The Lower Depths = Les Bas-Fonds
"Criterion's two-disc double bill of The Lower Depths provides a scintillating lesson in comparative cinema. When Jean Renoir adapted Maxim Gorky's acclaimed 1902 play in 1936, he changed the setting from Czarist Russia to an unspecified French slum, casting the great Jean Gabin as a thief strugglin...
Saved in:
| Other Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Videos DVD |
| Language: | French |
| Published: |
[New York] :
Criterion Collection,
[2004]
|
| Edition: | Special ed. |
| Series: | Criterion collection ;
239. |
| Subjects: | |
| Tags: |
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | "Criterion's two-disc double bill of The Lower Depths provides a scintillating lesson in comparative cinema. When Jean Renoir adapted Maxim Gorky's acclaimed 1902 play in 1936, he changed the setting from Czarist Russia to an unspecified French slum, casting the great Jean Gabin as a thief struggling to rise from his misery, and Louis Jouvet as the benevolent Baron, a flat-broke gambler on a downward social spiral. Renoir altered the play considerably, retaining its serious tone while infusing it with his trademark warmth and humanity. Two decades later, Kurosawa remained faithful to Gorky while daring to craft The Lower Depths as a comedy, in which Edo-period peasants (including Toshiro Mifune, in Gabin's role) concoct lavish illusions to ease the burden of their impoverished reality. While both films remained relatively overlooked during the careers of their creators, Criterion's DVD restores them to the prominence they deserve."--From Amazon.com. |
|---|---|
| Item Description: | In one container. Each disc contains bonus material. Original French title copyrighted and released as a motion picture in 1936; original Japanese title copyrighted and released as a motion picture in 1957. |
| Physical Description: | 2 videodiscs (212 min.) : sd., b&w ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 booklet. |
| ISBN: | 0780026993 9780780026995 |
