AAFS Presents....

L'Atalante L'Atalante (1934) Director: Jean Vigo Time: 87 minutes This intoxicatingly inventive masterpiece- a perennial entry on best-of-all-time lists- is one of the world's great films. Jean Vigo's innovative style transforms a simple and engaging plot of a young woman's stormy initiation into married life on a river barge, into a kaleidoscope of dazzling digressions and offbeat characterizations complete with tour-de-force scenes that still seem fresh and startling. Jean, the young captain of the barge L'ATALANTE, marries Juliette, a village girl who has never left home before. They sail away together along with a cabin boy and the colorful sailor Pere Jules, played by Michel Simon - in a legendary, uproarious and unpredictable performance forming the very heart of Vigo's magical, anarchic universe. Becoming bored, Juliette slips off the ship to discover the delights of Paris- forcing Jean into heartbreak. (Frenchculture.org)

Date: Wednesday 27th October 

Time: baguette, cheese, wine 7pm, screening from 8pm

Venue: McQueen house (see map)

If you'd like to come please RSVP so we can plan seating etc

L'Atalante (1934)
Jean Vigo

Despite the fact that director Jean Vigo made only four films between 1930 until his untimely death in 1934, he remains a legendary figure in French cinema with frequent appearances on all-time "best" lists. L'Atalante, Vigo's final film, is an intoxicating romance, in the tradition of French Impressionist cinema, a movement that is also exemplified in Jean Renoir's films of the 1930s. The story centers on Jean, the young captain of the titular barge, and his new bride Juliette, a village girl who has never left home before, on a voyage of love, excitement, and peril. Vigo makes stunning use of exterior, location shooting, and the performances range from the hilariously grotesque -- namely, Michel Simon as the crusty first mate -- to poignantly romantic and downright seductive. The simple yet profound storytelling, along with Vigo's poetic-realist style can be seen as a kind of forerunner to later movements such as Italian Neorealism and the French New Wave. (Barnes and Noble)


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