Jean Vigo's 1934 French masterpiece, restored and released on DVD!
If you are in the mood for a gentle film packed with humor,romance and great cinematography, try L'Atalante, you won't be disappointed.
Synopsis:
Juliette (a slight but curious Dita Parlo) marries Jean (a conflicted Jean Dasté), leaves her small village for the first time and goes to live on Jean's canal barge. They are joined by a cabin boy and the strange old second mate Père Jules (a brillantly quirky Michel Simon).
Bored by life on the river, Juliette slips off to see the nightlife when they dock in Paris. Angered by this, Jean sets off, leaving Juliette behind. Overcome by grief and longing for his wife, Jean falls into a depression and Père Jules goes and tries to find Juliette.
Director Jean Vigo also direct "Zéro de Conduite" (1933). He died at age 29 shortly after the release of "L'Atalante".
"Zéro de Conduite" and "L'Atalante's" cinematographer, Boris Kaufman, went on to Hollywood where he filmed "On the Waterfront" in 1954, "12 Angry Men (1957) in and "Splendor in the Grass" (1961) among others.
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