LUMIÈRE D’ÉTÉ

New DCP Restoration

(1943, Jean Grémillon) In a glass castle atop a mountain, young Madeleine Robinson completes a ménage à cinq with playboy proprietor Paul Bernard; his maybe-discarded mistress Madeleine Renaud; failed, self-hating painter Pierre Brasseur; and idealistic miner Georges Marchal. Approx. 112 min. DCP.
1:20, 5:30, 9:40

"Gremillion had begun his career with avant-garde experiments, then had been obliged to make more commercial films in the '30s. Some of them were excellent, but his big chance came in the '40s, and with Lumiere d'Ete (1943) and Le Ciel Est a Vous (1944) he made his two best films."
– Richard Roud, Rediscovering French Film

“An original and vigorous work... Often borders on perfection.”
– Georges Sadoul

LE CIEL EST À VOUS

(1944, Jean Grémillon) In a provincial town, Madeleine Renaud, wife of mechanic and ex-fighter pilot Charles Vanel, decides flying is for her as well, and goes for the aviation gold. Frank Capra? In the age of Vichy and poetic realism, an amazingly upbeat work by the unsung Grémillon. Approx. 105 min. 16mm.
3:30, 7:40

“Grémillon got from Charles Vanel and Madeleine Renaud the best performances in a heroic and touching film.”
– Richard Roud