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Eclipse Series 34: Jean Grémillon During the Occupation



Though little known outside of France, Jean Grémillon is a consummate filmmaker from his country’s golden age. A classically trained violinist who discovered cinema as a young man when his orchestra was hired to accompany silent movies, he went on to make almost fifty films—which ranged from documentaries to avant-garde works to melodramas with major stars—in a career that started in the mid-1920s and didn’t end until the late 1950s. Three of his richest films came during a dire period in French history: Remorques, starring Jean Gabin, was begun in 1939 but finished and released after Germany invaded France, and Lumière d’été and Le ciel est à vous were produced during the occupation. These are character-driven dramas that reveal either a society on the precipice of doom or people breaking free of societal limitations; humane, entertaining, and technically brilliant, they show Grémillon to be one of cinema’s true hidden masters.

Remorques



Jacques Prévert cowrote this atmospheric tale of the romantic trials of a tugboat captain, played by the iconic French star Jean Gabin. For André and the other members of the Cyclone’s crew, existence is harshly divided between the danger of the stormy seas and the safety of life at home with their patient women. When André meets temptation in the form of the alluring Catherine (Michèle Morgan) during a risky rescue, he comes perilously close to betraying his wife (Madeleine Renaud) of ten years. The haunting Remorques is distinguished by beautiful tracking shots and cunning special-effects work.

Lumière d'été



A shimmering glass hotel at the top of a remote Provençal mountain provides the setting for a tragicomic tapestry about lives on the edge. This Jacques Prévert and Pierre Laroche–scripted tale of an obsessive love pentangle—whose principals range from artist to hotel manager to dam worker—was banned from theaters for the duration of the occupation for its dark portrayal of the hedonistic excesses of the ruling class. Today, it is often singled out as Grémillon’s greatest achievement.

Le ciel est à vous



In this soaring romantic drama, the wife (Madeleine Renaud) of a former fighter pilot (Charles Vanel) who is preoccupied with his glory days in the sky during World War I, falls in love with the idea of flying herself. This soon becomes an obsession, and she undertakes a lofty feat: the longest solo flight ever made by a woman. A warm look at a working-class family as well as a triumphant tale of determination, Le ciel est à vous was one of Grémillon’s most successful films, and can be interpreted as a necessarily stealthy portrait of nonconformity.

At last!

So what do the titles translate as?

Stormy Waters
Summer Light
The Sky Is Yours

Nice to see this finally arrive, as this is the fulfillment of a longstanding promise made by Criterion when introducing the Eclipse line. I do think the release title a little bit funny . . it's almost presupposes that there have been other releases which have taken care of the main body of his work, allowing us to now examine this secondary subet of work I find his pre occupation work far more important and exciting. . GUEULE DAMOUR, PETITE LISE, MALDONE, DAINAH. . . but I'm not going to nitpick as tis is a fabulous release by anybody's yardstick.

Grem in an english friendly edition! Bravo Crterion! Great work!

Yeah, I surely share the sentiment all the way round. That is, I'd have much rather liked to see at least "Petite Lise" and "Maldone", too. But still, very great that Grémillon finally gets some international exposure.

Hoorah! This is probably the best period to toe-dip into Gremillon, and there are no duds in this set.

For the uninitiated, there's some good discussion of these films in the filmmakers forum here.

Glad I never settled for the fan-subbed third generation circulating versions of some of these!

HerrSchreck wrote:I do think the release title a little bit funny . . it's almost presupposes that there have been other releases which have taken care of the main body of his work

On the other hand, to me the period specific title of a first release implies the intent to release another set or sets covering another period or periods. It's essentially the same thing as using a title such as "Gremillon Volume 1".

PillowRock wrote:

HerrSchreck wrote:I do think the release title a little bit funny . . it's almost presupposes that there have been other releases which have taken care of the main body of his work

On the other hand, to me the period specific title of a first release implies the intent to release another set or sets covering another period or periods. It's essentially the same thing as using a title such as "Gremillon Volume 1".

It certainly beats "Jean Gremillon, Okay? Now Shut Up!"

I'd love for you to be right, PillowR believe me. Personally I would have preferred, "Jean Gremillion: A Retirement Gift."

And domino, aren't these on Hulu? Just saying, if you really wanted to see these I mean over the years and years we've been waiting.

The backchannel copies of Remorques and Le ciel were pretty decent. What could really use the CC scrub-up are La petite Lise and Pattes blanches.

swo17 wrote:Stormy Waters

A more literal translation of Remorques would be something like Towropes; Tugboats would also work.

domino harvey wrote:Glad I never settled for the fan-subbed third generation circulating versions of some of these!

These versions were certainly only stop-gaps, but still they were a godsend in the face of the complete ignorance that labels outside of France have hitherto shown towards Grémillon. I'm glad to replace them with this new release, of course, but don't say anything against fan subs: I've just had the pleasure of seeing Autant-Lara's "Marguerite de la nuit" with such subs, and certainly CC wouldn't have subbed that one any better.

I did not mean to impugn fansubs, they're the difference between being able to enjoy most good French films and not, since so few titles get picked up for distro outside of France and those within are rarely English subbed on the disc

Jesus Christ, I only said it to differentiate that there was never any official release with English subs. I didn't say the subs were bad or invalid or whatever. I don't think being glad I get to see these in the best quality version makes me any kind of villain, but I'm sure someone will stop in and join in the unnecessary pile-on soon enough

domino harvey wrote:I'm sure someone will stop in and join in the unnecessary pile-on soon enough

Paging mfunk.

domino harvey wrote:Glad I never settled for the fan-subbed third generation circulating versions of some of these!

I am willing to give you a pass because copies of many rare films are sourced from dreadful second-generation VHS or battered prints, but you are a Karagarga member and you could easily have checked the PQ and subs of these titles before making such a comment (often the 'fansubs' are much better than the image quality of many films, especially silents).

Domino, your sub titles çomment was %%%not good

david hare wrote:I stilll take offence at the implication that what Knappen, Fred Patton, I and others have done elsewhere over the years is somehow inferior and unworthy of repsect.

If it helps (and I mean this entirely positively, not to "pile on domino") I'd like to express my immense thanks to you and all the hard-working subtitlers who have made - and I hope will continue to make - so many vintage films available in English-friendly editions. In recent years, they have allowed to me to see far more films I'd long wanted to see, and discover other gems I didn't even know about, than all the DVD labels in the world. It's not of course about money (I nearly always buy the official English-friendly releases, if on factory-pressed discs) but sheer accessibility. I only regret that in the digital age my technical (and linguistic) skills are not up to contributing anything in return. But I like to think it's some kind of karma for all the rare tape-sourced European silents I've made available (some of which I know have formed the basis for fansubbed editions) and in a number of cases laboriously "scored" when a VCR was - and for me still is - the only way to do that!

Jonathan S wrote:If it helps (and I mean this entirely positively, not to "pile on domino") I'd like to express my immense thanks to you and all the hard-working subtitlers who have made - and I hope will continue to make - so many vintage films available in English-friendly editions. In recent years, they have allowed to me to see far more films I'd long wanted to see, and discover other gems I didn't even know about, than all the DVD labels in the world. It's not of course about money (I nearly always buy the official English-friendly releases, if on factory-pressed discs) but sheer accessibility.

Very much seconded. As a specialist in central/eastern European cinema, I simply couldn't have seen a huge number of titles if it hadn't been for dedicated and often anonymous fansubbers. And while I too make a point of buying official releases (I reckon I must own a copy of every British DVD release of a Czech/Polish/Hungarian/Romanian film as well as plenty of discs originating from those countries), realism dictates that the overwhelming majority of these films will never see the light of day on a DVD label at all and many that do will never get official English subtitles.

And of course another bonus of fansubs is that they can be corrected - both for grammar/typos and timing. Obviously that's not an issue with a Criterion release, but I'd love to have that freedom with a Facets disc!

MichaelB wrote:[Obviously that's not an issue with a Criterion release, but I'd love to have that freedom with a Facets disc!

Agreed on Facets, but I wouldn't go so far as "Obviously" re: Criterion. Plenty of typos in CC's subtitles -- Mon Oncle and Everlasting Moments come to mind. ("Truck" for "trunk" in the former, whose/who's in the latter). My favorite printed gaffe is in the Devil and Daniel Webster booklet, which claims D.Web. served as secretary of state under Benjamin Harrison (no mean feat, considering Harrison was elected 36 years after the death of Daniel Webster).

Carping, trifling details, I'm sure some will say, but this kind of thing bugs me a hell of a lot more than lackluster cover art.

I would heartily second all the comments in praise of fansubs. If you'll notice, my first comment after domino's comment has been edited. I originally pointed out the fact that 2 out of the 3 films in question are hard subbed by professional subtitlers via very rare television broadcasts. But I bit my tongue because I like to keep that world out of public view . . especially on a board devoted to one of the most pricey arthouse labels in the world. As someone who has participated in the process of subtitling some of those films, I can say that first of all, notwithstanding any qualitative issues, it is an awful lot of work which should cultivate nothing but extreme gratitude in those who use those subtitles. Secondly, if not these Grems, what films will you actually use backchannels for? Rips of only the highest quality which necessarily have been taken illegally from commercially available disks, using srt subs ripped from ' official' VOB's?

We may call them FANsubs, but even professional subtitlers are fans. A great many individuals who participate in this process are very busy phd's, professors of film and language, preservationists, and critics who are taking time out from their busy schedules to contribute to this world that they love so much. without their efforts, I-- and I dare say a great number of individuals in and out of the profession of cinema-- would be a great deal less educated, and far more frustrated in my inability to see and understand so many of the films that I love.

HerrSchreck wrote:We may call them FANsubs, but even professional subtitlers are fans.

I still have very fond memories of the formidable translation feat that critic-subtitler Tom Milne pulled off with Starewicz' The Tale of the Fox. There was no written script - or at least he couldn't get his hands on one - so he had to translate the dialogue (plus several song lyrics) by ear from the decidedly lo-fi soundtrack, recorded some time in the 1930s on a less than generous budget.

This was a professional job, but it was also an obvious labour of love - and although Milne is much less known for his subtitles than he is for his criticism, it's probably his most lasting contribution to film culture.