Partie de campagne (1936/I)

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Director:

Jean Renoir

Writers:

Jean Renoir (writer)
Guy de Maupassant (short story)

Release Date:

8 May 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Short | Romance

Plot:

The family of a Parisian shop-owner spends a day in the country. The daughter falls in love to a man at the inn, where they spend the day.

Plot Keywords:

Based On Short Story | Critically Acclaimed | River | Cult Favorite | Riverside

Cast

Sylvia Bataille	...	Henriette
Georges D'Arnoux	...	Henri (as Georges Saint-Saens)
Jane Marken	...	Madame Dufour (as Jeanne Marken)
André Gabriello	...	Monsieur Dufour (as Gabriello)
Jacques B. Brunius	...	Rodolphe (as Jacques Borel)
Paul Temps	...	Anatole
Gabrielle Fontan	...	La grand' mère / Grandmother
Jean Renoir	...	Père Poulain / Uncle Poulain
Marguerite Renoir	...	La servante / Waitress
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Pierre Lestringuez	...	Un vieux curé / Old priest

Also Known As:

A Day in the Country

Runtime:

40 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:S | Hong Kong:I

Filming Locations:

Bords du Loing, Montigny-sur-Loing, Seine-et-Marne, France

Company:

Panthéon Productions

Trivia:

Cameo: [Henri Cartier-Bresson]in the procession of priests and seminarians

Movie Connections:

Featured in Jean Renoir: Part One - From La Belle Époque to World War II (1993) (TV)

Idyllic country scenes.

A 40 minute fragment of an unfinished movie which Truffaut describes as a cinematic short story, about a picnic in the country.

Renoir movies are always idyllic visually - like beautiful cinematic paintings, but Partie de Campagne is particularly idyllic. For some reason Renoir really wanted us to feel that we were in the country. This is his most visceral movie: he really takes you into the landscape in a way he does not usually do. Usually we merely sit back and admire it - here we are shown some gorgeous images of rain on the stream from the view of a boat on the water. The bottom half of the frame is virtually in the water we're so close to the action.

My favourite parts of Renoir movies are when he goes out on location (which he did quite a bit) and shoots wonderful scenes in nature. Here we have forty minutes of pure natural beauty (with a group of characters added for colour). I'm not sure that if Renoir continued with this project it would have retained enough interest over a two hour length - most likely its merely the central episode of a movie. Like Kubrick, Renoir made his movies up from several big, beautiful chunks. This applies most to Grand Illusion, so perhaps this sequence would never have been intended to supply enough dramatic interest for an entire story, but for lovers of Renoir, here are some of the most beautiful things he ever filmed. If you've never seen a Renoir film, the first experience is always the best, and it might be spoiling you if you start with this one, but it would be a beautiful introduction to him.