(aka 'Port of Shadows')
directed by
Marcel Carné
France 1938
Down a foggy, desolate road to the port city of Le Havre travels Jean (Jean Gabin), an army deserter looking for another chance to make good on life. Fate, however, has a different plan for him, when acts of both revenge and kindness turn him into front-page news. Also starring the blue-eyed phenomenon Michèle Morgan in her first major role, and the menacing Michel Simon, Port of Shadows (Le Quai des brumes) starkly portrays an underworld of lonely souls wrestling with their own destinies. Based on the novel by Pierre Mac Orlan, the inimitable team of director Marcel Carné and writer Jacques Prévert deliver a quintessential example of poetic realism, one of the classics of the golden age of French cinema.
Theatrical Release: May18th, 1938 - France
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
DVD Review: BFI - Region 2 - PAL
| DVD Box Cover |
|
CLICK to order from:
|
| Distribution | Criterion Collection - Spine # 245 - Region 0 - NTSC | |
| Runtime | 1:31:00 | |
| Video | 1.33:1
Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate:5.61 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s |
|
|
NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
||
| Bitrate: |
|
|
| Audio | French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono) | |
| Subtitles | English, None | |
| Features |
Release Information:
Production Company: Criterion
Collection
DVD Release Date: July 20, 2004 |
|
| Comments: |
Although
this is in the lower tier of Criterion pricing, the quality of this
release is quite similar to Marcel Carne's "Children
of Paradise" on DVD (also by Criterion). We are talking of a
very old film, but it still shows moments of great sharpness and the
impeccable Criterion contrast. Grain is visible, but not intrusive.
There is some slight, mostly unnoticeable, damage. Subtitles are
prefect. By Criterion standards - extras are weak, but as we said it is
one of the less expense offerings. For Carne fans, or all cinema-philes,
this is a great buy.
|
|
out
of 
.
Recommended Reading in Film Noir (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Film Noir: An Encyclopedia Reference to the American
Style by Alain Silver, Elizabeth Ward |
The Dark Side of the Screen: Film Noir by Foster Hirsch |
Somewhere in the Night: Film Noir and the American City by Nicholas Christopher |
Film Noir Reader 4 : The Crucial Films and Themes
(Film Noir Reader) by Alain Silver |
The Art of Noir: The Posters and Graphics from the
Classic Era of Film Noir by Eddie Muller |
The Little Black and White Book of Film Noir:
Quotations from Films of the 40's and 50's by Peg Thompson, Saeko Usukawa |
Film Noir by Alain Silver |
Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era,
1940-1959 by Michael F. Keaney |
Detours and Lost Highways: A Map of Neo-Noir by Foster Hirsch |
More Than Night: Film Noir in Its Contexts by James Naremore |
DVD Menus
 |
 |
 |
 |
Subtitle Sample
 |
Screen Captures
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
