Jean (Jean Gabin) is a soldier, arriving in Le Havre to escape from the past and to start a new life. Le Havre is a harbour town in North France, and Jean's plan is to hitch a boat to Panama in South America. However, in a shanty bar, he meets Nelly (Michelle Morgan) who is trying to escape her former lover, a gangster. Jean and Nelly gradually fall for each other, while Nelly's father Zabel (Michel Simon) schemes and becomes over-protective of his daughter. There's also an adorable dog attracted to Jean.
Marcel Carne directed the acclaimed 'Children of Paradise', which I thought was too long and a bit of a bore. Earlier that day, I had completed my last GCSE exam, so I watched 'Children of Paradise' to celebrate. I'll return to it one day, when I have watched the 100 or so films in my room, but in the meantime, I ordered the recently released blu-ray of his other acclaimed work 'Le Quai des Brumes' from LOVEFILM.
Maybe my hopes were too high, but I found this modestly entertaining. The two best features of this film is that it's beautifully French, and the acting is superb. The three main stars were all French mega-stars of the time. Jean Gabin starred in 'La Grande Illusion', Michelle Morgan (who by the way is still alive!!!) starred in 'The Fallen Idol', and Michel Simon starred in 'The Passion of the Joan or Arc' and the eerily similar, but ultimately superior 'L'Atalante'. All three of them together, produces an acting powerhouse, which is better of paper than on screen.
I found Aki Karismaki's 'Le Havre', filmed in the same port, better in many aspects. 'Le Quai des Brumes' isn't bad in any aspects, but it's not great in any aspects either. It's just incredibly unremarkable. Everything from the soundtrack, to the story, is passable but doesn't exceed good. Everything culminates in a fairly enjoyable, incredibly French, but sadly mediocre film.
TO CONCLUDE
Watch 'L'Atalante' instead. It's a very similar film, which is superior in every way.
SCORE
73
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