Les Miracles n'ont lieu qu'une fois (1951)
Directed by Yves Allégret

Film Review

No sooner had he completed a cycle of film noir masterpieces that are distinguished as much by their pessimism and by their artistry - Dédée d'Anvers (1948), Une si jolie petite plage (1949) and Manèges (1950) - Yves Allégret began his rapid descent to mediocrity with what looks like a pretty uninspired reworking of Abel Gance's Paradis perdu (1940).  Les Miracles n'ont lieu qu'une fois suffers from two fundamental flaws - a hideously out-dated plot (which belongs to a 1930s melodrama) and an excruciating surfeit of Jean Marais (which is exacerbated by the fact that the actor appears in practically every scene and supplies a constant running voiceover commentary).  In fact, it's incredible that the film holds up as well as it does - the presence of alluring Italian diva Alida Valli may have something to do with that.

The film neatly divides into three sections.  The first, depicting a passionate love affair between Marais and Valli (both clearly too old to be convincing as young lovers), is marred by a lack of restraint on both the directing and writing fronts which makes what appears on screen appear painfully artificial.  Days of unbridled joy are not really Allégret's forte and it's a relief when the forced happiness is snatched away and the director's more habitual mortuary-scented gloom takes its place.  There then follows a tedious middle section detailing Marais's dubious wartime exploits, at the end of which the spectator has absolutely no sympathy whatsoever for the main character.  (One minute he agrees to marry a woman he clearly has no feelings for, the next he's saying 'adios' after a quick divorce.)   By the time we get to the third, and by far the best, section of the film, Marais fatigue has taken its toll and you're just longing for the merciful release that the word 'Fin' will bring.

The first two-thirds of the film is mostly superfluous and the film could only have been improved if this had been cut back by at least a half, allowing the third and most interesting act to be expanded. The influence of the Italian neo-realists Roberto Rossellini and Vittorio De Sica is felt throughout the film but only seems justified in its final third, which, in its account of two former lovers trying and failing to rekindle an erstwhile romance, has an emotional realism which the rest of the film patently lacks.  Marais's performance is also at its best here, touchingly introspective and believable, not the forced exuberance which soon becomes wearisome in the first part of the film.  After Marais has shown he is so obviously ill-suited for his style of cinema, it seems perverse that Allégret would give him the lead role in his next film, the period drama Nez de cuir (1952) - another step down into the abyss.

Film Synopsis

Late one evening in a Parisian bar, Jérôme rakes over his memories and begins to tell his sad life story to the attentive bar owner.  It begins in 1939, when Jérôme, 22, has just completed the second year of his studies in medicine.  He has his whole life before him and he is ready to take a vacation.  He thinks only of Claudia, an Italian girl and fellow student, but so far he has never had the courage to speak to her.  This bright sunny day Jérôme decides to pay her a call at the small hotel where she is staying.  For the young man, the realisation that Claudia loves him is a miracle, the kind that only ever happens once in a lifetime.  When Claudia says she must return to her home village in Tuscany, Jérôme follows her there and the two spend an idyllic summer together.  Neither of them believes that anything could ruin their future happiness together.  This was before a voice came onto the radio to announce that war had just been declared...