La Bete Humaine (The Criterion Collection) [DVD]

"La Bete Humaine" is one of my favourites of all Emile Zola's novels. This famous film version, directed by Jean Renoir in 1938, is a clever adaption of the main characters in the book, the unfortunate Lantier (Jean Gabin), the kittenish and deadly Severin (Simone Simon) and her dour husband Roubaud (Fernand Ledoux). The book is more complex with many more sub-plots but it would have been impossible to incorporate it all so the changes are just fine, particularly as the mood has been recreated cleverly. There are many enlightening reviews on Amazon so I simply summarise as follows:- this is a Criterion package so the print has been restored from the best possible sources and is very good, preserving the stunning composition which was integral to Renoir's skill.- the extras include some very important interviews which assist the novice enormously to understand the gravity of the film, particularly if the viewer is unfamiliar with the source material. Peter Bogdanovich is entertaining and to the point as always but more importantly, there are two interviews/segments with Renoir himself, one in which he introduces the film for a screening on TV in the late 50s and the other when he recreates directing Simone Simon.- best of all, the package contains a booklet with 3 really excellent essays about the film, the novel and the production itself. These are invaluable.As usual, Criterion have made a significant contribution to the preservation and reincarnation of an important classic film.

I'm not a great fan of Renoir, but here his style works well. He's good at photography, and usually weak on story flow - too loaded with sentiment. This heavy theme works well under his control. The print is generally good, and the extras are copius and very interesting. The psychological depictions feel authentic. Gabin's character is difficult to understand. This is not a flaw, because he is like so many real people I've encountered, difficult to understand because of their internal conflicts. His conflicts have been controlled and muted by limiting his life's focus to the train. Although his sidekick sometimes border on the "straight man", he never quite goes over the line. It contrasts well with the deep darkness of Gabin's character.In summary: A great movie, a good repro, and a fine disc set.

A magnificent film with great acting, writing, editing and cinematography.. It moves right along, at times literally. The great Jean Renoir wrote and directed it. Jean Gabin, considered by many to be the embodiment of French cinema, shows in this film why that is so. Simone Simon is a fantastic femme fatale, a real trailblazer.Some say Double Indemnity was the first film noir but this is the real granddaddy of them all. Try it, you'll like it.

Jean Renoir made his version of Zola's novel. What is fun here is the fabulous sights we see while on the train thru France. Beatiful b&w photography, mind you.Now, the story I didn't quite get it. I didn't get to care too much about the afflicted engineer; his psyche is really weird to me. Then there's his relationship with the unorthodox femme fatal, for whom I didn't care much either. So the study of characters isn't the best one I've seen in film history.In brief, boring but beautiful. There are better Renoir films to choose from.

i love French films, but the American version of this classic story by Emil Zola beats this movie all the way. Human Desire (the 1954 version directed by Fritz Lang) is better crafted and features a superior cast that included Glen Ford, Gloria Graham and Broderick Crawford. Unless you feel like watching this to improve your comprehension of French, give it a miss and instead watch Human Desire.

Jean Renoir's moody adaptation of Emile Zola's book features one of Gabin's seminal pre-war performances, and an arresting turn by the sexy Simon (who'd venture stateside four years later to make "The Cat People"). Renoir's vivid location shooting around trains and train stations portrays the dusty anonymity of one isolated man, while serving as metaphor for a numb, bewildered nation about to enter the dark tunnel of occupation. A stunning, unsettling film from an acknowledged master.

Great film, stunning, nice restoration and, it arrived ahead of the predicted delivery date.

La Bete Humaine is one of the great 20th century works of art, combining the searing dark world of Emile Zola's novel with Jean Renoir's brilliant filmmaking. The shots of roaring steam engines alone are worth the price of admission.

This is a review of the Region 2 DVD from Studiocanal. Whilst this is not, apparently, a restored copy of this 1938 French film, the picture quality is superb ~ clear, sharp and fresh, even in the night scenes. The sound is occasionally less good, but the English subtitles are beautifully clear.This celebrated film, loosely based on a novel by Emile Zola, was directed by the great Jean Renoir (who also appears in a minor but significant role). The title role is played by Jean Gabin, probably the finest French cinema star of the pre-War era. He is Jacques Lantier, who drives an inter-city steam train for SNCF. He is reliable and motivated, loves his locomotive, even names it, but suffers from some sort of long-term mental instability, that leaves him prone to uncontrollable and coldly murderous fits. He is well supported by a colourful cast of French character actors, particularly Fernand Ledoux as the brutish Le Havre Stationmaster, Roubaud, and Julien Carette as Lantier’s world-weary stoker and friend, Pecqueux. Simone Simon is Robaud’s beautiful, ill-used but calculating and manipulative wife, Séverine.The film is essentially a tale of ill-fated love triangles, acted out largely within the Le Havre to Gare St-Lazare (Paris) rail network. The filming of the rail journeys (much of it on or from the footplate), the locomotives and the Le Havre station and train yards is superb. As with other French films of the era (eg 'Le Jour se Lève’ from 1939, involving a foundry), you get to see and savour the day-to-day routines of well-realised working class characters. The settings come over as highly authentic. However, this is quite a strange film. The plot is decidedly melodramatic, and therefore less convincing, but the quality of the acting and settings, and the beautiful steam engines, still make this a hugely watchable and engaging film.

I bought this a long time ago and don't know if it is still available. I am a big fan of Jean Gabin and quite interested in railways so to have some amazing photography of locomotives in action is a bonus. It is a rather bleak tale beautifully directed and acted and my review could not do it justice. Region 1 player needed when I bought it.

Tastes vary, so I can only give my own impressions.I did like the railway scenes, with some beautiful shots of express passenger locos at work and at rest, and the beautifully portrayed railway itself. Worth buying for this alone. The actions of the loco crew seemed credible and realistic. Also the snatches of conversation involving other railway workers seemed realistic.I can't say I found the film's portrayal of events very convincing, with some irritating scenes - like in the rail yard where the would-be happy couple make no serious attempt at concealment, and the dropping of the iron bar does not result in any reaction from the patrolling person. From a psychological perspective, the out-of-character sudden turns of the Gabin character look rather corny by modern standards and don't lend the story any coherence.This is recommended for lovers of railways and cinema of the 1930s. But I would hardly think it is one of the greatest films ever made.

This film works on two levels. Firstly it is an extraordinary film noir of the period, and very well worth watching just for that reason. Secondly, it is a powerful and historically important film of a French railway "Senator" or top link pacific locomotive driver and his fireman at work. The cinematography is superb, and very, very atmospheric. The portrait of loco crews with the inevitable cigarette permanently affixed to the lips speaks volumes of the period.Even if you cannot understand the language, the sense of drama, life, pain and (perhaps inevitable) tragedy is palpable.

For me, this is Renoir's finest film and this blu-ray transfer really does it justice. The only setback if you're not reasonably fluent in French is that this version does not have English subtitles, only French subs and French language soundtrack. The packaging is very good with a booklet included, but again, French language only .If your French is OK then don't hesitate, this is a very worthy release.