Since 1940, France had been living the drama of the German occupation in Europe without opposition to Hitler, and where they could barely resist internally with limited means. In that environment Marcel Carney And screenwriter Jacques Prévert They managed to carry out the first important production in occupied France. Along with the major names of French cinema in Hollywood, such as Jean Renoir, Jeanie Clair, Julien Duvidere, and Jean Gabin, Carné remained the sole representative of that poetic realism that characterized French cinema in the 1930s.
Night visitors (Marcel Carnet, 1942) (Night visitors) was much more than a simple production controlled by the German censorship, whose control could not avoid the language and poetic forms that revealed the French people’s unrelenting will to resist.
The argument
Prévert and Laroche’s script takes us to the year 1485, where the Devil has sent Dominique (Arletty) and Gilles (Alain Cuny) to do evil in the castle of Baron Hugues (Fernand Ledoux) while celebrating the engagement of his daughter Anne (Marie Dea) to the knight Renaud (Marcel Herrand). However, a problem immediately arises. Gil, instead of following his master’s orders, falls madly in love with Anne Satan Jules Perry should come and fix this.
We can immediately associate Satan with the character Nazi occupierwho controls everything everywhere and seeks to make people miserable. Baron Hughes may represent the marshal Philippe Petain And its support for the cooperative system Vichy. The couple is in love Resistance Who opposes evil. The ending is not happy for the lovers but what seems like a victory for Satan is not, because despite turning the lovers into statues he realizes that the hearts of the couple under the stone continue to beat forever and Resistance to evil wins. There are even those who see the date that has been set as a reference to the reality of the country, 1485, and it is reversed, taking us to August 5 (8), (19)41.
In Carne’s memoirs, Life with Surer is Beautiful (Souvenirs)published in 1975, indicates the way he and Prévert decided Turn to the past To avoid, as much as possible, Vichy censorship. The director publicly denied the existence of any political message, and he could not have done anything else in his circumstances, but all of France understood and praised the film’s message.
Out of curiosity, Hungarians Alexander Trauner (designer) and Josef Kosma (composer) participated in the film, but their names could not appear due to their young age. Jewish origin. He was also not credited, although his participation was mentioned Michelangelo Antonioniat that time Carnet’s assistant.
The occupation of France lasted for four years (1940-1944), and the Germans controlled all of the country’s resources, including culture. the Staffel propaganda The unit specialized in cultural and information warfare, and cinema, journalism, and radio were essential. They created a production company Continental films To try to distract the population at such sensitive moments, theaters were invaded with German and Italian propaganda films. But the French people mocked this show, the theaters were empty, and the few national performances were attended despite limited capabilities. In May 1942, Goebbels He noted in his memoirs that he instructed the French to produce films only.Light, empty and, if possible, stupidBut he lost his own cultural battle and French literature presented a wide range of themes against the Nazi muzzle.