A Nous la Liberte [Criterion Collection]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

A Nous la Liberte is an early talkie from French filmmaker Rene Clair. Louis (Raymond Cordy) and Emile (Henri Marchand) are a pair of convicts whose lives take decidely different paths after prison. Emile works his way up the ladder of capitalism, becoming a phonograph factory boss, a job that finds him overseeing a bleak outfit of automatous drones. Louis, on the other hand, lives the life of a poverty-stricken vagabond. Despite their contrasting lots, the pair meet up again later in life. A Nous la Liberte is perhaps best remembered for being the main inspiration for Charlie Chaplin's 1936 classic Modern Times. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Number of Discs: 1
• Subtitle: Eng
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (Pre-1954 Standard)
• Screen: Black and White
• Audio: Dolby Digital Mono
• Features:
  • New digital transfer
  • Deleted scenes
  • "Entr'acte" (1924), the classic Surrealist short by Clair and artist Francis Picabia
  • 1998 video interview with Madame Bronja Clair
  • Film historian David Robinson on the plagiarism lawsuit against Charlie Chaplin's "Modern Times"
  • New and improved English subtitle translation
  • Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Nominated Best Art Direction - 1931- (Lazare Meerson)

• National Board of Review

•     Won Best Foreign Film - 1932

• Venice International Film Festival

•     Won Most Entertaining Film - 1932 (René Clair)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Henri Marchand - Emile
       Raymond Cordy - Louis
       Rolla France - Jeanne
       Paul Olivier - Paul Imaque
       Jacques Shelly - Paul
       Andre Michaud - Foreman
       Leon Lorin - Deaf Old Man
       William Burke - Old Convict
       Vincent Hyspa - Old orator
       Alex D'Arcy - Gigolo

• Director:

  René Clair

• Screenwriter:

  René Clair

• Cinematographer:

  Georges Périnal

• Composer (Music Score):

  Georges Auric

• Editor:

  René Clair, René Le Henaff

• Production Designer:

  Lazare Meerson

• Set Designer:

  Lazare Meerson

• First Assistant Director:

  Albert Valentin

REVIEW:

• What's the point of escaping from a real prison if you only wind up trapped in, say, a factory job, or a loveless marriage, or the strictures of high society? That's the question Rene Clair poses in this oddly paced but totally winning comedy. Emile (Henri Marchand) is the con who makes good on his escape, leaving his pal Louis (Raymond Cordy) behind to fill out his sentence. By chance, persistence, and talent, Emile turns from a slob to a potential snob, a successful manufacturer of phonographs. Marchand, who looks like the young Jackie Gleason, thus accomplishes the transformation, in Gleason character terms, from the Poor Soul to Reginald Van Gleason III. But Emile is no ordinary captain of industry; he actually wants his workers to enjoy more freedom, and to that end, he's looking to mechanize his factory without downsizing his work force. A blackmail plot almost spoils his plans, but a well-timed wind storm saves the day. At the end, the two pals are almost back where they started but happier than ever. Clair's sound effects and musical interludes may feel dated to contemporary audiences, but they mark this film not as a quaint artifact but a forward-looking historical document. The factory scenes may be reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times, but Clair's work preceded Chaplin's by several years. Among the extras on the DVD edition is an essay by Chaplin scholar David Robinson on the plagiarism lawsuit brought against Chaplin by the producers of A Nous la Liberte, a suit of which Clair wanted no part. He said he would have been honored if Chaplin had used his film as inspiration, acknowledging his colleague's unmatched virtuosity. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi