Boudu Saved from Drowning: Difference between revisions
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==Notes== |
==Notes== |
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Renoir changed the ending of René Fauchois' play. In the play Boudu and Anne-Marie get married and that's it whereas in Renoir's film Boudu escapes 'from holy padlock' and heads for ' a future of independent, vagrant liberty.' Initially angry, according to Renoir, Fauchois threatened to have his name removed from the credits, but later changed his mind, and (in ''Cinéma'' 56, no.7, November 1955) said : " I have just seen the film again and I admired it and am happy to say so. As a very free adaptation of my work, ''Boudu'' belongs to Renoir." (Fauchois career started as an actor with the Sarah-Bernhardt company, and in 1925 when Michel Simon played Boudu on the stage Fauchois was Lestingois.) In narrative terms another major change by Renoir from the play, consists in shifting the centre of attention from the character of Lestingois to that of Boudu. <ref> Boston, p. 25, 28 </ref> |
Renoir changed the ending of René Fauchois' play. In the play Boudu and Anne-Marie get married and that's it whereas in Renoir's film Boudu escapes 'from holy padlock' and heads for ' a future of independent, vagrant liberty.' Initially angry, according to Renoir, Fauchois threatened to have his name removed from the credits, but later changed his mind, and (in ''Cinéma'' 56, no.7, November 1955) said : " I have just seen the film again and I admired it and am happy to say so. As a very free adaptation of my work, ''Boudu'' belongs to Renoir." (Fauchois career started as an actor with the Sarah-Bernhardt company, and in 1925 when Michel Simon played Boudu on the stage Fauchois was Lestingois.) In narrative terms another major change by Renoir from the play, consists in shifting the centre of attention from the character of Lestingois to that of Boudu. <ref> Boston, p. 25, 28 </ref> |
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Michel Simon was at various times, a boxer, a boxing instructor, a right-wing anarchist, a frequenter of prostitutes, pimps and petty crooks. He was extremely well read, a talented photographer, a hypochondriac, a misanthrope, owner of a vast collection of pornography and with a reputation for unorthodox sexual behaviour which he did not bother to deny. The writer Richard Boston has stated that, "Whether or not he was a pleasant man, he was certainly a complex one, with a good deal of Boudu in him," and Renoir called Simon "a genius of an actor...''Boudu'' was conceived primarily to make use of the genius of Michel Simon." <ref> Preston, p.36-37 </ref. |
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Revision as of 01:41, 5 February 2011
| Boudu Saved from Drowning | |
|---|---|
| File:305 boudu.jpg DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Jean Renoir |
| Written by | René Fauchois (play) Jean Renoir |
| Produced by | Michel Simon |
| Starring | Michel Simon |
| Music by | w:fr:Léo Daniderff (uncredited), title and end music by Raphael, flute music by J.Boulze, orphéon music by Edouard Dumoulin, Johann Strauss ("An der schönen, blauen Donau") |
Release date | 11 November 1932 |
Running time | 87 min. |
| Country | Template:FilmFrance |
| Language | French |
Boudu Saved from Drowning (French: Boudu sauvé des eaux, "Boudu saved from the waters") is a 1932 French film directed by Jean Renoir. Renoir wrote the film's screenplay, from the play by René Fauchois. The film stars Michel Simon as Boudu.
Plot summary
Bourgeois Parisian, Latin Quarter bookseller, Edouard Lestingois, (Charles Granval), rescues a tramp, Boudu, from a suicidal plunge into the river Seine, from the Pont des Arts. Boudu is brought into Lestingois' household. The family adopts the bum and dedicates itself to reforming him into a proper middle class person. Boudu (Michel Simon) shows his gratitude by shaking the household to its foundations, challenging the hidebound manners of his hosts and seduces not only the housemaid but also Madame Lestingois herself. Gradually Boudu is tamed, shaved and given a haircut, and put in a suit. Then he wins a large sum of money on the lottery, and is guided into marrying the housemaid. Finally however, at the wedding scene, Boudu capsizes a rowing boat and floats away from the wedding party, and "back to his old vagrancy, a free spirit once more." [1]
Cast
- Michel Simon as Priape Boudu
- w:fr:Marcelle Hainia as Emma Lestingois
- Sévérine Lerczinska as Chloe Anne Marie, la bonne
- Jean Gehret as Vigour
- w:fr:Max Dalban as Godin
- Jean Dasté as L'etudiant
- w:fr:Charles Granval as Edouard Lestingois
- Jacques Becker as Poet on park bench
Remake
The film was remade in 1986 for an American audience as Down and Out in Beverly Hills, directed by Paul Mazursky.[2] Another remake, Boudu, was released in 2005. Gérard Jugnot directed, from a screenplay by Philippe Lopes-Curval. It starred Gérard Depardieu as Boudu.
Notes
Renoir changed the ending of René Fauchois' play. In the play Boudu and Anne-Marie get married and that's it whereas in Renoir's film Boudu escapes 'from holy padlock' and heads for ' a future of independent, vagrant liberty.' Initially angry, according to Renoir, Fauchois threatened to have his name removed from the credits, but later changed his mind, and (in Cinéma 56, no.7, November 1955) said : " I have just seen the film again and I admired it and am happy to say so. As a very free adaptation of my work, Boudu belongs to Renoir." (Fauchois career started as an actor with the Sarah-Bernhardt company, and in 1925 when Michel Simon played Boudu on the stage Fauchois was Lestingois.) In narrative terms another major change by Renoir from the play, consists in shifting the centre of attention from the character of Lestingois to that of Boudu. [3]
Michel Simon was at various times, a boxer, a boxing instructor, a right-wing anarchist, a frequenter of prostitutes, pimps and petty crooks. He was extremely well read, a talented photographer, a hypochondriac, a misanthrope, owner of a vast collection of pornography and with a reputation for unorthodox sexual behaviour which he did not bother to deny. The writer Richard Boston has stated that, "Whether or not he was a pleasant man, he was certainly a complex one, with a good deal of Boudu in him," and Renoir called Simon "a genius of an actor...Boudu was conceived primarily to make use of the genius of Michel Simon." <ref> Preston, p.36-37 </ref.
References
- ^ Richard Boston, BFI Film Clasics, p.10 ISBN 0-85170-467-0
- ^ http://www.allmovie.com/work/6789
- ^ Boston, p. 25, 28
External links
- Boudu Saved from Drowning at IMDb
- Boudu Saved from Drowning at AllMovie
- Bondu Saved from Drowning at Rotten Tomatoes
- Criterion Collection essay by Christopher Faulkner
- Review at The Factual Opinion
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