Dans la nuit (1929) - film review

A short time after his marriage, a quarry worker is injured in a rock blast.  His face scarred beyond recognition, he must wear a metal face mask and work night shifts.  Whilst he is away at work, his wife takes a lover…

One of the very last silent French films to be made, Dans la nuit is captivating tale of love and betrayal with the feel of a Zola novel (and some obvious references to the Phantom of the Opera).  The lightness of the early scenes depicting the wedding and blissful first days of married life provides a distrubing contrast with the blackness of the later scenes, which are loaded with pathos, drama and suspense.

The film is marred slightly by a false ending which was probably added as an after-thought to placate the censors and the paying public.  This unexpected denouement visibly jars with the film’s preceding scenes of explicit infidelity and physical violence – shocking realism which was years ahead of its time.

This was the first of two films to be made by Charles Vanel (the other being the 1935 film Le Coup de Minuit).  Vanel is better known as an actor, playing supporting roles in such classics as La Belle équipe (1936) and Le Salaire de la peur (1934).  His acting career spanned a remarkable seventy years, involving appearances in around 200 films.

© James Travers 2001

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