Lumière d'été (1943)

Director:

Jean Grémillon

Writers:

Pierre Laroche (dialogue)
Pierre Laroche (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

26 April 1946 (Austria)

Genre:

Drama

Cast

Madeleine Renaud	...	Cricri
Pierre Brasseur	...	Roland
Madeleine Robinson	...	Michèle
Paul Bernard	...	Patrice
Georges Marchal	...	Julien
Léonce Corne	...	Tonton
Charles Blavette	...	Vincent
Jane Marken	...	Louise Martinet (as Jeanne Marken)
Henri Pons	...	Amédée
Gérard Lecomte	...	Dany
Marcel Lévesque	...	Monsieur Louis
Raymond Aimos	...	Ernest
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Josette Paddé	...	Un dame au bal masqué (uncredited)
Georges Yvon	...	Un ouvrier (uncredited)

Directed by
Jean Grémillon

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Pierre Laroche		dialogue
Pierre Laroche		screenplay
Jacques Prévert		dialogue
Jacques Prévert		screenplay

Produced by
André Paulvé	....	producer

Original Music by
Roland Manuel		(as Roland-Manuel)

Cinematography by
Louis Page

Film Editing by
Louisette Hautecoeur

Production Design by
Léon Barsacq		(as Barsacq)
Max Douy
Alexandre Trauner		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Léon Barsacq

Production Management
Lucien Lippens	....	production supervisor
Fred Orain	....	unit manager
Louis Wipf	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Serge Vallin	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Paul Duvergé	....	sound
Jean Monchablon	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Roger Arrignon	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Bruno Patin	....	remastering digital grading

Music Department
Roger Desormière	....	conductor (as Roger Désormière)

Production Companies

• Films André Paulvé

Distributors

• DisCina (1943) (France) (theatrical)
• Criterion Collection, The (2012) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"Wetterleuchten" - Austria, Germany
"Bergtagen" - Sweden
"Blaski lata" - Poland (imdb display title)
"Carnaval zonder masker" - Netherlands (imdb display title)
"De maalstroom der driften" - Belgium (Flemish title)
"Katarameno pandoheion" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)
"Le tourbillon des passions" - Belgium (French title)
"Sommerlicht" - West Germany (TV title)
"Suudelma pimeässä" - Finland

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

France:U (Visa #1) | Finland:S

Filming Locations:

Studios de la Victorine - 16 avenue Edoard Grinda, Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France

Company:

Films André Paulvé

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Deux fois cinquante ans de cinéma français (1995)

Quintet

"Lumière d'Ete " is probably Grémillon's most ambitious work.Made during the Occupation days,many people consider it his best.One should add it's also his less accessible.

Although it's a Prévert/Laroche screenplay ,the main influence here is Renoir's .All that concerns Paul Bernard's character and his fete in the castle strongly recalls "La Règle du Jeu" .Probably the center of gravity of the movie ,this memorable sequence of the farandole -while the tragedy is impending- will find an equivalent in Prévert/Carné's ending of "Les Enfants Du Paradis".

There are only five characters :three men and two women.

Cri-Cri (Madeleine Renaud,Grémillon's favorite actress) ,her lover Patrice and a failed painter (Pierre Brasseur) represent the bourgeois society.

Michèle (Madeleine Robinson) and Julien(Georges Marchal) are the working class heroes .The latter thoroughly deserves this name,in every sense of the term.

Patrice is a perverse man with a racy -and even criminal- past who does not love Cri-Cri anymore :did he ever love her anyway? or was he just pretending because she knew too many bad things about him?A man of leisure,he invites Roland (the artist) in his castle just because he desires his partner Michele .

In direct contrast to that ,we have the working men: they are building a dam and they are useful.And they are here when it comes to lend a helping hand .

There's a good use of the "play in the play " trick;During the costume ball,Roland is disguised as Hamlet ,which makes sense.Apart from Shakespeare, Laroche and Prevert hint at French writer Comtesse de Ségur,since Cri-Cri's hotel is called "L'Ange Gardien" (The guardian angel) and one of the guests thinks of dressing up as General Dourakine .

With all its qualities,"Lumière d'Eté " is less appealing than "Pattes Blanches" where Paul Bernard plays a squire again : the first third of the 1943 work drags on a bit and may put off some viewers.Nonetheless,it is essential viewing for anyone interested in the French cinema.