Chotard et Cie
With Fernand Charpin, Jane Lory, Georges Pomiés.
France, 1933, digital video, black & white, 83 min.
In French with no English subtitles.
Chotard et Cie may be the slightest in the trilogy of obscure-but-worthy early Renoir comedies that includes Tire au flanc and On purge bébé, but it belongs in their company as proof that Renoir could direct not just naturalist drama and social satire but also flat-out farce. When a wealthy greengrocer gets an author for a son-in-law, he is perturbed—until the young man wins the Prix Goncourt. Plans to monetize the young man’s talent come to naught, leading the film to the moral that each must fulfill his or her own destiny. Proof that Renoir never missed a chance to try new things, the film opens with a bravura feat: a complicated tracking shot, over two minutes long, moving from close-up to deep focus and from the street into Chotard’s shop.
Part of film series
Screenings from this program
The Diary of a Chambermaid
This Land is Mine
The Woman on the Beach
Catherine, or A Life Without Joy
The Southerner
The Little Theatre of Jean Renoir
The Elusive Corporal
The Testament of Dr. Cordelier
Boudu Saved From Drowning
Elena and Her Men
Jean Renoir, the Boss, Part 2: Directing the Actor
