Toni (1935)
Jean Renoir’s “Toni”
Thematic Elements:
Jean Renoir’s Toni is a film about the working-class immigrants brought to France during the 30s in a time France needed the extra labor. The film opens with hopeful immigrant workers coming to France on a rail track, a literal bridge between two worlds. The immigrants find themselves in an alien environment that is completely unfamiliar to their culture. Toni’s life becomes upended by Albert, the Frenchman, who is a proxy for the workers. Being the workers’ proxy allows him to control the money and the work and thereby gives him power over them. He finds out that Toni is in love with Josepha, who he then finds, rapes, and marries. His actions set off the conflict for the rest of the film. Toni feels as though some aspect of freedom has been taken away from him. After Josepha kills Albert, Toni is blamed and is eventually shot on the bridge that brought the immigrants to the region in the first place. Toni is shot by Dominque who is always carrying his gun and is always out to protect his property. At the end of the film, more immigrant workers arrive on the very same rail bridge that Toni is shot on, thus signifying that the hopefulness on bridging these two worlds together is now only a tragic illusion. The alienation between these two cultures is tragically inevitable. Renoir’s common theme he presents in his films is that of an illusion. The illusion illustrated here is the illusion of national identity and the obscure dividing line between two countries. It seems nationality can only lead to alienation from your fellow man, which appeared very prevalent in the 1930s. The film appeared as precursor to the rise of anti-Semitism and xenophobia and the spread of fascism in Europe at the time.
Camerawork:
Renoir films Toni in somewhat of a documentary style. This reason for the use of the realist style was to give the audience a connection to these non-French characters. Showing them in the most realistic way possible allowed the audience to see them as authentic and actually apart of their shared world, rather than something fictional on the screen. The documentary-esque style would later be a great inspiration to the Italian neo-realist movement. The directors in the late 1940s would often cite Renoir’s Toni as an origin point for the now extremely popular movement.
Best Shot:
The best shot in the film is also one of the only close ups in the movie. It is the moment in which Joseph kills her French husband, who rapes, abuses, and controls her. Josepha appears to be looking directly into camera, as if appearing to be directly aiming her gun at us, the viewer. Renoir seems to be signifying that Josepha’s revolt against her oppressor is also the immigrant’s revolt against their oppressors (us). Renoir is sayings with this single shot that if the various European communities continue to oppress and alienate their fellow man, violence and resistance is inevitable. He is saying that we, the audience, are the oppressors and when Joseph is pointing the gun at Albert, she is also pointing her violence and frustration at us as well.
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