No idea why this is regarded as a 'lesser' Carné. I find it more relatable than the rather stagey and single-mindedly melodramatic 'Quai des brumes'. There is quite a bit of taboo-busting (in the way suicide is presented - apparently, Sartre took notice), coupled with subversive accents (the kid from Civil War Spain, the accepted homosexual), on a background of ever-present empathic humanity.
Review of Hotel du Nord
Hotel du Nord
(1938)
Arletty is wonderful, but this thing could use a bit more subtlety
26 February 2021