Love Among the Canal Kittens

On a barge in France, crowded with cats, a marriage is in jeopardy. 1934's L'Atalante may be the most adorable movie ever made.

We meet the crew of L'Atalante, an old man named Pere Jules (Michel Simon) and a boy (Louis Lefebvre), as they prepare for the return of their captain, Jean (Jean Daste) and his new bride, Juliette (Dita Parlo). Cleaning up the deck, Pere finds some of the omnipresent cats and kittens. He absently puts a kitten on his shoulder where it remains throughout the ensuing scenes.

Michel Simon's performance is nothing short of astounding. I was convinced he was a real old man whom director Jean Vigo found lounging on a wharf one day. It turns out he was only 39, four years younger than I am, and is the same actor I remember fondly from Boudu Saved from Drowning.

A scene where he shows Juliette his esoteric collection of knickknacks, tattoos, and porn from his world travels is absolutely captivating. From the shaggy marionette to the naked woman scrawled on his back, each item is captivating in its own way.

So often in films set aboard ships, the cabins are improbably large in order to accommodate filming. Here's one film that keeps in mind just how cramped it is. Vigo must have made sets that disassembled easily in order to accomodate a variety of angles with his bulky 1930s camera and equipment.

It pays off and there are fresh inventions in virtually every shot.

As Juliette, Dita Parlo is adorable as any of the kittens. Most people watching the movie probably root for her to leave Jean for Pere but the film blessedly presents a more complex, and simpler, situation. I loved this movie.

L'Atalante is available on The Criterion Channel.

Breaking the Pillows

To a child, the world may seem like a playground, a charming perspective adults seem determined to beat out of them. But not all adults, as seen in 1933's Zero de conduite (Zero for Conduct). A film that feels as little urgency for plot as the students it depicts feel for their lessons, it presents several, barely connected scenes of a French boarding school gone to anarchy when the administration accidentally hires a new instructor who shares with his students a happy compulsion for trouble. It's a charming film with good compositions.

We meet a couple of the boys on the train, heading home from their holiday. One of them sticks a little trumpet in his nose and the other shows his friend the old "severed thumb" illusion. Suddenly they realise that the man in the compartment with them is a corpse.

But he's not, really. He's their new teacher, Huguet (Jean Daste). The film proceeds to give us various scenes of the boys rioting at school, angering the brass, and Huguet joining in with the boys.

Daste gives a subtle performance with broad physicality reminiscent of Keaton or Chaplin, the latter of whom he imitates in one scene.

The film was written and directed by Jean Vigo, who would die the following year at the age of 29. He was already poor health when he was making the film and, with that in mind, it becomes an even more poignant statement on living in the moment.

Zero de conduite is available on The Criterion Channel.