Jean Grémillon

[HerrSchreck]

Huh.. didn't know that.. and of course Pattes Blanche was an Interama vhs from some english region, at least. I was talking strictly DVD.

Actually, after some futzing around, I think you're referring to the French vhs. I can't find reference to a US vhs of this film.

[Knappen]

Yeah, come to think of it I was thinking of a thing recorded from Australian television in the 80's.

[HerrSchreck]

Furthers errors will be dealt with severely, but can be atoned for via unearthing more rare Gremillon.

[Knappen]

[HerrSchreck]

First I 'd.

and then housecleaning 'd.

[Zazou dans le Metro]

First I 'd.

and then I 'd.

Hey Schrecko..You been taking lessons from Fabrice Luchini?

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_3D9xXjqgVs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(I tried to find the example in Intimate Strangers that's even better but this will do as a primer)

[HerrSchreck]

See that? You embarassed my smiley guy away by associating him with French Comedy, which is never funny (I think there's actually something in the civil code-- Tati was given a rare permit). Now all that remains is someone vaccuuming up the cigaret ashes and confetti from the party..

[Zazou dans le Metro]

See that? You embarassed my smiley guy away by associating him with French Comedy, which is never funny (I think there's actually something in the civil code-- Tati was given a rare permit). Now all that remains is someone vaccuuming up the cigaret ashes and confetti from the party..

Well rather than jump to the defence of french comedy (I'm no Clarence Darrow ) I was thinking along the lines of 'excruciating' rather than 'funny'.

[GringoTex]

You guys have hyped Gremillon so much, I better not be disappointed.

[Knappen]

Bah. We'll start badmouthing him when he becomes available to the masses and start up a French Comedy thread instead.

[HerrSchreck]

It's time to start praising Amelie effusively.

[Tommaso]

You will begin to love Amelie once you've seen Fanfan....

[HerrSchreck]

I can think of more pleasurable forms of self abuse.

[Knappen]

To get back to business:

The Cinémathèque francaise are showing Maldone february 21st and their program is advertising a 102 minutes print. This is 20 minutes more than the Arte rip that I, and probably a lot of you out there, have in my collection. One should never take such information too seriously (hello IMDb!), but I'm anxious to see if there is more material saved from the original three hour version that was cut before commersial screenings of the film. (Unfortunately the can I "found" on the previous page of this thread only contained confined duck)

[HerrSchreck]

Keep us posted and well-stocked.

[Knappen]

I'll send some duck for christmas.

[Michael]

There are movies that I can get through just fine without needing to know the language. How much French language is essential in following Gueule d'Amour? My French is very slight and would I be able to follow the film without English subs?

[HerrSchreck]

Yes. Absolutely-- and if you need help pm me or david.

[Knappen]

Or simply mail directly herrschreck@frenchgrammarassistance.fr

[Knappen]

Unexpected Grém paraphernalia has suddenly surfaced right here on the Internet. This has been brought to my attention by our old friend Kinsayder who is still very much alive and collecting movies.

Most of us think of Grémillon as the perfect example of a “cineaste maudit”: He burned out having spent most of his creative force on projects that were abandoned or butchered to such a degree that he had his name removed from the final product.

The worst period certainly seem to have been the years following WW2, although he had had a big hit with Le Ciel est à vous in 1944 and received much critical acclaim for the documentary Six juin à l’aube about the bombing of Normandy by the allies. This film, of which I have only seen a couple of scenes, marked a new direction in Grémillon’s career: He now wanted to make films about events that had marked history and he wasn’t going to hide his leftist sympathies when choosing his subjects.

The pet project from the start was a three-part film on the Commune of 1871, for which he did a considerable amount of work on research. When the Commune project was stopped during the work on the scenario, Grémillon and Charles Spaak started right away on a new three-part idea, called Le Massacre des Innocents. It was to be an historical fresco about Spain of 1936, Paris/Munich of 1938 and France of 1944-45. The duo didn’t get very far with this project either. Another film Grémillon wanted to make was to be about a group of Italian actors that arrive in Paris at the night of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, called Comedia dell’arte.

It seems that our man hadn’t really given up hope in getting these projects alive, but anyway they were all put aside when he was proposed a big budget project by the Ministry of National Education by the end of 1947. This was to be Le Printemps de la liberté, a grand film celebrating the century of the 1848 revolution. To make a long story short, Grémillon spent an enormous lot of work on preparations, got everything in place and presented his work to a group from the Ministry who was quite positive. Some days later he read in the newspaper that a certain project on the 1848 revolution was to be replaced by something celebrating the death of Chateaubriand the same year.

BUT: to save what could be saved Grémillon made a radio version of his screenplay featuring the actors that he had cast for his film. This version of Le Printemps de la liberté, which was originally broadcast in the summer of 1848, is now available for download here. The price is 6 €, which is a tad stiff considering the poor work INA has done transferring this mostly voice-only recording. But it is a very welcome offer for anyone interested in Grémillon, as he directed the version himself and also has the role of he narrator. The names of the people involved will be familiar to those of you who know his films from the 40s and 50s.

Reading a bit about the events in February and June 1848 will probably pay off for most people. It can also be added that Grémillon published the screenplay the same year and that reading this along with the audio version is very rewarding. I have made a pdf version of the book and am willing to send it to those of you that might be interested. The only condition is that you have prepared enough room and your email account (32 Mb) and some software that can unpack and recompose the 5-part archive file I have made. The text is mostly identical to the radio version with some changes to make things more explicit. It also has plenty of information that doesn’t get through on the audio.

[whaleallright]

Does anyone happen to have a copy (in however cruddy condition) of Gardiens de phare? I'm working on a piece on the continuities and ruptures in Grémillon's filmmaking from the late-silent to the early-sound period, and this is the missing link.

[HerrSchreck]

The clips I have of G. du phare in the L'Opera Intime doc look fabbo (and the telecine is decades-old analog)









Of course we can instantly recognize Genica Athanasiou, Zita the gypsy from Maldone.

[whaleallright]

Yes, I'm using the Sellier, the issue of 1895 devoted to Grémillon, and stray essays here and there. POSITIF seems to have a fondness for Grémillon and has published a few articles about him over the past two decades.

Surely there's a full telecine of GARDIENS DE PHARE somewhere out there. I take it the French print is a later (postwar?) positive made from some earlier print. To my understanding, it's acetate film that undergoes vinegar rot.

[ptmd]

Just to chime in here and avoid having slight misinformation spread, the French print isn't necessarily suffering from vinegar rot (it didn't have the usual smell), but it is slightly warped. It's a very old, 35mm safety print, and I don't know the status of nitrate sources. I viewed it on a Steenbeck and am not aware of any currently accessible telecine transfer (which isn't to say that it doesn't exist somewhere; Schreck's images suggests that it might).

In any case, the film is a masterpiece and I imagine a full restoration could be mounted if there was sufficient interest and, most importantly, money (a very tricky thing these days, especially for a director without the name recognition of Renoir or Carne or Duvivier). Jonah, if you want any more specific information on any of this, feel free to PM me.

[Zazou dans le Metro]

Jonah,
You don't mention having the Henri Agel monograph which David Hare has listed at the head of this thread. It doesn't go into great detail about Gardiens de Phare but it has a pretty good bibliography and examples of Grémillon's own writings. There happens to be one on e-bayfor a cheap price at present (It's not mine by the way)