Acclaimed film from Emile Zola's "L'Assomoir": typical of French art-house cinema, it's meticulously-detailed, technically proficient and splendidly acted however, the main plot of a crippled woman whose ambitions to open her own laundry business are hampered by a complex love life isn't exactly thrilling. Still, one can certainly understand the multitude of international prizes the film won or was nominated for at the time of its release.
In fact, Gervaise (German actress Maria Schell in a luminous performance) is involved throughout with a philandering ne'er-do-well (who fathered her two elder children), her husband splendidly portrayed by Francois Perier who loses his job after falling off a roof and subsequently takes to drink (with whom she has another kid) and a young political activist (who gets thrown into jail)! The woman has a similarly ambivalent relationship with her husband's family and the neighbors in the poor quarter where she lives especially the sister (played by a reptilian Suzy Delair) of the woman with whom her first lover eloped. They have a big fight in the washing centre of town (which even involves some surprising split-second nudity) but, when they meet again, both are willing to bury the hatchet (Delair having married the local police constable)...that is, until the lover himself reappears! Ironically, Perier and his rival become friends (they even look alike!) and the former eventually contrives to have the latter lodge with them!!
Ultimately, though, Perier's drinking problem escalates to the point where he becomes an embarrassment to his wife (admirably, the director does not shy away from showing his vomit-soaked pillow at one point!) and, in a fit of rage, destroys her shop; this harrowing sequence culminates in him being taken away by hospital attendants bruised and raving (in fact, he dies shortly afterwards). Equally depressing, however, is the ending which finds Schell destitute (having sold the shop to Delair, now in cahoots with her former lover) and herself a frequent customer of the local tavern!; no longer able to care for her youngest daughter, the latter is forced to look out for herself which she does with naïve optimism.
I have two more titles by the underrated Clement in my unwatched VHS/DVD pile JOY OF LIVING (1960) and IS Paris BURNING? (1965) as well as another highly regarded French film starring Maria Schell Alexandre Astruc's UNE VIE (1958; though available only in its original language)...
In fact, Gervaise (German actress Maria Schell in a luminous performance) is involved throughout with a philandering ne'er-do-well (who fathered her two elder children), her husband splendidly portrayed by Francois Perier who loses his job after falling off a roof and subsequently takes to drink (with whom she has another kid) and a young political activist (who gets thrown into jail)! The woman has a similarly ambivalent relationship with her husband's family and the neighbors in the poor quarter where she lives especially the sister (played by a reptilian Suzy Delair) of the woman with whom her first lover eloped. They have a big fight in the washing centre of town (which even involves some surprising split-second nudity) but, when they meet again, both are willing to bury the hatchet (Delair having married the local police constable)...that is, until the lover himself reappears! Ironically, Perier and his rival become friends (they even look alike!) and the former eventually contrives to have the latter lodge with them!!
Ultimately, though, Perier's drinking problem escalates to the point where he becomes an embarrassment to his wife (admirably, the director does not shy away from showing his vomit-soaked pillow at one point!) and, in a fit of rage, destroys her shop; this harrowing sequence culminates in him being taken away by hospital attendants bruised and raving (in fact, he dies shortly afterwards). Equally depressing, however, is the ending which finds Schell destitute (having sold the shop to Delair, now in cahoots with her former lover) and herself a frequent customer of the local tavern!; no longer able to care for her youngest daughter, the latter is forced to look out for herself which she does with naïve optimism.
I have two more titles by the underrated Clement in my unwatched VHS/DVD pile JOY OF LIVING (1960) and IS Paris BURNING? (1965) as well as another highly regarded French film starring Maria Schell Alexandre Astruc's UNE VIE (1958; though available only in its original language)...