World Cinema Saturdays: Jean Renoir

381Jean Renoir’s gently humanistic films were sorely underestimated when they first came out. They were unconventional, complex, and so energetic and technically daring that few noticed their intricate structure. The films were often dismissed as rough, and not fully achieved artistically. However, the generation that came to the cinema in the ’60s and ’70s (perhaps the richest and most diverse era in European cinema) recognized Renoir as an ancestor who had already made the kind of films they admired or were setting out to make themselves, and justly hailed them as masterpieces.

Don’t miss this week’s movies:

1761 Boudu Saved From Drowning
Boudu, a tramp, jumps into the Seine. He is rescued by Mr. Lestingois, a gentle and good bookseller, who gives shelter to him. Mrs. Lestingois and the maid Anne-Marie (Mr. Lestingois’ mistress) are far from delighted.
(France, 1932, 85 mins, dir. Jean Renoir, with Michel Simon & Charles Grandval, French with English subtitles)


1754 La Bete Humaine
Severine and her husband, Roubaud, kill their former employer in a train.
(France, 1938, 100 mins, dir. Jean Renoir, with Jean Gabin & Julien Carette, French with English subtitles)


1742 The Grand Illusion
During the 1st World War, two French officers are captured. Captain De Boeldieu is an aristocrat while Lieutenant Marechal was a mechanic in civilian life.
(France, 1937, 93 mins, dir. Jean Renoir, with Jean Gabin & pierre Fresnay, French with English subtitles)


1742 The Rules of the Game
Andre Jurieux has flown over the Atlantic to set a new record, but when he arrives in Paris, he is very sad that his lover, Christine, isn’t there.
(France, 1939, 106 mins, dir. Jean Renoir, with Marcel Dalio & Nora Gregor, French with English subtitles)


Visit World Cinema Saturdays on UCSD-TV to see what’s playing in the weeks ahead.