Directed by Jean Renoir
Written by Jean Renoir and Denise Leblond (both uncredited) from the novel by Emile Zola
1938/France
Paris Film
Repeat viewing
Jacques Lantier: I can’t go on. I can’t go on.
This adaptation of Emile Zola’s novel may be my least favorite of Jean Renoir’s films. It is great filmmaking nonetheless.
Jacques Lantier (Jean Gabin) is a highly competent train driver, who is a little in love with the steam engine that he has named “Lison”. He travels the rails with a down-to-earth stoker, Pecquex (Julien Carette). Poor Jacques suffers mightily from terrifying blackouts ending in homicidal fits. These he attributes to hereditary “alcohol poisoning” with which he has been cursed by generations of his alcoholic ancestors.
Roubaud (the excellent Fernand Ledoux) is the stationmaster at one of the stops on Jacques’ route. He dotes on his young beautiful wife Séverine (Simone Simon) but is pathologically jealous and abusive toward her. He gets the idea (probably well-founded) that Séverine has had an affair with railroad boss Grandmorin and decides to make his wife an accomplice in his murder to “bind her to him”.
The two execute the plan on a train and Jacques witnesses them returning to their compartment. Séverine uses her feminine charms to secure Jacques’ silence and their relationship rapidly develops into something more, ending in tragedy for all concerned. With Renoir as a fall guy.
While I find that La Bête Humaine lacks the humanism I love in Renoir’s films, it grew on me quite a bit on this viewing. Previously I thought that the entire plot hinged on the “alcohol poisoning” construct which kind of lets everyone off the hook. This time I saw the film as more of a Double Indemnity-type story, something I doubt Zola intended but could have been on Renoir’s mind. Certainly Séverine is a classic femme fatale. Simone Simon, already looking like a kitten well before Cat People, portrays her to perfection.
Gabin brought Zola’s novel to Renoir because he wanted to drive a train, and the railroad scenes are the true glory of the picture. They are dynamic and beautifully shot. Needless to say, for me Gabin can do no wrong as an actor.
La Bête Humaine was reportedly the most financially successful of Renoir’s 1930’s films. Fritz Lang modernized and remade the story in 1954 as Human Desire with Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame.
Trailer
After seeing Simon in Cat People I looked for other films and since this one was from Renoir and had Gabin in it, I watched it. I liked it a lot. The thing that I liked best is that it was not what I was expecting at all. It anticipated the entire film noir genre that became popular in the 1940s. This is one of my favorite Renoir films.
It certainly grew on me, maybe because I did noir month this year. My rating definitely went up but still not in the top 5 Renoir films for me. Of course, second-tier Renoir is better than first-tier from almost anyone else!
I agree with you all along. It is not a bad film, but it lacks some of the depth of renoir’s other films. I mostly remember it for a lot of grimy trains.
I blame Zola!
If it has Gabin and is directed by Renoir it can’t be bad……but I am in agreement with the comments above. It is not my favorite film of either the actor or the director but is still well done. It was dark and made me feel depressed!!!!!!
Renoir really made a very black film noir before there was such a thing.