Rene Clement

 Rene Clement



The Damned (1947)

Forbidden Games (1952)

Purple Noon (1960)




RANKED:

3. Purple Noon (1960)


Rene Clement's 1960 popular film, "Purple Noon," was the film that skyrocketed to French actor Alain Delon to critical and commercial recognition. Adapted from the 1955 Patricia Highsmith novel, "The Talented Mr. Ripley," "Purple Noon" centers on a young man who steals the identity of another man in order to live vicariously through his luxurious life. This would not be the first time this story was adapted, perhaps even overshadowed by the far more popular 1999 Anthony Minghella film, "The Talented Mr. Ripley." But it was "Purple Noon" that got there first, offering up an intriguing drama full of beautiful color, magnetic cinematography, and an incredibly and acclaimed performance by Delon.



2. Forbidden Games (1952)


Rene Clement's 1952 war film "Forbidden Games" is unlike any war film that had come before. More specifically, it was a war film that didn't center on the war or the battlefield itself and instead directed its focus on a young five-year-old girl and how she deals with the death of her parents. Based on the 1947 novel of the same name, the film's brilliance lies in its simplicity. Rather than creating a complex narrative to construct abstract notions about the war and 'war itself,' we view the fallout of these events through the eyes of an innocent child who attempts to attain some sort of understanding and closure.



1. The Damned (1947)


After the end of the second World War, French filmmaker Rene Clement was able to capture the pressurized tension of the war's closing with his 1947 film "The Damned." Taking place in 1945, the film depicts a group of wealthy Nazis, French sympathizers, and an innocent kidnapped French doctor on a submarine headed to South America. Once it becomes clear that the war is ending and the Nazis are defeated, the pressure mounts and mounts for the crew of the submarine, as it eventually reaches an explosive boiling point. Clement is able to capture the tone of the final moments of the war and the panicked and cannibalizing ending to the Nazi regime as a whole.  

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