Criterion Cast: The Eclipse Viewer

The Eclipse Viewer – Episode 26 – Jean Grémillon During the Occupation


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This podcast focuses on Criterion’s Eclipse Series of DVDs. Hosts David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett give an overview of each box and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this episode, David and Trevor discuss Eclipse Series 34: Jean Grémillon During the Occupation.

About the films:

Though little known outside of France, Jean Grémillon was a consummate filmmaker from his country’s golden age. A classical violinist who turned to directing, he went on to make almost fifty films—from documentaries to avant-garde works to melodramas with major stars—in a thirty-year career. Three of his richest came during a dire period in French history: Remorques, starring Jean Gabin, was begun in 1939 but finished and released after Germany invaded France, and Lumière d’été and Le ciel est à vous were produced during the occupation. These character-driven dramas, the first two cowritten by legendary screenwriter Jacques Prévert, are humane, entertaining, and technically brilliant, and prove Grémillon to be one of cinema’s true hidden masters.

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Timeline for the podcast:

Introduction/Background (00:00:01 – 00:24:15)

Remorques (00:24:16 – 00:47:31)

Lumière d’été (00:47:32 – 01:18:00)

Le ciel est à vous (01:18:01 – 01:39:15)

Conclusion (01:39:16 – 01:45:00)

Buy The Box Set On Amazon:

EPISODE LINKS

Director Overview:

  • French Film Site biography by James Travers
  • Film Museum biography
  • Jean Grémillon: Realism and Tragedy by Ted Fendt
  • Singular and Plural: The Films of Jean Grémillon by Imogen Sara Smith
  • Harvard Film Archive retrospective
  • Museum of the Moving Image retrospective
  • Box Set Reviews:

    • Criterion Cast review by David Blakeslee
    • Keyframe review by David Hudson
    • New York Times review by Dave Kehr
    • Slant review by Joseph Jon Lanthier
    • Remorques:

      • World Cinema Review review by Douglas Messerli
      • French Film Site review by James Travers
      • Lumière d’été:

        • Flickering Myth review by Simon Columb
        • World Cinema Review review by Douglas Messerli
        • French Film Site review by James Travers
        • Wonders in the Dark review by Alan Fish
        • Le ciel est à vous:

          • Bravery in Hiding by Jonathan Rosenbaum (also includes Lumière d’été)
          • Wonders in the Dark review by Alan Fish
          • French Film Site review by James Travers
          • Contact us:

            • Twitter
            • Email: theeclipseviewer (at) gmail.com
            • David Blakeslee ( Twitter / Website )
            • Trevor Berrett ( Twitter / Website )
            • Next time on the podcast:

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