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Waste of time

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

February 2016:Opening a parcel of DVDs on my birthday,I was pleased to find that as a gift,the DVD seller had included a copy of Marcel Carné's Port of Shadows (in a plain white sleeve.) Going out to meet pals,I put the disc to the side,and made plans to watch it later that night.Returning home,it soon hit me that I had forgotten where I put it,with the white sleeve blending into other DVD cases (who says you can have a "watch list" that is to big!)September 2016:Searching for the 1950 Yves Allégret/Simone Signoret Film Noir Manèges,I was thrilled to stumble on Port of Shadows,which led to me rushing to the port.The plot:Desperate to leave his life in the army behind, deserter Jean sails into the port city of Le Havre,in order to catch a ship where he can start a new life. Planning to stay hidden in the shadows,Jean steps out when he catches a glimpse of 17 year old (police!) Nelly. Running away from her godfather Zabel's place after he makes aggressive advances,Nelly (whose boyfriend Maurice has "disappeared") starts to spend time with Jean. As Jean and Nelly get closer,Zabel and local gangster Lucien start making plans on sending Jean off to the port of shadows.View on the film:Called "immoral, depressing and distressing for young people" and being too negative on the country when it hit the screens,the movie has had a tough fight for survival,with the master print having scenes (sadly still missing) ripped out,and the Criterion version (which I saw) having a clean picture and sound,but lacking the extended first scene,but poorer image quality of the Studio Canal edition. Despite these challenges,director Marcel Carné is still able to cast Film Noir mist over the high seas.Sailing in, Jean Gabin gives an excellent performance as Jean. Restraining Jean's anger,Gabin hatches open the shell of a Film Noir loner,hanging his shoulders low and shuffling across the floor,who crosses Nelly's personal space with an exquisite delicacy, haunted by an avalanche of death. Repulsed at Zabel's advances,the gorgeous Michèle Morgan gives a magnetic performance as 17 year old Femme Fatale Nelly,whose age allows Morgan to retain a hint of innocence criss-crossed with a fatal firmness on standing her ground.Appearing to choke on his own beard, Michel Simon gives a dazzling, monstrous performance as Zabel,while future Eyes Without A Face Pierre Brasseur gives a simmering performance as Lucien.Arriving to Le Havre on a foggy night,director Marcel Carné and cinematographer Eugen Schüfftan bathe the title in a brittle Film Noir atmosphere,covering the streets in cobbles shattered by sleet,whilst Jean's search for the harbour of escape/hope,is clouded by the rich fog Carné blocks any shots of light entering Jean's life. Wrapping an atmosphere of Film Noir doom round Nelly and Jean, Carné & Schüfftan dip the couple into an extraordinary elegance,Jean and Nelly's low- lit faces against a stark backdrop gives the Noir romance a poetic quality.Bringing Pierre Dumarchais's book into shore,the screenplay by Jacques Prévert pounds the Film Noir with cracking,hard-nosed dialogue,which along with uncovering the tough skin loner Jean has developed,also captures the tense air of menace that Lucien and Zabel have shot into the bleak sky. Cleverly commenting on events gathering pace (with Prime Minister Édouard Daladier in 1938 telling the British that Hitler's goal was "A domination of the Continent in comparison with which the ambitions of Napoleon were feeble.") Prévert brilliantly makes Jean's heart-wrenching fight for Nelly a battle for "freedom" in the merciless Film Noir terror of Zabel and Lucien,as the port of shadows sinks into darkness.

"Le Quai Des Brumes" is one of the great masterpieces of French cinema; as deeply romantic in its way as "Casablanca" but much more melancholic. Jean Gabin is the army deserter waiting in a fog-bound Le Havre for a ship to take him to South America who falls for Michele Morgan's Nelly, living in fear of her guardian and potential seducer Zabel, (the great Michel Simon). You know its all bound to end in tears and it does, mostly the audience's; only the hardest of hearts will fail to be moved by the plight of these doomed lovers. The director was Marcel Carne, working at the very height of his powers. The writer was Jacques Prevert, the superb cinematography was by Eugen Schufftan and Alexandre Trauner conjured up Le Havre on mostly studio sets. The great score was by Maurice Jaubert.

There are films that should be seen together. Wong's "Fa yeung nin wa" (2000) is one, the other quite obviously is Kaurismäki's "Le Havre" (2011). I can't help but see lots of Carné's influence in both their work. I've found it difficult to connect with Carné's work, and this is the closest I've gotten so far, despite great admiration for the man. I haven't fallen in love with his films, but perhaps this one will grow on me in due time.I have rarely seen water and fog photographed with such frankness it borders on mysticism. A character on its own, it becomes the central visual motif for the film from very early on: fog conceals, you can't see afar, people are mere silhouettes, dark shapes. Similarly it's impossible to know who is who, and who merely pretends. Look closely enough and you'll be hit with a knife or get your ears boxed. Our soldier-turned-man-on-the-run pretends to be an artist and knows nothing about watercolour, and our gangster is merely a petty and foolhardy boy looking for attention, trying to prove himself. Everyone is taking on appearances, since in the fog no one can see who you are.

Port of Shadows is a prime example of French Poetic Realism. It has doomed lovers, atmospheric settings, dark and foggy images with low-key lighting, and rain-dampened sets. Director Marcel Carne starkly portrays the lonely souls, Jean and Nelly, as they attempt to escape their dark fates.Jean is an army deserter, played by the talented Jean Gabin, who we meet as he walks down the dark road toward the port city La Havre. It is along this road that he finds a little dog, which follows him for the rest of the film as if he were a small ray of hope that he can start a normal life. However, Jean disregards the dog and claims to own nothing. He abandons his identity in order to not be caught as an army deserter by symbolically killing himself which foreshadows his doomed destiny.Nelly, played by Michele Morgan, is trying to run away from her problems, but someone is always watching or waiting for her. The details of her life are as foggy as the setting, but she is just as doomed as Jean. Jean falls in love with her and tries to help her get away from her problems by running away to Venezuela with him, but Nelly may not be capable of leaving.Carne uses techniques like mise-en-scene that add meaning to every frame. This film will not brighten up a dark day for the audience, but it will leave someone pondering questions from this drama. I definitely recommend this film, while pessimistic, is also profound with great acting and a strong script.