Romancefest 3: Sadiefest - Children of Paradise

Time for the first foreign language film of Romancefest 3 -- CHILDREN OF PARADISE. This 1945 production is considered by many to be the greatest French film of all time, and by some to be the single greatest film ever made. The story behind the production is as dramatic -- or perhaps moreso -- than the film itself, as it was produced at the height of World War II in Nazi-occupied France. This would be no small feat for a little independent picture, but CHILDREN OF PARADISE is about as big and sweeping as you can get, so it's miraculous that it was ever made.

Of course, none of this would be remembered if the film itself wasn't any good, and it is. The story involves bohemian artists living in Paris in the mid 1800s and their romantic entanglements, all revolving around the theater and all involving a beautiful actress (Arletty). Her many suitors include a flamboyant actor (Pierre Brasseur), a tortured genius mime (Jean-Louis Barrault), a writer by day, criminal by night (Marcel Herrand) and a rich but boring count (Louis Salo).

The epic film is divided into two parts, the first during which the men vie for Arletty's affection while struggling for artistic success, and the second during which Arletty has settled for the boring count and her other suitors have all found success, in one way or another, while still pining after her.

This brief description makes the movie sound like nothing more than a soap opera, but thanks to the lavish production and multi-layered screenplay by Jacques Prevert, CHILDREN OF PARADISE transcends its melodramatic genre. The movie is as much about love, loss and regret as it is about the creative impulse, the mystery of the muse, and the way life imitates art and art imitates life. The dialogue, even in its English translation, is musical enough to do Shakespeare proud, so it's fitting that there is much talk of Shakespeare (specifically OTHELLO) among the characters.

There is a certain pleasure in watching a well-crafted story unfold, and I felt that while watching CHILDREN OF PARADISE. At first I wasn't sure where the movie was going, then the movie's romantic entanglements distracted me, and before I knew it I could see that the film was one step ahead of me the whole time. By the time I saw the screenplay ushering characters into their places and setting things up for unavoidable tragedy, I wasn't distracted by the thought that I could see where things were going so much as wowed by the way the movie made the plot developments seem more like the hands of fate than a writers' contrivances.

CHILDREN OF PARADISE is big, overblown, romantic, and yes, important. But it is also funny, heartbreaking and suspenseful. It seems appropriate that a film about artists and entertainers should be the perfect example of art and entertainment effortlessly fitting together.