Remorques (1941)

 Jean Gremillon's "Remorques"

Before this week, I was completely unaware of who Jean Gremillon was. After watching three of his films, I can definitely say that he is by far one of the more remarkable poetic realists in French cinema. After my superb viewing of his 1937 film "Lady Killer," I sat down and watched the film that came out right at the onset of Germany's occupation of France. And I dare say that 1941's "Remorques," despite its straightforward story, somehow feels very suited to the tone of this chaotic moment in French history.

The film stars Jean Gabin as tugboat captain who spends his days rescuing cargo ships from dangerous storms. He has been married to his wife for a decade, but his wife is starting to feel restless with the life they are living. Gabin's Andre is completely stressed due to his wife's obsessions with a lifestyle change, his continued fatigue over his dangerous job, and the recent incident of a vessel captain cutting his towline to avoid paying for rescue. All of the stress pushes Andre towards the captain's separated wife. However, their affair comes to a bitter end when Andre is called back to his wife. As he finds out, the reason for her obsessions is due to a terminal illness. After having her die in his arms, he heads back out to sea.

One of the great aspects of the film that Gremillon is able to infuse is the complete sense of instability that suddenly happens to these characters after years of stagnation. We begin in the film in a complete storm that Andre must venture out into to save a shipping vessel. The stormy weather becomes analogous to the whole story itself and the events these characters go through. When it rains, it pours (as I've learned in my life). After years of Andre doing his work and living peacefully with his wife, there is a sudden crisis that occurs for both him and everyone else. This crisis throws every character's stability into complete chaos. Through this external instability, the characters begin to become instable themselves. It is why Andre's wife, Yvonne, begins to become obsessive over Andre and gets extremely restless to leave. It is why Andre's new lover, Catherine, suddenly leaves her crooked husband. And it is why Andre begins to behave irrationally and emotionally on his sudden passions and begins his affair with Catherine. Both the external and the internal become a swirling whirlwind of chaos. A brewing storm of uncertainty. 

To add another dimension to this swirling instability, Gremillon manages to do something incredible. "Remorques" has developed a certain reputation over its unique style. As Greg Gerke notes in his "Notebook Feature" column, titled "Jean Gremillon's Wartime Melancholia," the film "is a work that dons many different genre guises and then quickly abandons them." The film switches genres like a revolver, as it circles through drama, melodrama, romance, tragedy, action-adventure, war, or Gremillon's signature poetic realism. Because of this 'instability' with the tone and genre of the film, it parallels the thematic instability at play within the film. The result is something that makes you feel as though you've been swept up in an intense storm, being knocked about in every direction, and uncertain of what is going to happen next. 

I think that this tone and the context of this tone greatly resembles the uncertainty, instability, and chaos at the time of the film's release. The shooting of the film was interrupted numerous times due to the German invasion of France. Much like the sudden onslaught of story weather the characters face in their lives, this exasperation and desperation is matched only by the real life circumstances of what was happening around them. The stormy weather was coming in the form of German forces, war, and occupation. I feel as though the film is able to grab hold of the tone of France at the time and iterate it expertly by Jean Gremillon in a way that communicates the intense uncertainty and chaos of their lives. 

I also felt the film was able to capture the uncertainty of my life currently, along with the external and internal 'story weather' taking hold. We live in a dangerous point in time around the globe and the current Cold War happening between the axis of global powers is starting to turn hot. Everyone seems to be aware of the oncoming storm and, like the characters in "Remorques," are echoing this instability through their behavior. I feel as though this is why a lot of film and music at this current point in time reflects that instability in a genre-revolving way that mirrors "Remorques." A lot of new films are being released that have a hyperactive tone and even switches genre and melts and blends them together to form a chaotic stew. I feel the same is happening in the music industry, as artists are starting to switch up genres, albums now contain a revolving door of genre and style, and 'glitch' music is echoing the intense chaos of our modern world. 

I feel as though "Remorques" is such an engaging watch and really pulls you into the storm it creates. There is intense and chaotic narrative, an swirling wind of emotions on display, and a theme that really captures the exact moment in time of the it's country.