L’Atalante (1934)

(Criterion Streaming, March 2020) While I’m not and probably won’t ever be a big fan of L’Atalante, there are a few things about the film that are worth noting. The first, outside the film’s frame of reference, would be to acknowledge the very romantic idea of the film and its place in the regrettably short life of its writer-director Jean Vigo—After barely managing to complete its production, Vigo died at 29 years of age… shortly after seeing the film’s less-than impressive initial release. It would take another generation for L’Atalante to be regarded fondly as a fundamental piece of poetic realism and lionized by the French New Wave filmmakers. That’s a lot of history for what is rather a simple film, at least from a narrative standpoint: a couple marries, splits up and reunites—all set against the somewhat romantic world of French canal barges. But everything is about execution, and even twenty-first century audiences have to recognize Vigo’s stylistic flourishes in telling his story. There’s quite a bit to like here—including many very cute cats—but the test is whether it’s still interesting, and it is: the Poetic Realism movement has aged rather well, and L’Atalante can still comfortably fit next to a viewing of Pépé le Moko. It’s not hard to see how that specific style would come to influence American film noir, the French new Wave and other significant subgenres.