Kodie Bird
True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.
Keira Brennan
The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.
Nicole
I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.
Gizmo
'Film Noir' was a French term for a type of violent, pessimistic American film that started to appear around and after the second World War, usually shot in sparse, dark rooms at night, at least partly to save money.Often they would take place in flashback - as in Double Indemnity, DOA, and Sunset Boulevard - with the fate of the hero already carved in stone, and the film just the series of bad decisions and treacherous women leading up to his fall. Oddly though, this French film might be the one that started all of that, and though it might not compare with the Chandleresque dialogue and fast-moving shoot-em-ups that followed, it is decidedly more beautiful, mysterious and atmospheric.On the downside, even though it is a short film it drags, and there are some poorly developed characters and plotholes (François following Françoise all the way into town about 10 feet behind her in an empty street while pushing a bike and she never sees?)I've only seen it the once but I was confused as to the relationship between François, Françoise and Valentin: first we were told these two new lovers with the same name happened to be raised in the same orphanage, then an older man who is having an affair with the female one claims to be her father. This plot twist doesn't seem to lead anywhere but thin air, and I would have thought the much better story would have been the revelation that Valentin was BOTH of their fathers, and hence the two lovers were actually brother and sister. Was this a storyline left undeveloped because of its taboo nature? I don't know, but I feel it would have been a much better catalyst for François shooting Valentin than the somewhat unconvincing showdown in the final film. In conclusion: it's a flawed jewel from the past: watch for the exquisite photography and silver atmosphere, as well as the central performances, especially from Jean Gabin, who was perhaps never better.
jotix100
A common laborer, Francois, shoots, and kills, M. Valentin, a despicable man who has come to his room in a housing complex unexpectedly. In flashbacks we get to know the story behind Francois' action, as he sequesters himself from the police that has been called to take him away. It is a tense moment for Francois, a quiet man, otherwise.The story of Francois involvement with the beautiful Francoise, a young woman who grew up like him in an orphanage, brings them together for they feel the need for one another. Francois does not think for a moment he will be in such a position, but when his sweetheart decides to go alone to a music hall, he follows her there. He is astonished to see Francoise going to M. Valentin, a dog trainer whose act is part of the revue in the local theater. Clara, who is M. Valentin's assistant in the act, is clearly disgusted with him. Leaving the stage, she joins Francois in the bar. They both witness the trainer and the young woman leave together. It is evident they know one another and that perhaps Francoise is not as naive as she pretends to be. Things come to a head when Valentin comes to see Francois with a feeble excuse about Francois' girl, ultimately resulting in the shooting.Marcel Carne's masterpiece came right after "Quai des brumes", another dark tale of people in turmoil. Jacques Viot's original scenario was given life by the great Jacques Prevert a man who collaborated with M. Carne in other films with his perceptive take on the dialogue. This is pure Carne who felt attraction for telling stories that involved ordinary people, as it is the case in this film. Although well respected in his work, the film was not embraced by audiences because of the obscurity of the subject. The figure of Francoise, the main interest of our man in this story, is not immediately made clear. On the one hand, she appears to be a somewhat naive woman, while leading, perhaps, another life with the older Valentin. The other role that is quite enigmatic is that of Clara, who obviously must have been connected with Valentin, not just as his assistant for the theater. Clara clearly wants Francois, but he is blindly in love with Francoise, who might be hiding a secret side of her personality when she is with Francois. It is indeed a complex story in many levels, but Carne delivers an intense drama that keeps his audience glued to what is happening on the screen.Jean Gabin, at the height of his film career made a perfect Francois. He does not make a false move throughout the story. Jean Gabin was a natural for cinema, as he demonstrates here. The great Arletty appears as Clara, the woman who loving Francois, stays out of his way since she realizes she cannot have him. Jacqueline Laurent projected the right kind of naivete as the sweet Francoise. Jules Berry plays the odious M. Valentin with relish.
Boba_Fett1138
Thing that this movie is best known and appreciated for is its unique way of storytelling. It's one of the very first movies that features a story that gets mostly told with flashbacks and it keeps switching back between past and present. This storytelling technique was later made more famous and popular by Orson Welles with his masterpiece "Citizen Kane".But of course a movie requires a bit more than just some good storytelling, though it still remains a very important aspect. But this movie also has a great, quite simplistic movie, with still a lot happening in it, like only the French could make. It's a bit of a sweet love-story, that shows the events leading up to a fatal shooting. Some people will call this movie slow but hey, that was just the way movies were back in its days. But it's not like it's slow pace ever makes the movie a boring or dragging one, or at least not to me. It might had been the case if the movie had been a bit longer but with its running time around 90 minutes, it's simply a short movie to watch.It's also one beautiful looking movie, that features some great cinematography and especially lighting. Shadows play in important part in the movie its visual look. Amazing thing about its cinematography is that the movie actually had 4 different cinematographers attached to it. No idea what the story is behind this but I guess that each used their own specialty for this movie, or some of them simply got fired or stepped up during production. Anyway, whatever was the case, it really didn't hurt the movie its visual look. Marcel Carné movies often were visually a real pleasure to watch and this movie forms no exception on this.It's also a movie that quite heavily relies on its actors to tell its story and to deliver its great dialog, that got specially written by poet scenarist and songwriter Jacques Prévert. And this movie luckily had some great actors to work with. At the time Jean Gabin really was one of the best French actors. He really did his best work in the '30's and starred in some other classics such as "Pépé le Moko" and "La grande illusion" during the same decade.Some great and unique storytelling equals a great and unique movie.9/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/
gabrizzio555
the main setting of "le Jour Se Leve" is the top floor of a french apartment. the film opens with Jean Gabin character Francois - a factory worker- killing a dog trainer named Valentin who we find out (as the story unravels itself) was "involved" with his girl. Francois then barricades himself from the police, and the reason for the death of Valentin is told in simple sets of flashbacks that Gabin remembers between cigarettes as he decides what his next move will be. the story is simple and delicate in manner and substance but nonetheless the director/writer team Marcel Carne and Jacques Prevert succeed in turning the realistic (and sometimes edgy) conversations, movements and places into poetry. and in response to an earlier review, the simplicity of the flashbacks, is what makes the movie so intriguing. instead of relying on a heavy plot that might challenge audience, Prevert and Carne decide to put great detail into a simple tale about a sentimental man who is torn to ruin by a contemptuous and Machiavellian man.
