Marcel Carné (1906-1996) was a French film director who started his career with his first directing job at the age of twenty-five. With his collaboration with surrealist poet and screenwriter Jacques Prévert they defined a new form of film making, poetic realism. Optimum has released two of his films this month one of which is Thérèse Raquin.

Thérèse Raquin (1953 - 1 hr, 42 min, 51 sec) is an adaptation of the original novel by Émile Zola and tells the story of Thérèse, trapped in a loveless marriage to her sickly cousin Camille. Her heart is cold and closed until one day Camille gets drunk after work and is brought home by a foreign truck driver, Laurent. She and Laurent are immediately attracted to each other and Laurent finally presses Thérèse to leave her husband.

When Camille finds out what is happening, he convinces his wife to spend three days together in Paris, after which if she still feels the same Camille will step aside. However, Camille has a different plan as he intends to trap her in his aunt’s house. Suspicious of the journey, Laurent follows the pair only to be confronted by Camille. During the confrontation Laurent throws Camille off the train killing him. With a chance for happiness finally within her grasp can Thérèse be with Laurent or did someone witness the murder?

Although this is one of Carné’s better films, he book ends the film with the same shots across the city reinforcing the notion that such lives of despair are being led by all the working classes, this is actually kinder than Zola’s impression of the pair as little better than brutish animals.

Simone Signoret, who plays the title lead, is reserved to the point of unsympathetic, trapped in a marriage she does not want neither threats nor love seem to break her icy cool. The oddest character, Camille, is played by Jacques, who makes his sickly character a great grotesque, though there are portions of the film when this slips a little too much into pantomime villain. Raf Vallone is well cast as the love interest Laurent, even if his desire for Thérèse seems a little presumptuous, given the short time that they know each other.

The film is presented in its original black and white 1.33:1 aspect ratio with a French 2.0 mono audio track. The DVD comes with optional English subtitles. The print is fairly clean, though there is a minor amount of print damage evident. The disc has no extras.

The mix of melodramatic acting, from Camille and his mother, and the more reserved portrayal of Thérèse makes for an odd and not wholly successful mixture. Fans of Carne will find much to enjoy in the film but for the majority the film remains a historical curiosity.

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Charles Packer