Rene Clair

 Rene Clair




Under the Roofs of Paris (1930)

Le Million (1931)

A Nous la Liberte (1931)

I Married a Witch (1942)




RANKED:

4. I Married a Witch (1942)


After fleeing Europe during the Second World War, Rene Clair found a home in Hollywood (like many Western European directors at the time). Perhaps his most memorable film during this American period was his 1942 fantasy comedy "I Married a Witch." The film was brought to Clair by Preston Sturges, who thought it would be the perfect vehicle for rising Hollywood starlet Veronica Lake. Preston wasn't wrong, as the film turned into the very role that Lake would be come to known for the rest of her career.



3. Under the Roofs of Paris (1930)


"Under the Roofs of Paris" ushered in the age of sound in France and ushered in poetic realism. Taking from Germany's 'realism' works and adding a very French poetic to the visual images, a new form was created. This heightened reality of everyday people in an everyday quarter in Paris provided a romantic reflection of the French audience member watching the film in 1930. The romance, the conflicts, the economic toils, the violence, and the anxieties of these everyday characters provide in insight into the temperament of an entire nation - done so using visual storytelling would set France ablaze for the next decade to come (and further). 




2. Le Million (1931)


After the success of his first sound film, "Under the Roofs of Paris," Rene Clair brought even more sound to the screen with his adaptation of the famous French musical, "Le Million." The film tells the story of an impoverished man who winds up winning the lottery. However, his lottery ticket is in the pockets of a jacket given to a gang leader given to an opera singer who is performing with the jacket that night. In chasing down his lottery ticket can he pay back all of his debts. The film was a relevant film for 1931, as it encompasses the frantic search for money during a time when the Great Depression was hitting everyone's pockets.





1. A Nous la Liberte (1931)


The film that many consider Rene Clair's chef-d'oeuvre, "A Nous la Liberte" is full of music, comedy, and most importantly, criticisms of modern industrial dehumanization. The film follows an escaped prisoner who eventually becomes a wealthy businessman. Clair makes a point to visually distinguish just how similar France's modern industrial world is to prison, as prisoners and factory employees are both trapped by overseers who force them to labor and make products en masse. The stinging critique of modern France blends together with music and comedy to create themes and tones that many other filmmakers would follow, like Jean Renoir's "Boudu Saved from Drowning" and Charlie Chaplin's "Modern Times." 


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