La bête humaine (1938)

Director:

Jean Renoir

Writer:

Émile Zola (novel)

Release Date:

19 February 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Strawberry | Betting | Rain | Cafe | St Lazare France

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Jean Gabin	...	Jacques Lantier
Simone Simon	...	Séverine Roubaud
Fernand Ledoux	...	Roubaud (as Ledoux Sociétaire de la Comédie Française)
Blanchette Brunoy	...	Flore
Gérard Landry	...	Le fils Dauvergne (as Gerard Landry)
Jenny Hélia	...	Philomène Sauvagnat (as Jenny Helia)
Colette Régis	...	Victoire Pecqueux (as Colette Regis)
Claire Gérard	...	Une voyageuse (as Claire Gerard)
Charlotte Clasis	...	Tante Phasie, la marraine de Lantier (as Germaine Clasis)
Jacques Berlioz	...	Grandmorin (as Berlioz)
Tony Corteggiani	...	Dabadie, le chef de section (as Cortegianni)
André Tavernier	...	Le juge d'instruction Denizet
Marcel Pérès	...	Un lampiste (as Perez)
Jean Renoir	...	Cabuche
Julien Carette	...	Pecqueux (as Carette)

Also Known As:

Judas Was a Woman (UK)
The Human Beast

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Spain:18 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Campagne normande, Seine-Maritime, France

Company:

Paris Film

Movie Connections:

Featured in Intolerable Cruelty (2003)

Soundtrack:

Le coeur de Ninon

Simple and Complex

There are two powder kegs in this film. The first is Lantier (Gabin) who wells up with violence when in the embrace of women. The second is Sevarin, played by Simone Simon. We can see the convergence of the twain as these two make their respective ways toward each other. Lantier is a railroad engineer and a very competent one. His locomotive is his passion. People are aware that he has an illness which he describes as the result of being the lineage of a host of alcoholics. He is lonely, however, and when he falls for Sevarin he falls for good. She is married and is complicit with her husband in killing a man for whom she was a mistress. Her husband, who also is a railroad man, feels he needs to kill him in order to restore his own honor. Lantier is a witness after the fact and this is when he connects with Sevarin. The romance is very passionate, but she needs him to kill her husband. He is not a conscious killer and can't do the job. This complicates everything and ruins Lantier's life. This is a simple tale that is complicated by the nature of the triangle. Renoir does some wonderful things with the camera and sets it all up very well.