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La Bte Humaine (film)
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Wikipedia article
'La Bte Humaine' (English: 'The Human Beast' and 'Judas Was a Woman') is a 1938 French film directed by Jean Renoir, with cinematography by Curt Courant. The picture features Jean Gabin and Simone Simon, and is loosely based on the 1890 novel 'La Bte humaine' by mile Zola..
'La Bte Humaine' is partially set "on a train that may be thought of as one of the main characters in the film."Bogdonovitch, Peter. Interview on special features of the Criterion Collection imprint. Although generally listed as a romantic drama, it is sometimes considered a precursor to the film noir genre.
Plot
The film opens with a quote from Zola's novel, one of his "Rougon-Macquart" series, emphasizing a character's fate as tied to the hereditary alcoholism that runs through his family's generations. The film itself, however, represents only a portion of the novel and veers from Zola's overriding theme of naturalistic fatalism.
Lantier (Jean Gabin) is a railway 'mecanicien' (locomotive driver/engineer) obsessively tied to his train, in part because his work distracts him from recurring headaches and violent rages that happen when he is with a woman and become worse when he drinks. During a stop for repairs in Le Havre, Lantier goes to his aunt's nearby village where he meets Flore (Blanchette Brunoy), a former girlfriend. The two walk and sit by the railroad tracks, but as they embrace, his hands tighten on her neck, and he is stopped from strangling her only by the sudden roar of a passing train.
Later, in Lantier's train while on a run from Paris to Le Havre, the deputy stationmaster Roubaud (Fernand Ledoux) confronts Grandmorin (Jacques Berlioz), the wealthy godfather of Sverine (Simone Simon), Roubaud's wife. Roubaud kills the man, who had been having an affair with Sverine. When the murder is discovered, Lantier knows enough to convict Roubaud if he goes to the police, but Sverine, with Roubaud's encouragement, persuades him not to tell the police what he saw, and the murder is pinned on another man (played by Renoir himself).
Sverine and Roubaud are both haunted by the murder in different ways, and Sverine turns to Lantier for comfort. Meeting in secret during a rainstorm, their passion is suggested by an overflowing rain barrel as they begin an affair. While Roubaud has lapsed into depression following the murder, Sverine tells Lantier that her husband will eventually kill her and suggests that Lantier strike first.
Lantier is unable to carry out an attack on Roubaud, but when Sverine at her home tells him that she will leave him, he agrees to try again. Just then, the couple hear a noise and think that Roubaud is approaching. Lantier has one of his seizures and kills Sverine. Returning to his train for another run to Paris, he confesses to his 'chauffeur' (fireman/stoker), Pecqeaux (Julien Carette) but then attacks him, finally leaping from the moving train to his death. After stopping the engine, Pecqeaux remarks Lantier now looks more peaceful than he had for a long time.
Cast
* Jean Gabin as Jacques Lantier
* Simone Simon as Sverine Roubaud
* Fernand Ledoux as Roubaud (as Ledoux Socitaire de la Comdie Franaise)
* Blanchette Brunoy as Flore
* Grard Landry as Le fils Dauvergne
* Jenny Hlia as Philomne Sauvagnat
* Colette Rgis as Victoire Pecqueux
* Claire Grard as Une voyageuse
* Charlotte Clasis as Tante Phasie, la marraine de Lantier
* Jacques Berlioz as Grandmorin
* Tony Corteggiani as Dabadie, le chef de section
* Andr Tavernier as Le juge d'instruction Denizet
* Marcel Prs as Un lampiste
* Jean Renoir as Cabuche
* Julien Carette as Pecqueux
Production
Jean Gabin wanted to star in a film about locomotives and wrote a screenplay called 'Train d'Enfer', that was originally to be directed by Jean Grmillon.Durgnat, R., 'Jean Reinoir' (1974), p. 172. Dissatisfied with the script, Grmillon suggested an adaptation of 'La Bte humaine'. After his success starring in Renoir's 'Grand Illusion' (1937), Gabin preferred to work with Jean Renoir again, and hired him instead of Grmillon. Renoir eventually wrote the script over a period of eight to fifteen days. (Renoir said it took him twelve days in the introduction to the movie). After its completion, Renoir read the screenplay to Gabin's producer Robert Hakim, who asked for "trifling modifications".
Renoir confessed that at the time when he wrote the screenplay, he had not read Zola's novel in over 25 years: "While I was shooting, I kept modifying the scenario, bringing it closer to Zola ... the dialogue which I gave Simone Simon is almost entirely copied from Zola's text. Since I was working at top speed, I'd re-read a few pages of Zola every night, to make sure I wasn't overlooking anything."
Filming commenced on August 12, 1938, with exteriors on the Gare Saint-Lazare and at Le Havre. Due to running time restrictions, Renoir had to omit several celebrated occurrences from the novel.Durgnat, R., 'Jean Renoir' (1974), p. 174.
Reception
Critical response
Frank S. Nugent, film critic for 'The New York Times,' gave the film a positive review even though he felt uncomfortable watching the film, writing:Accolades
'Nominations'* Venice Film Festival: Mussolini Cup, Best Film, Jean Renoir; 1939.
References
Further reading
* Tibbetts, John C., and James M. Welsh, eds. 'The Encyclopedia of Novels Into Film' (2nd ed. 2005) pp 3031.
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