Cinema
Children of Paradise
Les Enfants du paradis
Marcel Carné · 1945
Synopsis
Paris, 1828, on the boulevard du Crime, among the popular theatres. Garance, a free woman, is wrongly accused of a theft and saved by the silent testimony of a mime, Baptiste Deburau, who reenacts the scene. Four men will love her: Baptiste, the actor Frédérick Lemaître, who dreams of the great roles, the criminal Lacenaire and a wealthy count. The story follows their loves, their rivalries and their successes across two periods separated by several years.
Context
Shooting began on 16 August 1943 at the Victorine studios in Nice, was interrupted, then resumed in 1944 in Paris, in the Pathé studios. The set designer Alexandre Trauner and the composer Joseph Kosma, both Jewish, worked on it in hiding, under assumed names. Robert Le Vigan, who was to play the part of the old-clothes dealer, fled in 1944 and was replaced by Pierre Renoir. The film was presented on 9 March 1945 at the Palais de Chaillot, after the Liberation.
Who it is for
About three hours, in two parts with an interval; several years pass between the two.
Prizes and reception
It ran for more than a year in its first exclusive run, and in 1995 it was voted the best French film of all time by more than six hundred professionals.
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