Saturday, May 18, 2013

Jean Renoir

Having read about a Clifford Odets play being staged, I read his Wiki biography, wherein Jean Renoir is cited: Renoir dedicated a chapter of his autobiography to his friendship with Odets.[54]

That led me to look up Renoir, and read about him; I took his memoirs off the shelf, and read that chapter referred to above. I also read about his films. These are three of his works:

The Rules of the game (1939): A comedy drama set on the eve of World War II. It contrasts the affairs of the French aristocracy and the working class at a weekend house party. Masters and their servants are involved in an immoral erotic charade that builds to a shattering climax.

 Grand illusion (1938): A classic tale of adventure. Duty and honor conflict in a German prisoner of war camp during World War I, when an aristocratic French officer becomes friends with the commandant yet must cooperate with his comrades in a daring escape.

 Boudu saved from drowning Boudu sauvĂ© des eaux (1932): A well-off bookseller rescues a tramp from a suicidal plunge into the Seine and his family dedicates itself to reforming him. He shows his gratitude by shaking the household to its foundations, challenging the hidebound principles of his hosts.

No comments:

Post a Comment