Joaquim da Silva Fontes, Significação e Estabilidade do Género no ...

(Michèle Morgan), whose godfather Zabel (Michel Simon) oversees her romantic life very
closely. Jean is determined to become the guardian of young Nelly, but life seems to take a
turn for the worse when crook Zabel and a small-time gangster, Lucien (Pierre Brasseur),
are in pursuit of a certain Maurice. In terms of the narrative, it seems that the main
character is determined to tempt his already doomed fate at any cost. Stylistically too, the
dark or low-lit scenes displaying totally abandoned streets (fig. 22) enhance the alienation
of the central character from any social or intellectual order. The whole film is
irremediably gloomy, offering a fascinating look at the provincial criminal underworld,
and with fate having a different plan (Jean is unpredictably murdered at the end) for a
charismatic and stoic man who just wanted another chance to make good in life. Quai des
Brumes was the most successful French film released in 1938 and it was hugely
appreciated in intellectual circles, both in England and in America.
The latter film, Le Jour se Lève, was written by Jacques Prévert and also stars Jean
Gabin as François, an ordinary factory worker who barricades himself in his room (fig. 23)
after having killed a man, Valentin (Jules Berry), with a gun. He starts recalling how his
story began and so the viewer is sent into a long flashback from the moment he met a
young flower shop assistant, Françoise (Jacqueline Laurent), and how everything changed
the minute a ruthless dog trainer, Valentin, appeared. The police have now laid siege to the
building where he lives and where he is going to commit suicide. As the film unfolds, we
learn how much François is a victim of his fate and we come to understand his motive for
the murder, a true crime of passion.
Figure 23. Le Jour se Lève
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