La Chienne

One of Jean Renoir's first sound films, set in the Paris of the 1930s. Legrand is a middle-aged cashier. His marriage is bad, he paints in his spare time and nobody looks at his canvases. He meets a young woman called Lulu in the street and attaches himself to her. Lulu's lover Dédé steers her towards using him. Meanwhile Legrand's paintings begin to sell, without his knowledge, under Lulu's signature. At a time when sound was still a new instrument, Renoir recorded in the street rather than the studio; noise from outside, street traders and music mix into the scene, and that is the main reason the film still feels fresh. Michel Simon plays Legrand. There is a bitter story behind the production: Janie Marèse, who plays Lulu, was killed in a car crash in August 1931, shortly after shooting; at the wheel was Georges Flamant, who plays Dédé. Michel Simon fainted at her funeral and held Renoir responsible for her death. Fritz Lang remade the film in 1945 as Scarlet Street. An important starting point for anyone curious about early sound cinema and about Renoir. For a viewer expecting a moral conclusion, the film punishes nobody and its ending surprises with its coldness.