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11 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :- An excellent anarchic comedy by Renoir, 8 July 2007 Author: José Luis Rivera Mendoza (jluis1984) from Mexico
While filmmaker Jean Renoir is usually considered among the most influential French directors of all time, it is common to find that discussions on his work tend to focus around his late 30s work, particularly in his movies "La Grande Illusion", "La Bête Humaine" and "La Règle Du Jeu". This is not really surprising, as those three are arguably Renoir's best films, however, while probably not as outstanding as those three, the rest of his work is of a consistent quality and of great importance for those interested in French cinema. This is specially true for his earlier movies, where Renoir was still developing his own technique and with it the style that would influence French cinema for generations. The 1932 comedy "Boudu Sauvé Des Eaux" is a perfect example of this, as while not really one of Renoir's best films, it is an enjoyable movie that is miles ahead most movies of its time."Boudu Sauvé Des Eaux", which literally means "Boudu Saved from the Water" is better known in English as ""Boudu saved from Drowning", as it is the tale of a tramp named Boudu (Michel Simon), who disenchanted with life after he loses his dog, decides to jump into the river Seine hoping to die. But Boudu's plan fails as he is saved by a gentle bookseller named Edouard Lestingois (Charles Granval), who after reviving him decides to "adopt" the tramp in his family, with the hope of making a good gentleman out of the bum. However, Boudu proves to be a difficult case, as with his lack of manners and wild anarchism shakes the lives of those living at Lestingois house, causing a mess everywhere becoming the terror of Lestingoi's wife Emma (Marcelle Hainia) and a source of constant frustration for Edouard Lestingois himself.Based on a play by René Fauchois, "Boudu Sauvé Des Eaux" was adapted to the screen by Renoir himself and the then-newcomer Albert Valentin, whom certainly took advantage of the different possibilities that cinema offered to expand on the anarchic humor of the play. As one can imagine, the source of most of the movie's comedy lays in the social differences between Boudu and the Lestingoi family, making fun the bourgeois values of French society without mercy and surprisingly, void of any moralist stance. It is a very modern movie in this aspect, as without any pretensions or false sentimentalism (he makes sure of not making Boudu a hero) Renoir makes a poignant social commentary that is as clever as it's funny. The excellent development of his assortment of characters is the icing of the cake in what truly is one of Renoir's best screenplays among his early works.As written above, in his adaptation of "Boudu Sauvé Des Eaux" director Jean Renoir looked for a more cinematic approach to the play, avoiding the use of sets almost completely and shooting on location as much as possible. This use of natural landscapes and real locations, together with Renoir's smooth and skillful camera-work create a sense of realism that later would become Renoir's trademark. Giving excellent use to Georges Asselin' cinematography, Renoir uses everyplace he can as a stage for his film, literally taking us along with Boudu in his adventure inside the Lestingois house. This wasn't the first time Renoir worked this way, but "Boudu Sauvé Des Eaux" was a further development of this style, a technique that would find its higher point in the three masterpieces he made later on that decade. While not one of his classics, many of Renoir's trademarks can already be seen here.One of the elements that make "Boudu Sauvé Des Eaux" so enjoyable is definitely the acting, as everyone in the cast is simply excellent. The highlight is of course the legendary Michel Simon, who as Boudu, delivers one of the best and funniest performances in his career. With delightful malice and a good dose of cynicism, Simon makes Boudu a complex character that can go from being the most sympathetic antihero to the most despicable human being in seconds, and always without losing that charm that helps him to carry the film. As the Lestingois couple, Charles Granval and Marcelle Hainia are certainly playing caricatures, however, with extraordinary talent these two actors make the most of their characters, making them more complex and very vivid. Finally, Sévérine Lerczinska makes a terrific scene stealing performance that makes one wonder why did her career on film was so short.While a harsh critique on the self-righteousness of the French bourgeoisie and the differences between classes (often compared to Chaplin's work), Renoir never intends this to be a moral lesson, as unlike what happens in Chaplin's films, neither Boudu is completely good nor Lestingois is completely bad. Instead of the classic "rich = bad, poor = noble" archetypes, "Boudu Sauvé Des Eaux" shows a very natural balance between both social classes, making fun of the clash of both without sentimentalism and with subtle malice, as if Renoir was stating that neither are exactly good. Even when "Boudu Sauvé Des Eaux" and its style of anarchic humor may look dated now, the movie is still very fun to watch. It isn't a masterpiece of cinema, but still holds up today, more than 70 years after its release.Lighthearted but clever, "Boudu Sauvé Des Eaux" makes a nice introduction to the work of Jean Renoir as it has many of the elements that would become the basis of his work but under a simpler, friendlier facade. "Boudu Sauvé Des Eaux" may look a bit slow and dated nowadays, but it's still as valid as ever and an excellent example of French comedy of the 30s. A very recommended film. 8/10
8 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :- He rose from the gutter, 4 May 2005 Author: dbdumonteil
..sorry from the river.but it's important to bear in mind that Boudu is a metamorphosis of Legrand,the hero of Renoir's precedent work "la chienne" ,who became a tramp at the end of that movie.And like Nana in Renoir's eponymous silent movie adapted from Zola,he rose from the waters ("sauvé des eaux" is the exact meaning of the name "Mosis")to shake the well meaning bourgeoisie.A bourgeoisie where a piano is in the house because you must have one even if you do not play the piano. Almost thirty years before Luis Bunuel ("Viridiana" 1961) ,Renoir denounces the bourgeois charity ,which is a great weight off our guilty minds.Boudu is revolutionary,like Moliere's "Tartuffe" ,he squeezes Lestingois dry,but he knows from the start he will not be part of them .He refuses conventions,marriage is the worst of them all.These final sequences ,where Renoir made the best use of "blue Danube" I know (with Kubrik's "2001",but in a diametrically opposite way),are the key of the movie.Boudu looks like,at the end of the movie, like some distant cousin of Charlie Chaplin ,but a Chaplin who would have discovered cynicism.Needless to say,"Boudu" would not be "Boudu" without Michel Simon's extraordinary presence.Such an actor does not exist anymore in French contemporary cinema.And his filmography is full of treasures.To think that he also worked with Duvivier,Carné,Clair,Decoin and so many more..Remakes "down and out in Beverly Hills" with Nick Nolte and Bette Middler. "Boudu" ,by Gérard Jugnot,this very year. Are they necessary?
7 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :- Dog bites man, 19 March 2005 Author: Gary170459 from Derby, UK
*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
Boudu is an odd and inconsequential film, it's a tour de force from Michel Simon, and has some clever touches from Renoir (those long lenses!), but leaves me with the impression of someone learning his trade. He had been making films for about seven years and the classics were still to come!*** Basically tramp loses dog, attempts suicide but is saved by liberal minded bookseller, becomes ungrateful dog to philandering bookseller whom he also cuckolds. Many humorous vignettes later he swims free of any ownership issues, depicted with some of the most gloriously atmospheric black & white nitrate photography from 1932 I've seen. ***If it sounds like it doesn't add up to much, it does, the film has stayed in my imagination since I first saw it in the '80's. The Parts certainly add up to more than the Whole. Fortunately I have no intention of seeing any of the remakes so my impression will remain intact.
8 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :- Very enjoyable; Michel Simon is inspired as Boudu., 3 September 2000 Author: Tom May (joycean_chap@hotmail.com) from Sunderland, England
I'm sure this film would have raised many an eyebrow at the time, perhaps due to the distinctly modern depiction of marriage and relationships. Jean Renoir directs and writes with a sure, light touch, poking subtle fun at bourgeois values through Granval and Hainia's characters. Charles Granval is wonderful as the laid back liberal Bookseller, with no real skills of character judgement, while Marcelle Hainia is delightful as the wife not quite as prim and "respectable" as she seems at first. The major portrayal is of Boudu, though. Michel Simon shows a remarkable comic touch, up to the likes of Tati almost (what an interesting pairing Tati and Simon would have made...). His vagabond, Boudu is both a seedy and wonderfully endearing creation, with moments of casual, blunt pathos and eccentricity interspersed expertly by Renoir. In many ways, the work of Chaplin seems an influence on the film, with the lowly tramp portrayed as no worse than the bourgeosie. There is none of Chaplin's much remarked-upon sentimentality though, with Boudu coming never less than a little flawed. It's interesting to view how he changes throughout the film, from suicidal to anarchic to a man of principled decision- the final choice he has to make in the wonderful end sequence.As the first Renoir I've seen, it bodes well for future renoir viewings as "Boudu" generally isn't seen as one of his masterpieces."Boudu Saved From Drowning" is a delight. It's pace is leisurely, relaxed, but never seems slow. It's a better film than the 1934 Vigo effort "L'Atalante" starring Simon, as it has excellent characters and an effective, humour and plot. Wonderful it is, be assured. Rating:- **** 1/2 (out of *****).
4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :- Great little early Renoir film, 4 June 2000 Author: liehtzu from Korea
"Boudu Saved From Drowning" is hardly one of the director's masterworks (though I have seen it on critics' Top Ten lists that excluded "Rules of the Game" and "Grand Illusion") but it is a fine little film in its own right. The story of the scruffy tramp (Michel Simon in a role quite similar to his in "L'atalante") who is adopted by a wealthy book store owner after the book seller saves him from from drowning himself. Instead of being grateful for the rescue Boudu couldn't care less and makes a genuine mess of his host's home and seduces the man's wife and maid (whom the book seller is also sleeping with on the side).The film is well photographed, employing the deep-focus photography and smooth camera movement that Renoir would later go on to perfect. Though "Boudu's" satire is not as sharp as that of "Rules" it is much less malicious. This film is out of print in any video format, but hopefully a good re-issue print will find its way back into circulation.
2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :- Hanging loose, 28 May 2006 Author: RNQ from Canada
Actually it's hard to overpraise any of Jean Renoir's movies. They all have, but this one particularly, a wonderful openness, and thereby freedom for characters to make fresh choices. Propped in a door frame, cleaning his shoes, whatever Boudu does seems unplanned, Renoir saying "Why not?" to anything Michel Simon invented in the liberty of his hair and costumes. Freer maybe than the more carefully scripted inventions of Chaplin and Keaton; right up there with Jean Vigo's "Zero de conduite." Renoir could do crowds; he could do both boating on a stream and a country wedding. He could do human beings, which gives us humanity. Art needs this bouduisme, and long may Boudu live, preferably on a good DVD.
3 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :- pretty good but not great, 24 March 2006 Author: planktonrules from Bradenton, Florida
I really enjoy watching old Michel Simon films. When I find one of his films, I always QUICKLY grab it and watch it as soon as possible. That's because even if the film isn't that great, his performance is always very interesting and quite unusual. My favorite film of his is Drôle de drame (1937), but he did several others that are among my favorites.Well, once again Simon's performance makes this film worth watching. While in this case his acting is NOT subtle or perhaps as high quality as he's done in other films (it's a bit over-the-top), it's fun to just turn off your mind and watch the silliness. This film will not change your life and is a pretty insignificant film but still good to watch nonetheless. I think, for me, the reason I didn't enjoy the film more is that the character of Boudu is a pretty awful person and I just couldn't buy that he was such a sexual dynamo that he was able to make these women forget how crude, selfish and disgusting he was just by turning on the old libido! So my verdict is that this is a good film that you can watch only if you suspend disbelief. Oh, and I forgot to mention, director Renoir did a great job on the film. For a 1931 French film, the sound and camera work are superb--something you DON'T see in many other films from this country until the later 1930s--he was truly ahead of his time.
3 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :- One of Renoir's best, 3 November 2005 Author: MisterWhiplash from United States
One of the aspects to the films that I have seen of Jean Renoir so far (this, Rules of the Game, Grand Illusion, and La Bete Humaine) is that some of the more humorous or theatrical moments are given a total bed of humanity to fall back on. And, in some ways the film works on a kind of double edged sword that is surprising for a film coming from this era. It sometimes has some really hard edged, social-satire type moments involving the homeless man in a more upscale setting wreaking minor havoc. But it's also at the core full of humanity, and even the bourgeois are not necessarily 'bad' characters in the film (at one point, the man of the house sings a random song to himself, little moments like that).Boudu, played with utter sublime "old-school" comic timing by Michael Simon, is a homeless man with a black dog. When the dog goes missing, he just sulks around for a while, taking that fateful plunge into the water. When some upper-class types, the Lestingois, come to his rescue and give him their place to stay, things start to slowly go awry. From here Renoir laces some comedy of class, some bits of romantic interludes, and little flights of fancy that give the picture's 80 minute running time a perfect fit. This is also a really well-woven together film as well, meaning all of the little touches (a band playing out in the streets, the occasional daring with the lens/camera, the little quirks all in Simon's performance as well as some others) are put into this seemingly broad story of a fish out of water, if you'll forgive the expression. It may seem not as fluid as some of Renoir's latest films, but it really isn't at times; Renoir is really working with a new form here by way of the advent of sound, and yet his presence is in every frame, setting it apart from other tales of this sort. And such wonderful music as well. This is the one Renoir film, ironically at the shortest length of those I've seen, that I can't wait the most to see again.
Certainly well made Renoir film, but ultimately rather dull, 10 September 2009 Author: (flakmagnet15@gmail.com) from United States
This is a difficult film to review succinctly. I didn't really enjoy it, but the film is well-made, well acted, and the underlying message is still poignant. At the time, "Boudu Saved from Drowning" was quite controversial, with Michel Simon's portrayal of the antisocial, uncompromised tramp (Boudu) inciting audiences to actual riot. (In fact, the film was apparently pulled from theaters by French police several days into its screening). Essentially, "Boudu Saved from Drowning" is an attack on liberalism, as well as a sort of black satire about societal class differences. Through their interaction with Boudu, a stereotypical Burgeouise family showcase the consequences of liberal idealism, as their efforts to help and reform Boudu all backfire unpredictably. Boudu is an irredeemable, unchangeable, and uncompromised outsider and he is happy as such. In the words of Jean Renoir, "...Micheal Simon was more than a tramp. He was the personification of all tramps." In other words, the lower class. Michel Simon does a great job with the part and the Boudu character is memorable. However, the rest of the characters are unlikeable (e.g. a perverse, overweight philanderer; his unabashed housekeeper mistress, a caustic wife, etc.) and the film's narrative is just, well, stuffy. I'd probably appreciate a film like this much more at 60 than I do at 30. For a film from 1931, "Boudu" does seem pretty fresh and the print looks terrific. Nonetheless, I didn't find "Boudu" very engaging. I can't recommend this one. ---|--- Reviews by Flak Magnet
Movie Odyssey Review #071: Boudu Saved from Drowning, 22 January 2007 Author: Cyke from Denver, Colorado
071: Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932) - released in France 11/11/1932; viewed 6/30/06.The San Francisco Opera House opens. 'Buck Rogers in the 25th Century' airs on radio for the first time. Franklin D. Roosevelt defeats Herbert Hoover in a landslide victory.BIRTHS: Roy Scheider.DOUG: A tramp named Boudu decides to commit suicide, but is rescued by a rich, gentle bookseller who takes him in. There, Boudu makes a mess of everything in the house with his lazy, salacious, man-child ways, injecting this bourgeois household with some much-needed id. This little film was suggested in an issue of Premiere Magazine with a list of 50 Hidden Gems on DVD. I figured we might as well check this one out; our journey through 1932 could use some foreign color, after all. The DVD has a very nice intro from Renoir himself, praising the style and performance of his star, Michel Simon, his leading man from 'La Chienne.' The film reunites Renoir with Simon, who was perfect at playing total losers. This film goes rather nicely with 'La Chienne.' Boudu could be the same guy. He often seems to be slightly retarded. A memorable scene has him polishing his shoes at the behest of Emma, the bookkeeper's wife (who apparently assumes that any sensible human being knows how to polish his shoes). Boudu ignores the brush and rag and simply applies the polish with his bare hands, getting the stuff on EVERYTHING. What makes it all funny is the way the family reacts to his antics; Edouard gets so frustrated with Boudu that he declares that the next time he sees a man drowning, he'll only rescue him if he's "one of us," (upper class). This coming from a man who owns a piano that no one in the house knows how to play simply because "we are respectable people." Boudu is more or less the same character at the end as at the beginning, with the small exception that he's no longer suicidal. This film also contains some of the first exterior location shooting, improvisational acting, and just a touch of deep focus photography.KEVIN: Another pic from Jean Renoir, and though he hasn't yet captured my heart as a master filmmaker, he's definitely shown himself to be a unique talent. As for Boudu, the lovable wino played by Michel Simon, I wouldn't want this guy traipsing around my house. Watching him eat, the way he pushes food past that ugly beard, makes me never want to eat again. Michel Simon's portrayal of Boudu is probably too perfect. The way he talks, walks, moves, and eats is frighteningly believable. I don't think I really got the movie though. It's a comedy, but I didn't laugh very much, or even chuckle. The bookseller and his family are hopelessly in over their heads on what to do with Boudu after taking him in. They keep trying to house break him, but their attempts to assimilate him into their civilized, cultured lifestyle just slide off Boudu like axle grease. This is a very strange movie to be sure. Boudu is nearly the same homeless lovable loser he was at the beginning, with the sole exception that he's no longer suicidal when the end titles come up. Boudu doesn't seem to care that he's gone on any kind of journey or met new people or has some nice new clothes. Maybe that's part of his charm.Last film: Night After Night (1932). Next film: I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932).
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