Denis, a poor student in philosophy, works as a night porter in the Paris market of Les Halles in order to pay for his studies. Constantly weary, he falls asleep and dreams of a beautiful girl in white, Irène, with whom he falls in love.

Letterboxd & IMDB reviews
Quote:
★★★ Watched by Alan J. 06 Feb 2018

Jean Cocteau once said that films should be an hour and a half long because that is how long we dream each night. Describing a film as ‘dream like’ is one of the biggest cliches of film criticism, and yet we persist in doing it because in many cases it just seems so true. This is a film in which someone thinks they are dreaming, when in reality they are wide awake. It is silly pretext for some rather unlikely but entertaining business, including some Cocteau like special effects.

Quote:
Belle de Nuit dbdumonteil 11 July 2006

The main problem is the choice of the lead:he is supposed to be a philosophy student and Fernand Gravey was 38 when he made this movie.It is impossible to believe he is a young romantic lead (Jean-Pierre Aumont or Louis Jourdan would have been better in such a part).

All that remains is original,inventive,and it is probably Marcel Lherbier’s best talkie.After his brilliant silent works,his career had its highs (this movie,”le Mystere de la Chambre Jaune”,”le Bonheur”,”l’Affaire du Collier de la Reine”) and its lows (dreadful melodramas such as “l’Enfant de l’Amour”,les Hommes Nouveaux”,”la Porte du Large” or stodgy propaganda films such as “Entente Cordiale”). Ten years before René Clair’s “les Belles de Nuit” ,Lherbier tells a tale of a dreamer :a student who is forced to work in “les Halles” and dreams his life away.It was the Occupation time in France and escapist works were par excellence the prevailing genre(along with “moral'” melodramas such as “le Voile Bleu” ): 1942 also brought Marcel Carné’s “les Visiteurs du Soir” and the following year Delannoy-Cocteau’s “l’Eternel Retour” .You could even call Gremillon’s work “le Ciel est à Vous” an escapist film:a woman who had a dream to fly.

“La Nuit Fantastique” is a movie of its time.Certain of its aspects are dated ,but its best moments are still impressive today.The student meets a woman in his dreams :she will be nothing like he pictured her to be and he can never see her face;in real life,his lover cheats on him with one of his so-called pals.

One night,he “enters ” his dream .The gap between dream and reality is brilliantly rendered:using time warp,masterfully working on the pictures (fuzziness) and on the soundtrack (sometimes the words become incomprehensible),Lherbier builds a sensational dreamlike atmosphere.And by introducing magic and conjurers,he gives his movie a fourth dimension.Melodrama is also present (Who is really Irene?)but it is kept to the minimum.Perhaps the final is a bit disappointing but it might have inspired Jean Cocteau for the last picture of his celebrated “la Belle et la Bête”.Anyway “la Nuit Fantastique” is sometimes close to a fairy tale too ,with a smart use of Tom Thumb;and the scene on the roof recalls Andersen’s “the shepherdess and the sweep” which Grimault/Prevert transferred to the screen as “le Roi et l’Oiseau”

One should also note that Lherbier’s movie was made five years before “the secret life of Walter Mitty” a movie which borrows some ideas from it (making the hero out to be a lunatic ;here,the heroine)

“You can be brave when you know you are dreaming” the hero says.

	
La.nuit.fantastique.1942.576p.BluRay.AC3.x264.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 31 min
Size: 	2.23 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	766x576 
Aspect ratio:  	4:3
Frame rate: 	24.000 fps
Bit rate: 	3 226 kb/s
BPP: 	0.305
Audio
#1:  	French 2.0ch AC-3 @ 256 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/3ED020E986EC27A/La.nuit.fantastique.1942.576p.BluRay.AC3.x264.mkv

Language(s):French
Subtitles:English, French

The post Marcel L’Herbier – La Nuit fantastique AKA The Fantastic Night (1942) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

El Dorado is the fifth film directed by Marcel L’Herbier for Gaumont’s prestige collection ‘Pax’ which was characterised by high production quality. Its most striking aspect is the invention of new elements of the cinematographic language. L’Herbier uses distortions of the images to convey different messages or impressions: the faces of drinkers become distorted as they become drunk, Sibilla’s face becomes blurred as she thinks about her sick child, or photographs of the Alhambra are distorted to express the artistic vision of the painter intending to represent them.

In German expressionist films such as Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari or Von Morgen bis Mitternacht distortions were also used, but they were only applied to the sets, which could also be done in a theatre. Here, it is done by optical means which is specifically cinematographic and opens a whole new range of possibilities. A new technique also pioneered by L’Herbier is the Point of view shot to put the spectator in the middle of the action: he shares for example Sibilla’s feelings when she is thrown out of the house by the servants of her son’s father, or those of characters locked at night in the Alhambra. Point of view shots are also used to show various characters remembering what they have experienced.

The editing is very modern. Crowd scenes are filmed from different points of view, alternating very rapidly wide shots and close-ups focusing on the expression of some of the characters: an old man, a group of women with their children. Sequences are linked in an original way e.g. by fades to white, white masks, or by blurring out.

L’Herbier innovates also with camera movements, using tracking shots or panning, sometimes very fast, to follow characters. By contrast, shots with a static camera are very carefully composed and lit. L’Herbier fully uses the opportunity he had to shoot the film on location in Spain, in Granada, Seville and the Sierra Nevada, to realise beautiful pictures of landscapes and indoor scenes, in particular in the Alhambra Palace in Granada, often with unusual camera angles and lighting. He also includes some footage of Semana Santa (Easter week) celebrations in the streets of Sevilla.

Lights, shadows and transparency create a very original atmosphere in the last scene in the cabaret with cross-cutting between on-stage and backstage, separated by a curtain which partially reveals what is happening on the other side.

The story, presented as a melodrama by L’Herbier, is an original variation on the common theme of the woman seduced and betrayed and has a rather unexpected ending. It is interpreted in a convincing way notably by Eve Francis as Sibilla, and Jaque Catelain and Marcelle Pradot, already seen in L’homme du large.

El Dorado (1921, Marcel L'Herbier - Web-dl 1080).mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 34 min
Size: 	4.90 GiB
Video
Codec: 	h264
Resolution: 	1440x1080 
Aspect ratio:  	4:3
Frame rate: 	25.000 fps
Bit rate: 	7 326 kb/s
BPP: 	0.188
Audio
#1:  	French 2.0ch AAC LC @ 128 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/FF84C4A547CE9FF/El_Dorado_(1921,_Marcel_L’Herbier_-_Web-dl_1080).mkv
https://nitro.download/view/1A3392B4682F608/El_Dorado_(1921,_Marcel_L’Herbier_-_Web-dl_1080)_v2.srt

Language(s):Silent (French intertitles)
Subtitles:English

The post Marcel L’Herbier – El Dorado (1921) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

quote:
Part of the French TV program – Cineartists of Our Time. In 1964, film critic and filmmaker André S. Labarthe, together with Janine Bazin, widow of influential film theorist André Bazin, approached the French television channel ORTF about starting a program that would resemble the long, in-depth interviews with film directors that magazines such as Cahiers du cinéma and Positif regularly published. ORTF gave the green light, and Cinéastes de notre temps (Filmmakers of Our Time) was born. Many of the programs were dedicated to older directors, then in retirement or in the final stages of their careers. Instead of TV journalists, Labarthe and Bazin would often ask well-known film directors to make these programs: thus, Jacques Rivette on Jean Renoir, or Jacques Rozier on Jean Vigo, etc

File Size : 619 Mo
Runtime : 1h15

Video Codec : DIVX
Frame Size : 576 x 432
FPS : 25
Video Bitrate : 1000
Bits per Pixel : 0.161

Audio Codec : MP3
Sample Rate : 48000Hz
128 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/CA82EB3DC7D3A10/Cineastes_de_notre_temps_-_La_premiere_vague,_Delluc_&_Cie.avi

Language(s):French
Subtitles:No, sorry

The post Noël Burch & Jean-André Fieschi – Cinéastes de notre temps: La première vague : Delluc & Cie (1968) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
In short, this film tells in quasi-mythic terms the struggle of a father with his son. The father is a simple man, who earns his living on the sea. His wife brings two children into the world: the first a saintly daughter, and the second a boy, who has nothing but disrespect for the humble lifestyle of his parents, and who longs for nothing more than to booze and carouse in the taverns of the local town.

In story terms, the film could hardly be more timeless and classic. However, L’Herbier’s sophistication in telling the story rivals the greatest of his contemporary peers. The understanding of light and shadow, the editing, the framing/masking of shots, the use of tints, images edited into the frames of the film, all kinds of things applied to the lens to create effect and atmosphere. And, on top of that, the great use of authentic locales, and especially the presence of the violent sea in so many scenes. And, even down to the way that L’Herbier finds ways to integrate the titles of the film into the very flow of the images.

I have tried to see a lot of what is available in terms of the early silent cinema, and up until 1920, I can only really think of a handful of other films that are as impressive in cinematic terms as this one. The stills below should go some distance in illustrating the visual richness of this film.

	
L'Homme du large Web-dl 1080.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 25 min
Size: 	5.25 GiB
Video
Codec: 	h264
Resolution: 	1440x1080 
Aspect ratio:  	4:3
Frame rate: 	25.000 fps
Bit rate: 	8 551 kb/s
BPP: 	0.220
Audio
#1:  	French 2.0ch E-AC-3 @ 224 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/6BF3DA93B9353D9/L’Homme_du_large_Web-dl_1080.mkv
https://nitro.download/view/CC5472E600E9EF0/L’Homme_du_large_Web-dl_1080.srt

Language(s):Silent, French intertitles
Subtitles:English

The post Marcel L’Herbier – L’homme du large AKA Man of the Sea (1920) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Synopsis:
‘Whilst her husband, the engineer Pierre Moret, is engaged on construction projects, Denise occupies herself with charity work in the Chinese town that has become her home. Tempted into a gambling den, she soon loses a fortune. She has no recourse but to accept a gift of money from the wealthy Prince Hu-Long, who has fallen in love with her. Realising that she cannot accept such a gift, Denise returns the money to the prince, not realising that by taking the money she has become his property…’
– Films de France

Forfaiture.1937.TVRip.x264.AC3.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1h 34mn
Size: 	1.46 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	688x544 ~> 749x544
Aspect ratio:  	1.377
Frame rate: 	25.000 fps
Bit rate: 	1 954 Kbps
BPP: 	0.209
Audio
#1:  	2.0ch AC-3 @ 256 Kbps

https://nitro.download/view/C3F4843937CED85/Forfaiture.1937.TVRip.x264.AC3.mkv
https://nitro.download/view/2CD6F08219DFDAF/Forfaiture.1937.TVRip.x264.AC3.eng.srt

Language(s):French
Subtitles:English

The post Marcel L’Herbier – Forfaiture AKA The Cheat (1937) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
Adapted from Émile Zola’s novel of the same name, Marcel L’Herbier’s L’Argent [Money] is an opulent classic of late-silent era cinema. Filmed in part on location at the Paris stock exchange, it reveals a world of intrigue, greed, decadence, and ultimately corruption and scandal when business dealings and amorous deceit combine. Business tycoons Saccard and Gunderman lock horns when the former attempts to raise capital for his faltering bank. To inflate the price of his stock, Saccard concocts a duplicitous publicity stunt involving the unwitting aviator Hamelin and a flight across the Atlantic to drill for oil, much to the dismay of his wife Line. While Hamelin is away, the lascivious Saccard attempts to seduce Line, whose own temptation by the allure of money puts herself and her husband in danger, pawns in a high-stakes chess game played out by unscrupulous speculators. With an all-star cast (Brigitte Helm and Alfred Abel, fresh from Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, alongside Pierre Alcover, Yvette Guilbert, and luminary of the French avant-garde Antonin Artaud) and a mammoth budget, L’Argent is comparable in period and scale with other celebrated epics of the silent era, such as Abel Gance’s Napoléon. With its use of portable cameras that literally descend into the Bourse and revolve around its lavish contours, L’Argent represents a type of cinematic Impressionism distinctive to the silent art a poetry that would change forever with the coming of sound.
DVDBeaver

L'argent.1928.AVIS.X264.PBT.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	3 h 13 min
Size: 	3.13 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	716x574 ~> 765x574
Aspect ratio:  	4:3
Frame rate: 	17.000 fps
Bit rate: 	2 081 kb/s
BPP: 	0.298
Audio
#1:  	2.0ch AC-3 @ 192 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/99FCF65D1260424/L’argent.1928.AVIS.X264.PBT.mkv
https://nitro.download/view/07070EC7CF23EE0/L’argent.1928.AVIS.X264.PBT.srt

Language(s):Silent with French intertitles
Subtitles:English srt

The post Marcel L’Herbier – L’argent (1928) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

PLOT: Ludivine, a lttle tomboy, takes on the too polite Delphin. Being caught, and punished, she wants him and his father to be dead. When the latter dies, she feels guilty and takes Delphin under her wing.

Le.diable.au.coeur.1928.Marcel.L'Herbier.DVDRip.DD2.0.x264.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	2 h 1 min
Size: 	2.62 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	716x576 ~> 768x576
Aspect ratio:  	4:3
Frame rate: 	25.000 fps
Bit rate: 	2 842 kb/s
BPP: 	0.276
Audio
#1:  	French 2.0ch AC-3 @ 192 kb/s (Stereo)

https://nitro.download/view/7EDE9A766F7638D/Le.diable.au.coeur.1928.Marcel.L’Herbier.DVDRip.DD2.0.x264.mkv

Language(s):French [intertitles]
Subtitles:English

The post Marcel L’Herbier – Le diable au coeur AKA The Devil in the Heart AKA Little Devil May Care (1927) first appeared on Cinema of the World.