Poetic Realism: Film Movement Explained

Poetic Realism is a subgenre of the realist drama genre. In the 1940s, under the direction of acclaimed French director Jean Renoir, a cinematic movement emerged that would become immensely popular in the country.

Poetic realism is a literary and artistic movement that attempts to portray the human experience by capturing the essence of reality while also going beyond it to convey emotional depth and universal truths. The central goal of this movement is to show the world as it is while making it more beautiful. This article will discuss the history of poetic realism, notable filmmakers, and films.

The History of Poetic Realism

French filmmakers popularised an approach called Poetic Realism that emphasised the filmmaker’s voice. In the 1930s, French cinema experienced its first modernist movement.

During the years leading up to WWII, a small but significant group of French filmmakers created some of cinema’s most iconic and formative works. Famous French filmmakers and actors like Jean Renoir, Jean Vigo, Julien Duvivier, and Jean Gabin all got their start in the poetic realist movement.

During the early 1930s, a group of directors emerged who favoured working-class themes and social realism in opposition to the more romantic style of filmmaking that had dominated French cinema before that year.

Poetic Realism was defined by its dark tone and emotionally charged stories, which were frequently set in industrial neighborhoods and workplaces.

Many people consider Jean Vigo’s L’Atalante (1934) to be the beginning of Poetic Realism and Marcel Carné’s Hôtel du Nord (1938) to be its apogee. Some would argue that Jean Renoir’s La Grande Illusion (1937) is the most well-known film from the region.

Zero for Conduct (1933) by Jean Vigo and Le Quai des Brumes (1938) by Marcel Carné mark the beginning and end of the French poetic realism film movement.

Notable Filmmakers

Jean Renoir

Renoir is the most well-known and highly regarded of all the great French filmmakers who fall under the umbrella term of Poetic Realism, which is difficult to define. Poetic Realism, a French film movement that flourished during the early sound era, combined non-narrative poetic innovations with narrative continuity conventions.

The final product is a series of films that marries the aesthetic concerns of those earlier movements with the conventions of Hollywood filmmaking to display a progressive worldview without alienating the masses. Released in 1939, The Rules of the Game is the most well-known Poetic Realist film and is frequently listed among the top films of all time.

Julien Duvivier

Between the years 1930 and 1960, Julien Duvivier was a major figure in French cinema. According to Jean Renoir, He was a “great technician, rigorist, a poet”.

Duvivier collaborated with Marcel Vandal and Charles Delac at their 1930s film production company, Film d’Art. He ended up staying with them for a total of nine years. His first major hit was David Golder (1930). Later, they collaborated on numerous projects.

Some workers in his 1936 film La Belle Equipe win the lottery, but their good fortune doesn’t last. This film exemplifies Poetic Realism. They lost everything before they knew it, and that was about it. Due to its extreme sadness, the ending was altered to be more upbeat. He has collaborated with many famous actors, including Maurice Chevalier, throughout his long career.

Marcel Carnè

Film critic and editor for prominent French cinema periodicals Marcel Carnè worked his way up to directing by age 25 after serving as a camera assistant. One critic has called his films Le Quai des Brumes and Le Jour Se Lève among the greatest classics of the surrealist era, which he began working on with Jacques Prèvert in 1936.

Notable Films

L’Atalante (1934)

Juliette (Dita Parlo), a feisty country girl, marries Jean (Jean Dasté), the captain of a barge, and moves aboard his boat, L’Atalante after the couple has a brief and whirlwind courtship. Jean gets tired of Juliette’s flirting with his all-male crew as they travel down the Seine, while Juliette longs to leave the boat and experience the excitement of a big city. After she sneaks off to Paris by herself, her husband starts to question whether or not he made the right choice in getting married to her.

La Bandera (1935)

Pierre Gilieth (Jean Gabin) is forced to leave Paris after he kills a man during a fight. He visits Barcelona, Spain, but has his money stolen, forcing him to enlist in the Spanish Foreign Legion. By the time he is stationed in North Africa, he has convinced himself that he has successfully buried the evidence. However, Fernando (Robert Le Vigan), a new friend on the team, is a detective who has been watching his every move. When they are attacked, however, the two will have to work together.

La Belle Équipe (1936)

Jean Gabin, Charles Vanel, and Viviane Romance starred in this French drama film directed by Julien Duvivier. Five jobless individuals win 100,000 Swiss francs in a national lottery. They decide to spend the money on a dilapidated building and open an outdoor cafe instead of splitting the proceeds. Unfortunately, problems arise that cause the group’s unity to crack.

Le Jour se Lève (1939)

François (Jean Gabin), a quiet worker, is deeply devoted to Françoise (Jacqueline Laurent), an innocent orphan. Still, he is growing increasingly concerned by her growing attraction to a shady entertainer named Valentin (Jules Berry). When Valentin’s assistant and lover Clara (Arletty) leaves him, she begins dating François, despite the latter’s continued longing for Françoise. When Valentin sees François becoming irritated by his growing interest in Françoise, he mocks him, prompting a tragic act that shocks everyone.

Poetic Realism is a cinematic movement that originated in postwar France in the 1940s and gained traction across Europe. Its goals was a more realistic cinema. In keeping with the era’s innovative approach to filmmaking and acting, Poetic Realism often showed characters, not in the best light but as they actually are.