Carnival in Flanders (1935)

Carnival in Flanders (“La Kermesse héroïque”)
Directed by Jacques Feyder
1935/France/Germany
Films Sonores Tobis
First viewing

[box] “In this regard, the most hateful film is unarguably La Kermesse héroïque because everything in it is incomplete, its boldness is attenuated; it is reasonable, measured, its doors are half-open, the paths are sketched and only sketched; everything in it is pleasant and perfect.” — Francois Truffaut, The Films in My Life[/box]

A village in 17th Century Flanders in preparing for a carnival. Into the midst of this comes a contingent of occupying Spanish troops, who want to be housed for the night. The Burgermeister and other men, fearing rape and pillage, decide to lay low with the Burgermeister pretending to have died. The women, led by the Burgermeister’s wife, decide the proper course is to welcome the Spaniards with open arms. A bawdy good time is had by all.

A whole Flemish town was built in suburban Paris as the setting for this farce and it is certainly quite a spectacle. You can see Feyder’s inspiration from the paintings of Brueghels, who is a character in the film, in many of the crowd scenes. The acting is first-rate. I particularly liked Louis Jouvet as the crooked Spanish priest.

This was the kind of costume production that the French New Wave was rebelling against. It is now possible to enjoy both kinds of films and “pleasant and perfect” is sometimes just what the doctor ordered.