Voleur!

The other night my sister and I ended up having an unplanned French Criterion movie night. We ate delicious salads, nostalgic KD (which we have officially retired) and Baileys lattes (mine was quite heavy on the creamy beige). We started off with Gervaise which I brought over because I'd had it for a year and hadn't gotten around to watching it yet. This was followed by a quick episode of The Golden Girls (Jackie insisted and it was quite funny) and then we watched her copy of Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast. It was a lovely escape into black and white french splendor that has left me wanting more and constantly humming Charles Trenet.

René Clement's 1956 screen adaptation of Emile Zola's L'Assommoir (The Dream Shop) is a harrowing and somewhat excruciating tale of working-class Parisians in the mid-19th century. It stars Austrian actress Maria Schell as Gervaise Macquart, a young lame laundress who's dreams are slowly crushed by her alcoholic husband.

The film begins with Gervaise being left by her lover Auguste Lantier, leaving her with two young boys and the embarrassment of everyone else being privy to his cheating, long before her. This leads to quite the cat fight when Gervaise is confronted by the other woman's sister, Virginie, at work and before you know it, there's hair being pulled, buckets of soapy water being thrown and behinds being spanked! Unfortunately for Gervaise, this incident has long-term ramifications for her. 


Gervaise eventually moves on and marries affable roofer Monsieur Coupeau (Francois Perier). They have a daughter together, Nana, and living happily together, Gervaise thinks about opening her own laundry. Sadly, her dreams are set aside when Coupeau has a roofing accident, injuring himself quite severely and preventing him from working. It takes all of their money for Gervaise to care for him and it looks like she'll never get her shop until Coupeau's good friend Goujet (Jacques Harden), the tender and dignified bearded blacksmith, loans Gervaise the money.

They live happily for some time and just when it looks like things are finally working out for Gervaise, Virginie returns with a plan to destroy her. Coupeau begins his spiraling descent into acoholism, Gervaise struggles with a love for Goujet and Lantier returns to turn her life upside down. Coupeau befriends Lantier and invites him to live with them and we watch as Gervaise's life and dreams are destroyed by the men she tried to love. It isn't a happy ending as Gervaise herself turns to alcoholism and little Nana runs around with all the little boys, foreshadowing a similar future full of men and peril for the little girl.



It's very tragic and perilous to watch, although from what I've read, L'Assommoir is even more savage and tragic. What I appreciated about this film was how Clement kept it from turning into a weepy melodrama. It was so artfully put together and he was able to communicate basic human feelings that evoke a genuine emotional response without the need for contrived sentimentality. He utilizes devices like overly cheerful music during moments of crisis that direct us to feel Gervaise's brief moment of happiness so that when the blow comes, we have a deeper feeling and understanding for her pain.

The film also offers gorgeous sets that effectively reproduce working-class areas of Second Empire Paris and compliment the tremendous acting. It's no surprise that Maria Schell received the Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival for her gripping portrayal of Gervaise. When you watch her you can't help but form a strong emotional attachment to her character and feel every blow as she takes it. The character of Gervaise symbolizes the working-class woman of the mid-19th century, a strong and determined heroine trying to create a better life for herself and hold her family together, whilst still dependent on men, who do nothing but hinder her and show contempt. Francois Perier's convincing performance as an alcoholic, showing the erosion of a man's confidence and hope, really emphasizes Gervaise's despair and fills you with such disgust and disdain for his character that you find yourself just waiting for him to finally do himself in.

Clement so beautifully depicted humour, affection and loveliness, as well as despair, squalor and cruelty in a perfect blend that completes the irony of the film. It's a harrowing and deeply moving look at life in the slums that is truly affecting and a must-see for film lovers.