but more, it is a paean to the stage and its many fascinations. All types of entertainment are here, from the fraudalent peep show (the "dressed in nothing but her" beauty is submerged in a tub), through an abbreviated "Othello" (the curtin comes down as Desdemona is being dispatched), to a passing reference to bear-baiting, and culminating in Carnaval. The center of the story is the Fanambules, one of the most popular theatres of the period, where aristocracy may sit in the "baignoires" but the actors play to the top balconies -- the "gods" who make up the most enthusiastic portion of the audience. The intriguing Arletty was well into her forties (d'un certain âge) when she took on the role of Garance, the flower of the Boulevard du Temple (nicknamed the Boulevard du Crime due to its many murders), which was evidently the 42nd Street of 19th Century Paris. The men in her life include Baptiste Dubureau, a celebrated mime (Jean-Louis Barrault), Frédérick le Maître, an actor of melodrama who longs for Shakespeare (great performance by Pierre Brasseur), and Pierre François Lacenaire, a master criminal (Marcel Herrand). All these men are based on people who really lived. Because the cast is predominantly masculine, Arletty stands out in bright relief. The only other important female is Nathalie, Baptiste's sweet, long-suffering wife, played by Maria Casarès, who later portrayed the ultimate femme fatale in Cocteau's "Orfée". Due to production restrictions imposed by the Vichy government, the picture had to be filmed as two separate features. The second half takes place several years after the events of the first half. (The time scheme is a little vague.) Many of the characters have not seen each other for all that time; would they really have been able to pick up the broken threads of their relationships and start over again? But, contrived though it may seem, it gives a rich aura to the second half, which if anything is even more romantic than the beginning. Garance has become the mistress of a wealthy count (Louis Salou), though Baptiste is still her true love. Meanwhile both Frédédrick and Lacenaire have made their own unpleasant acquaintances with the count. All this leads to one of the great climaxes in cinema, the boulevard teeming with Carnaval while the various characters head for uncertain destinies. (With the exception of the count: his destiny has been firmly settled.) The film begs for color à la "Rouge et Noir" but once again, I assume, production costs made this impossible. (And today's colorization {mon dieu!} is out of the question.) However, this does not detract from the film's overall effect, which is one of sweeping imagination. "Les Enfants du Paradis" is a great romance, but it's more than just a love story. It's a Valentine to the world of the Theatre.
Rating:
Summary: WARNING: It's about a mime!
Review: It's interesting how distilling a film's description to its essential description can make it sound appalling: Children of Paradise is a 3.25 hour black & white French melodrama prominently featuring a mime. Did I mention that it was French?I say these things, because it is all well and good to say this is a masterpiece, but some people will be inherently repelled by its form. Nevertheless, those that can move past the fact that the mime in question is pictured twice on the cover of the video, and thus actually place the tape in their VCR, are in for a treat. Children of Paradise is a nice juicy epic, with an amazing recreation of the mid-Nineteenth century Paris theatre district. The plot revolves around Garance, a woman surrounded by men who are drawn to her, including yes, the mime, a mockery of a performer, until he is inspired by her beauty. Other men, dastardly, flamboyant, rich, all vie for her heart, but it is the mime whose heart is true. O! Unrequited love! More mimery ensues, but the mime does have the decency to take his makeup off for some of his more complex scenes with Garance. The film neatly divides into two acts, but the consequences of a few words and gestures in the first act are devastating to the viewer when the second act rolls around. I wholeheartedly recommend this film to lovers of classic films, and, of course, to any prospective mimes.
Rating: 
Summary: Glimpse of This Lost, Fantastic Era
Review: Film Review by Jim Richardson
First published in "Der Stump" 7/16/75 GREATEST FILM EVER MADE The greatest film ever made is director Marcel Carne's "The Children of Paradise" with script by Jacques Prevert. It's hard to say more. But I will.
:-) In Paris of the 1840's on Le Boulevard du Crime, Carne's camera soars through sideshow entertainments of every description. The motion picture has just begun. No characters introduced. Already the audience is gasping, dizzy, lost in a swirl of romantic imagery. We are inside a theatre sharing the cheapest seats in the last row of the top balcony near the ceiling with the "children of paradise." We forget ourselves and any notion that a film has to be "realistic" as we float along catching Carne's glimpse of this lost, fantastic era. The movie moves. It overflows with art and intelligence; we are totally under its spell of romance and beauty. As the story unfolds, we watch it in a daze. There is suffering and sudden death. But no leaden hand is telling us this is a stylized allegory dealing with the paralysis of an occupied France. This is the kind of film people make when they may die tomorrow: we are compelled to receive it on the edge of our seat, every nerve tingling with desperate anticipation. We don't need to know that it was made between 1943-45 when some of the filmmakers were being hunted by the Gestapo, that starving extras stole banquets before they could be photographed. Every movement the performers make is studied, made perfect as though this would be the last time any of them were to act. Garbo interests you? Meet Arletty. The ideal twentieth century woman. Witty. Controlled. Passionate. When she comes to her lover she glides toward the camera, walking without the use of her feet. Impossible? Not this time. Jean-Louis Barrault playing Baptiste Debureau, the greatest French mime who created Pierrot (a pale, love-sick, ever-hopeful seeker after happiness) -- Barrault transcends the man's legend with elegant pathos. And the way he moves. Like a feather. How did he learn that? The man who taught him plays his father in the film. As a matter of fact, Etienne Decroux taught Marcel Marceau as well. What does Decroux think of Marceau's popular mime? Snarls, "Walt Disney!" Mime is serious to Decroux. At some of his performances if the audience interrupts with applause, he is insulted and immediately retires from the stage! In the film, we see Barrault do many of Decroux's mime exercises during moments of Debureau's performances. Does Decroux think this is a good film? It is said that when he views it, tears run down his cheeks as he mouths all the lines. But the film is not just about mime. Pierre Brasseur plays the most renowned romantic actor in France, Frederick LeMaitre. Decroux doesn't want him in his mime company at first because it's so obvious that "he's an actor." Frederick gets his break when he mocks a playwright by turning the man's melodrama into a farce. Years pass and both actor and mime become successful. But the actor cannot play "Othello" because he is so vain nothing can make him feel jealousy. That's right: Arletty cures him! And there are aristocrats, and murderers, and thieves. And the film is over three hours long without a break. And you will be surprised how fast those three hours disappear! You will be overcome with a feeling of ecstasy; you will sigh, you will cry. And as your breath is taken away you will be left with so much you never knew before, that you always thought existed; something will have happened to you for the first time, and forever. Now is the time to fall in love with the best there is!
Rating:
Summary: The French "Gone With the Wind"
Review: This movie has to have one of the most complicated plots I've ever heard of, but once you've gotten everyone straight boy, is it worth it! Garance, an actress with a bit of a checkered past, is loved by four men - another actor who she's sleeping with but loves more like a brother than a paramour, a psychotic murderer who's obsessed with proving that there's no such thing as a "good" person, a sugar daddy who she's just with for the money and protection and Baptiste, a mime who's the love of her life. Garance and Baptiste separate after she gets in a bit of trouble, and Baptiste marries a friend who adores him but who he doesn't really love back. Then Garance comes back to town and fate brings them together once again... but for how long? The movie covers all the characters fully, making Baptiste and Garance sympathetic while not skirting over what they're doing to his wife in the process. Barrault's mime scenes, especially his first, are amazing; and the supporting cast is wonderful - especially Pierre Brasseur as Frederick, Garance's actor - a charming lady's man with a heart of gold who doesn't quite know how to handle being jealous for the first time, who manages to maintain a friendship with Baptiste in spite of his feelings for Garance, and who's essentially innocent enough that he never realizes that he barely misses being killed by Garance's murderer friend.
Rating:
Summary: The Eternal Pentagon
Review: Once upon a time, in a world far different from ours, everyone could afford to attend the theater and opera. In that far different world, there were two kinds of theater and opera patrons. First, there were the wealthy who often attended the theater to "see and be seen" and then there were the poor who attended to enjoy every aspect of the spectacle. People in this latter category were the "regulars" who pushed and jostled to claim their cheap upper balcony seats, and it was they, through their boisterous cheers and jeers, who made or broke a theatrical offering. These denizens of the upper balconies are "the children of paradise" of this title. In mid nineteenth century France, the term, as used by members of the theatre company, was generally a term of affection. In the present movie, the term serves to set the scene. CHILDREN OF PARADISE (LES ENFANTS DU PARADIS in French) has as its focal point, Garance, a femme fatale, who is loved by four men who each love her in a different way. First there is Duberau, a mime-actor who idolizes Garance and loves her in an almost sacred manner. Second there is Lemaitre, a stage tragedian who loves Garance in a carnal way. Third there is Lacenaire, a failed playwright and gangster who loves Garance, as much as he is able, as a skeptical friend. Fourth there is Count de Mournay who loves Garance in a possessive way, but agonizes over the fact that his love is not returned. If one can call a love relationship involving three people the eternal triangle, I suppose that you could call this the eternal pentagon. The five characters weave in and out of one another's lives, always within the the framework of the world of mid-nineteenth century Paris show business. The fact that this movie was filmed under the supervision of the Gestapo censors in World War II France, with some scenes being shot secretly, and with some of the actors being hunted by the Gestapo, makes its escapist theme all the more surprising. One scene, early in the movie, stands out in my memory. It is the mime scene where Dubreau, played by Jean-Louis Barrault, gives the police a description of a street theft, all in mime. Because of this silent testimony, the police release Garance, who had been their primary suspect. I enjoyed this film and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to any thoughtful movie-goer. It is not, however, going to appeal to the type of movie-goer who needs an explosion a minute to keep his attention and interest.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent Mime
Review: When I went to Acting School at NYU, the Movement teacher assigned this movie as a study in gestures and wordless expression. I was and still am completely spellbound by Barrault's mime. And I am NOT a fan of mimes. But his skill and his bare emotions win anyone over. And that is just the tip of the wonderful iceburg called "Children of Paradise". A love story, many broken hearts, oh- the humanity! but truly and sincerely, you feel for each of the complex and multi-dimensional characters. No small parts here for there are no small actors. This movie is a must for young and old, male and female - anyone with a heart.
Rating:
Summary: Best Film Ever Made
Review: Children of Paradise is, quite simply, the best film ever made. It's one of those strange, lyrical movies that must be seen at exactly the right time in life, or its true meaning is elusive. The story works on many levels -- what IS this about? Paris? Life? The Theater? Thumbing one's nose at the Nazis? Thumbing one's nose at Arletty? Yes. But mostly, it's about the timelessness of Love and all it entails. It's about pain and retreating into -- and out of -- dreams. Children of Paradise is about watching life unfold from the safety of the "paradise" -- the peanut gallery, the balcony, the cheap seats. In English, the language of this film is haunting; in French, it's sublime perfection. I saw this film for the first time in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I was 19. I was also recovering from a devestating head-injury which robbed me of my ability to speak French. For the first part of Children of Paradise, I struggled with subtitles. Then something magical happened: I understood. "I dreamed. I hoped. I waited." Universal. Children of Paradise is not for everyone. It's a film of the heart -- raw and powerful. On the surface, the imagery is nothing special -- but combined with the meaning of Prévert's words, it's a force to be reckoned with. This film is nothing short of a masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Film Ever
Review: This film is absolutely worth buying and watching repeatedly. Every time I watch it, I notice something new. The leitmotiv of the ragman and the poetry of his words intrigues me. I studied French theatre and French film and found so much of interest in this film.
Rating:
Summary: The seed of acting that later became the tree of life
Review: This film page prpbably attracts many pupils of Barrault and Etienne Decroux, who plays Baptist's father in the film. I studied with Decroux 1980-82 and wish to hear from anyone who has similar experiences.
Rating:
Summary: A look at life
Review: As a child I saw "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" on PBS and at that point realized that film can be powerful and true art....then there is the standard American "forget it as soon as you leave the theater" movie. Children of Paradise ranks right there with movies such as Citizen Kane. I first saw "Les Enfants" in a large screen theater when I was 14. I was amazed by the film and understood many levels of the first half of the film. I saw the film again in a theater when I was about 20 and understood the lessons of life found in the second half of the film. Although not always possible, if you have not seen the film yet you should see it on the big screen rather than on your home television screen. I searched for years to obtain a video copy and found that the legal ownership rights for video had yet to be determined but I could rent a 16mm version of the film. Only in say the last 7-8 years has it been available in video. There are a couple publications of the script which can be very insightful if you don't speak French. In the 16mm film version some of the scenes are overexposed and the white subtitles become impossible to read. After all these years, it still is my favorite film. It deals with personalities, philisophies, and of course love and love lost. You may find yourself relating to these French folk! ;)
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