Dir: Jean Vigo | France Drama 89’ 1934
Jean Vigo’s cinematic swansong has a tragic history behind its tender love story. L’Atalante the French director’s only feature was a ravishing romantic vision but not a box office success.
Filming was hampered by Vigo suffering from TB from which he died shortly afterwards, at only 29: Yet the film is a prime example of how a slim budget and short running time need not hamper the creation of a legendary gem.
Dita Parlo is Juliette, a modest girl who marries Jean (Jean Dasté, captain of L’Atalante, a shabby barge that sails up and down the canals of rural France. Essentially a three-hander, the film centres on Juliette’s desire to see the world and her onboard romance with Jean which is continually blown of course by his rumbustious first mate Pere Jules (Michel Simon).
Meanwhile the melodrama’s significance is far greater than the simple narrative. As his life was slipping away Vigo infused his film with texture, resonance and surprising eroticism. Along with the film’s surreal visual wizardry are moments of brutal truth that jostle with the playful spontaneity and ecstatic love story. L’Atalante is often flawed but always memorable. @Meredith Taylor.
A 4K restoration of Jean Vigo’s masterpiece L’ATALANTE is re-released in cinemas ahead of JEAN VIGO | A CURZON COLLECTION home ent release commemorating the 120th anniversary of the filmmaker’s birth