L'Atalante
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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L'Atalante (also released as Le Chaland qui passe) is a 1934 French film written and directed by Jean Vigo and starring Michel Simon, Dita Parlo and Jean Dasté. In the film Dasté plays a captain who honeymoons with his new wife, Parlo, on a canal barge with the ship's first mate Père Jules (Michel Simon) and the cabin boy (Louis Lefebvre). The newlyweds struggle until Parlo leaves the boat to explore the sights of Paris, leading Dasté to abandon her until she is found by Père Jules and they are reunited.
After the difficult release of his controversial short film Zero for Conduct, Vigo initially wanted to make a film about Eugène Dieudonné whom Vigo's father (famous anarchist Miguel Almereyda) had been associated with in 1913. After Vigo and his producer Jacques-Louis Nounez struggled to find the right project for a feature film, Nounez finally gave Vigo an unproduced screenplay by Jean Guinée about barge dwellers. Vigo re-wrote the story with Albert Riéra and Nounez secured a distribution deal with the Gaumont Film Company with a budget of ₣1 million. Vigo used many of the technicians and actors from Zero for Conduct, such as cinematographer Boris Kaufman and actor Jean Dasté. He also worked with such established film stars as Michel Simon and Dita Parlo.
It has been hailed by many critics as one of the greatest films of all time.
Plot
Jean, the captain of the canal barge L'Atalante, marries Juliette in her village. They decide to live aboard L'Atalante along with Jean's crew, the scruffy and eccentric Père Jules and the cabin boy.
The couple travel to Paris to deliver cargo, enjoying a makeshift honeymoon en route. Jules and the cabin boy are not used to the presence of a woman aboard. When Jean discovers Juliette and Jules talking in Jules' quarters, Jean flies into a jealous rage by smashing plates and by sending Jules' numerous cats scattering.
Arriving in Paris, Jean promises Juliette a night out, but Jules and the cabin boy disembark to go see a fortune teller. This disappoints Juliette because Jean cannot leave the barge unattended.
Later, however, Jean takes Juliette to a dance hall. There, they meet a street peddler who flirts with Juliette, dances with her, and asks her to run off with him. This leads to a scuffle with Jean, after which he drags Juliette back to the barge. Juliette still wants to see the nightlife in Paris however, so she sneaks off the barge to go see the sights. When Jean discovers that she sneaked off the barge, he furiously casts off and leaves Juliette behind in Paris.
Unaware that Jean has already left, Juliette goes window shopping. When she returns to the barge and finds that it's gone, she tries to buy a train ticket to the barge's next destination, but someone steals her purse before she is able to. She is forced to find a job so she can afford to live and eventually travel to Le Havre to meet the barge: her activities during this period are unclear.
Meanwhile, Jean comes to regret his decision, and slips into depression. He is summoned by his company's manager, but Jules manages to keep him from losing his job. Jean recalls a folk tale that Juliette once told him. She said that one can see the face of one's true love in the water. He attempts to recreate this by dunking his head in a bucket, and, failing that, jumping into the river. Jules decides to leave and try to find Juliette. He finds her in a store and they return to the barge where the couple reunite and happily embrace each other.
