Standing just outside the charmed circle of classic French directors, Jean Grémillon shows his best form in this atmospheric work, now looking stronger than LUMIÈRE D'ÉTÉ/’43, his more acclaimed followup.* In production on-and-off from 1939 to‘41, just as the German Occupation was taking shape, its poetic fatalism typical of the period. With Jean Gabin (his last film in France before leaving for ‘the duration’) as a rescue/salvage tugboat captain who leaves a crewman’s wedding early when a distressed ship sends out an S.O.S. during a storm at sea. Stiffed by its saved, but ungrateful captain, Gabin finds he’s even more upended by Michèle Morgan, the man’s unhappy wife. No homewrecker, but ready to leave her husband if not entirely prepared to deal with her strong feelings for Gabin. He’s shocked to find himself in the same emotional boat. A curious feeling for a man who’s never stopped loving his wife (Madeleine Renaud). Neither a man of casual affairs nor a womanizer, Gabin is spiritually at sea and blithely unaware his wife’s health has turned precarious. Jacques Prévert’s script sees cause & depth in all of them while finding individual characterizations & motivation for a dozen shipmates, land-based friends and various professionals. Armand Thirard (go-to cinematographer for Duvivier, Clouzot, many more) is both precise & fluid for Grémillon. Though he (or someone) can’t do much about the unconvincing model ships-in-a-storm F/X. A quiet melancholy ending feels just right, but the lack of resolution may still be keeping this fine work somewhat in the shade.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: Here’s our minority view on LUMIÈRE D'ÉTÉ. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2013/09/lumiere-dete-1943.html
SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: The title, often given as STORMY WATERS, translates literally as towline or to haul.
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