The Human Beast
(La Bête humaine)
With Jean Gabin, Simone Simon, Fernand Ledoux.
France, 1938, 35mm, black & white, 100 min.
French with English subtitles.
Print source: Institut Français
1938 was a year of foreboding for France. The Popular Front coalition was falling apart as the Spanish Civil War gave galling proof of Hitler’s desire to expand the reach of Nazism. Two major French films released that year testify to the clouds of impending doom: Quai des Brumes,the debut of the writer/director team Prévert and Carné, and Renoir’s La Bête humaine. For this film, the director turned again to Zola, updating to the present and (in the opinion of many) greatly improving upon the 1890 novel. Set in a locomotive yard, the film tells of an engineer seduced by a femme fatale so he will help cover up a murder committed by her husband. The result is part film noir, part poetic realism, part literary adaptation and, upon release, was an enormous success in France.
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
