Différents titres, différents montages, différentes versions (4)
En 1990, dans le but de conserver ses droits sur l'œuvre qui allait bientôt tomber dans le domaine public, la Gaumont sortit une version restaurée. Elle fut produite par Michel Schmidt et dirigée par Jean-Louis Bompoint (qui a entre temps reçu le soutien de Luce Vigo,fille du cinéaste)et Pierre Philippe.Cette restauration, présentée au Festival de Cannes, est dite enfin « complète ». Mais cette version intègre des rushes inédits qui n'étaient pas montés dans la version de 1934, comme le fameux"plan de l'iceberg"qui montre Jean Dasté sucer un glaçon.
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To See Paris and ...
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Author: Galina from Virginia, USA
5 May 2005
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"People are strange when you are stranger
Faces look ugly when you're alone
Women seem wicked when you are unwanted
Streets are uneven when you are down…" by Jim Morrsion (1963-1971)
…And city of light and love is dark and depressing when you are there without your beloved. Director Jean Vigo died young (at 29, of septicemia) just after he finished his third and last film, "L'Atalante" which is one of the screen's great romances, about a young barge captain Jean (Jean Daste), who takes his bride Juliette (Dita Parlo) to live aboard his boat. They are in love, they fight, she disappears to see Paris, he goes searching for her, can not find her, they are both desperate and miserable until the first mate (Michel Simon in a superb comical performance) decides to find her and bring her back…
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The film has many magical moments, such as the young man searching for his sweetheart under water or the movie's most erotic scene that display both Jean and Juliette tossing in their lonely beds during one aching night of separation searching for each other, longing for each other, realizing how painful and meaningless life is without the one they love.Vigo knew that he was dying – "I am killing myself with L'Atalante", he said. His death at 29 is one of the cinema's great losses.
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We can only imagine what masterpieces he could've created. L'Atalante with its simple compelling story, humanity, intense, lyrical romanticism and candid eroticism shows that Vigo was a visionary and experimentalist of outstanding quality.Filmmakers as diverse as Francois Truffaut and Lindsay Anderson have acknowledged Vigos's influence on their work.Highly recommended: 9/10
