Summary
One evening, a baron gambles away the last of his fortune at the card table. Returning
home, he is surprised by a young burglar, Pepel, whom he befriends. When the baron
loses his house to his creditors, he moves into the home for the poor where Pepel is staying.
The home is run by Kostilev, a receiver of stolen goods. Pepel has been having an
affair with his landlord’s wife, Vassilissa, but he is really in love with her sister
Natacha. Jealous, Vassilissa contrives to marry off Natacha to a corrupt police
inspector...
Review
In its time, Les Bas-fonds was something of a groundbreaking film, offering an
honest and humanist portrait of those at the lowest end of the social spectrum – crooks,
gamblers, prostitutes and drunks. The film coincided with the Popular Front taking
power in France, a time of great optimism and solidarity among the working classes.
This all-too-brief period of bonhomie before the economic and political crises of the
late 1930s (culminating in World War II) left its impact on a number of French films (most
notably Julien Duvivier’s La
Belle équipe). Les Bas-fonds would certainly have been a very
different film if it had been made at a different time.
Although overshadowed by Renoir’s subsequent masterpieces (La
Grande Illusion was made straight after this film), Les Bas-fonds is an
impressive work, which, through its very evident humanity, remains a surprisingly modern
film. Its wry comic touches have an ironic edge to them, a suggestion perhaps that
Renoir might have preferred this to be a much darker work, in the vein of the poetic realists.
This is also hinted at by the location filming which uses an almost neo-realist style
to convey the grim reality of poverty. Noticeable also in this film is Renoir’s
admiration for his two heroes of the silent era, Eric Von Stroheim and Chaplin.
In the final scene of the film he pays homage to Chaplin with a direct reference to his
Modern Times.
The film’s greatest selling point is its cast. The Gabin-Jouvet pairing is a masterstroke,
with both actors providing fine performances that are charged with conviction and humanity.
Despite their different backgrounds and approaches to their art, the two actors complement
each other perfectly, the down-trodden and passionate proletarian played by Gabin making
a poignant contrast with Jouvet’s ruined but nonchalant aristocrat. The scene where
the two characters meet and, realising the absurdity of the barriers which separate them,
become friends is one of the enduring moments of the film, and is certainly in keeping
with the ethos of the Popular Front. The large supporting cast give the film its
richness and colour, with notable performances from Suzy Prim, Robert Le Vigan and Junie
Astor.
Les Bas-fonds was based on a successful play by the celebrated Russian writer
Maxim Gorki. Renoir was persuaded to make the film when it was suggested that Jean
Gabin and Louis Jouvet would fill the leading roles. However, before agreeing to
take on the project, Renoir insisted that the film be set in France (not Russia), and
that some drastic changes be made to the plot. The most significant change was the
ending; the tragic denouement in Gorki’s play was replaced with a happier ending, in keeping
with the mood of the time. Renoir was obliged to write to Gorki to receive permission
for these alterations to the story, which was duly given (although Gorki died a few months
before the film was released).
At a later stage, under pressure from the Communist Party (for which Renoir had great
sympathies), the director was coerced into reinstating some of the Russian elements of
the play - but in a half-hearted way. The characters were re-christened with Russian
names, "franc" became "kopeck", a few samovars were thrown in, but the setting remained
recognisably France of the mid-1930s. It is possible that it was this awkward mélange
of French and Russian which prevented the film from being the popular success its producers
had been expecting. The film was well-received by the critics, however, and was
awarded the first Prix Louis Delluc in 1937.
© James Travers 2002
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