Partie de Campagne (A Day in the Country) (1946)
-
100% of critics liked it
(9 reviews) -
87% of users liked it
(1,140 ratings)
Jean Renoir's A Day in the Country is a short and semisweet romantic vignette based on a story by Guy de Maupassant. A group of family members spend a day away from the city in the French countryside. While the men go off to fish, the mother (Jeanne Marken) has a harmless flirtation with a rural… More Jean Renoir's A Day in the Country is a short and semisweet romantic vignette based on a story by Guy de Maupassant. A group of family members spend a day away from the city in the French countryside. While the men go off to fish, the mother (Jeanne Marken) has a harmless flirtation with a rural "rake," while the daughter (Sylvia Bataille) has a more serious liaison with a handsome young man (George Saint-Saens). Fourteen years later, the same family vacations at the same spot. The handsome stranger returns, hoping to renew his affair with the daughter; unfortunately, the girl is now married to a dull, insensitive jerk. The two former lovers ponder what might have been, then the family heads back to the city. A Day in the Country currently exists only in a 40-minute version; Renoir had planned to film scenes depicting what happened in the years between the two holidays, but he closed down production due to an acute "creative block." For this reason, although the film was shot in 1936, it wasn't released to theaters until ten years later. For its American distribution, Day in the Country was bundled together with two other short European films -- Joifroi and the controversial The Miracle -- as the portmanteau film The Ways of Love. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Jean Renoir
- Written By
- Jean Renoir
- Genres
- Drama, Romance, Art House & International, Comedy
- In Theaters
- Jan 1, 1936 Wide
- Studio
- Criterion Collection
Critic Reviews
-
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
The charm of the film seems almost too easily won, but Renoir's real brilliance emerges in the way the light tone is subtly modulated into the profound sadness and regret of the conclusion.
-
Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Witty and sensuous, it's pure magic.
-
Peter Rainer, New York Magazine
Along with The Postman segment from Satyajit Ray's Two Daughters, it is, I think, the greatest short film ever made.
-
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Plays out delightfully as an impressionist picture that sings out to us the sensuous nature of the country.
-
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
A short film that may be imperfect in structure, yet is sublimely moving and beautifully realized, nonetheless.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
Featured Audience Ratings
Currently unavailable on Flixster
Also available on
Other Retailers
Subscription Services
Cast
-
Sylvia Bataille
as Henriette Dufour
-
Jane Marken
as Mme Juliette Dufour
-
Georges D'Arnoux
as Henri
-
Paul Temps
as Anatole
-
Jacques B. Brunius
as Rodolphe
-
Henri Cartier-Bresson
as Seminary Student
-
Gabrielle Fontan
as La grand'mere
-
André Gabriello
as M. Dufour
-
Pierre Lestringuez
as Un vieux cure
-
Alain Renoir
as Little Boy Fishing
-
Georges Saint-Saens
as Henri
-
Jean Renoir
as Pere Poulain
-
Marguerite Renoir
as Servant