La Bete Humaine (La Bete Humaine (DVD))

Member Name: andrewl

Product:	La Bete Humaine (DVD)
Date:	18/08/09 (44 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great cinematography, fantastic turn from Jean Gabin

Disadvantages: Patchy adaptation, but still better than the remake

La Bete Humaine stars Jean Gabin, possibly one of the most enduring French cinema icons, and is directed by Jean Renoir, one of France's most enduring directors, and is an adaptation of a novel by Emile Zola, one of France's greatest writers. Quite an intimidating line-up...

To give you an idea of the film's tone, during the Nazi Occupation of France, the Vichy regime made a propganda claim that France's defeat had come about almost entirely as a result of the depressing and demoralising atmosphere presented by Renoir. That's quite a feat, really.

The story centres on a vaguely psychotic train driver (Gabin) who stumbles beyond the law when he becomes involved with a woman whose husband has murdered a man he suspected of having an affair with her. Almost every character is involved with the railways in some capacity - the jealous husband is some kind of station official, and the man he murders is a senior figure in the company. I haven't read Zola's novel yet, but several things imply a slight retread of Germinal with the train replacing the coal mine as a devourer of working men. There's the idea of a whole community being dominated by the trains, as well as the emphasis on feeding the trains (with coal, with water, even with oil for the axle box). The main difference is that the railway workers seem to enjoy their servitude to the machine slightly more than Germinal's miners. When Gabin attempts to throttle his young lover, it is the sight of the train that breaks his murderous impulse.

It's a risky business to reveal too much about the plot of what could be described as a thriller. I'll settle for relating the first section of the storyline. While Gabin is driving his train and getting the axle-box repaired, the station official becomes embroiled in an argument with a rich and influential passenger. Knowing that his wife is an old acquaintance of a senior company figure, he sends her to plead for his job. However, when she succeeds he suspects that she has slept with him, and plots to kill him.

The murder takes place on the train, and the husband and wife are seen by Gabin, who chooses not to implicate them when questioned after the body is discovered. He quickly strikes up a relationship with the couple, especially the wife.

The husband begins to crack under his burden of guilt, becoming an alcoholic gambler. The wife eventually suggests that Gabin kill the man so she can be free of him.

This film is essentially film noir before the term was invented. Severine, the wife, is a classic femme fatale, luring a law-abiding man on to the wrong side of the law, and eventually being punished for her tempting ways. However Renoir does not direct according to genre, especially while under the influence of Zola. Our femme fatale is first introduced cuddling a fluffy kitten, and the decent hero has a really bizarre mental illness which gives him an almost uncontrollable urge to murder any naked women he sees. Odd man.

I watched this film as part of a comparative study with its remake. Human Desire was directed by the equally famous Fritz Lang, but is hopelessly inept in many respects. Advantages of this original include the fact that Lantier's psychosis is retained (you can't turn Glenn Ford into a killer, after all), as well as a skeleton of the social context. But I'm utterly aware that I'm reviewing the original here, and not panning the remake. Just bear in mind that you should be watching the French version.

Anyway, Gabin gives an excellent performance. His sheer physical presence makes him instantly intimidating whenever he has one of his episodes, his entire frame seems to become rigid and powerful. At other times, he's relaxed and loveable, and the shocking conclusion elicits genuine sympathy from the viewer.

Ultimately, however, I can't help feeling that I'd be better off reading the book, and so would you. Certain elements suggest that a lot has been missed out of the portrayal of the railway community, and it has to be said that the basic murder plot isn't actually terribly interesting.

The mood is downbeat, with the opening titles playing through a cloud of steam, and a captioned introduction from Emile Zola himself. The black and white cinematography is also fantastic. I particularly loved the one brief moment of hope in the film, when Lantier and Severine emerge from a night at the railway yard to gaze heroically and faintly romantically at the dawn. You just know that it's all going to fall apart horribly, but for a moment the two stars look untouchable.

The Vichy government were right to think of this film as being really quite depressing, but I still find it full of a peculiarly cynical brand of humanism. My interest was first aroused by the film's cover blurb, which on my copy reads something along the lines of 'Zola's great story of passion, destiny and trains'.

A great period piece, but do yourself a favour and read the book too. I'm going to, and I don't see why I should be the only one. At least you lot can read it in English with a clear conscience.

I watched a very cheap copy of this film, which may even still have been on VHS. But you can get it on Amazon for a fiver, so hurrah!

Summary: Zola's great story of passion, destiny... and trains.