LES VISITEURS DU SOIR Movie Review

The Devil's Envoys

Marcel Carné's elegantly conceived fairy tale is the story of how the devil's henchmen try to wreak havoc on the love between ordinary mortals in 15th-century France. The devil himself ultimately discovers he is powerless in the face of deeply committed, true love. Les Visiteurs du Soir was—like Carné's great Children of Paradise—filmed during the Occupation. On one level the film offered escape and fantasy to audiences starved for it, but at the same time the movie was seen as a thinly disguised allegory about the need for the French people to remain true to their ideals at a difficult moment in history. Written by Jacques Prévert and brilliantly photographed by Roger Hubert (both were Carné's collaborators on Children of Paradise), the picture was a success at home and abroad. As a coherent work of art, Les Visiteurs du Soir can't hold a candle to Le Jour se Lève or Children of Paradise; nevertheless, it remains a diverting and often enchanting entertainment.

NEXT STOP … Le Jour Se Lève, Children of Paradise, The Devil's Eye

1942 120m/B FR Arletty, Jules Berry, Marie Dea. Alain Cuny, Fernand Ledoux, Marcel Herrand; D: Marcel Carne; W: Jacques Prevert, Pierre Laroche. VHS HMV, FCT, TPV