JohnHowardReid
Matinee idol Jean Gabin disappoints in La Bête Humaine (1938) by playing his role, for the most part, on a surprisingly bland, monotonous level, leaving all the real acting to the superb Simone Simon, and, to a lesser extent, Fernand Ledoux (in the title role), and Julien Carette (as the fireman). Photographer Curt Courant and the make-up man successfully cover over Gabin's acting limitations, but these sequences could have been improved further by more skillful editing. Director Renoir's penchant for long, static, dialogue takes certainly doesn't help at all! Nonetheless, the movie is an absolute must for railroad buffs. (Suzanne de Troye's spectacular editing of these scenes deserves special commendation). The dance scene with Kosma's wonderful music score also rates as a brilliant stand-out. The Criterion DVD is absolutely excellent.
blanche-2
Jean Renoir's "La Bete Humaine" (1938) stars Jean Gabin and Simone Simon in an adaptation of Emile Zola's novel. Renoir's novel is part of a series following a family. Lantier (Gabin) suffers from an inherited illness, possibly a chemical dysfunction. He's given to violent outbursts. He falls for the beautiful and childlike Sevarin (Simon) who, with her husband, kills her lover. Lantier witnesses this. Sevarin wants him to help kill her husband.This is a beautifully photographed, bleak story with the symbolism of the railroad (Lanier is a railway engineer) running through it. Gabin is terrific as the tragic Lanier, and Simone Simon is effective as the woman.Fritz Lang's later film "Human Desire" is also based on the Zola novel, but the Renoir version has more layers, particularly in the characterizations.Highly recommended.
Hitchcoc
There are two powder kegs in this film. The first is Lantier (Gabin) who wells up with violence when in the embrace of women. The second is Sevarin, played by Simone Simon. We can see the convergence of the twain as these two make their respective ways toward each other. Lantier is a railroad engineer and a very competent one. His locomotive is his passion. People are aware that he has an illness which he describes as the result of being the lineage of a host of alcoholics. He is lonely, however, and when he falls for Sevarin he falls for good. She is married and is complicit with her husband in killing a man for whom she was a mistress. Her husband, who also is a railroad man, feels he needs to kill him in order to restore his own honor. Lantier is a witness after the fact and this is when he connects with Sevarin. The romance is very passionate, but she needs him to kill her husband. He is not a conscious killer and can't do the job. This complicates everything and ruins Lantier's life. This is a simple tale that is complicated by the nature of the triangle. Renoir does some wonderful things with the camera and sets it all up very well.
Gloede_The_Saint
I just saw it today and I was terribly disappointed. Jean Gabin is one of my favorite actors and Renoir is one hell of a director too. Also it had the gorgeous Simone Simon, so what could go wrong? Well it was just too thin! It's like it just speeds through a plot and hope you get the most of it. The character development is really poor, the interactions are often rather silly and Simon seemed quite awkward.Not too say it's bad. It's entertaining enough and the frames are excellent. One of Gabins least convincing performances but hell that still makes it a good one. And I did quite enjoy Gabins character's humorous friend.Overall it's only decent. Not a film I would care to watch again.
AD
