Port of Shadows (Le Quai des Brumes) (1939)
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96% of critics liked it
(23 reviews) -
89% of users liked it
(2,231 ratings)
When Jean (Jean Gabin), a deserter from the Colonial Army, hitchhikes his way into Le Havre, he's only looking for a place to hide until he book ship's passage. He never expects to become embroiled in a dispute between local "tough" guy Lucien (Pierre Brasseur) and wealthy but… More When Jean (Jean Gabin), a deserter from the Colonial Army, hitchhikes his way into Le Havre, he's only looking for a place to hide until he book ship's passage. He never expects to become embroiled in a dispute between local "tough" guy Lucien (Pierre Brasseur) and wealthy but shady shopkeeper Zabel (Michel Simon). Nor does he expect to fall in love with the beautiful Nelly (Michèle Morgan), who Zabel also "keeps" What was supposed to be a stopover on his way to a better life turns into a fight against petty jealousies, buried obsessions, and unpleasant pasts. One of Marcel Carné's most revered films, Port of Shadows explores the foggier aspects of identity, love, and the possibility, or perhaps impossibility, of escape.
- Directed By
- Marcel Carné
- Written By
- Jacques Prevert, Pierre Mac Orlan
- Genres
- Drama, Romance, Art House & International
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Sep 14, 2012 Limited
- Studio
- Rialto Pictures
Critic Reviews
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Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
Because it is so uncompromising, so pure, "Port of Shadow's" particularly French brand of romantic fatalism still knocks us out decades after the fact.
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Eric Hynes, Time Out New York
From Gabin's fatigued magnetism to cinematographer Eugen Schüfftan's woodcut-worthy attention to texture, this is movie melancholia of the very highest order.
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Otis Ferguson, The New Republic
As a film that neither attempts more than it can do nor is satisfied with the trivial, Port of Shadows is a pleasure.
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Dave Calhoun, Time Out
Essentially, this is film noir, so there's crime and romance, but both are submerged beneath a resolutely ground-level exploration of lives in crisis -- a mood bolstered by shots of the down-and-dirty French port groaning into action.
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Frank S. Nugent, New York Times
It's a thorough-going study in blacks and grays, without a free laugh in it; but it is also a remarkably beautiful motion picture from the purely pictorial standpoint and a strangely haunting drama.
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)
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Cast
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Michèle Morgan
as Nelly
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Jean Gabin
as Jean
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Michel Simon
as Zabel
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Pierre Brasseur
as Lucien Laugardier
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Raymond Aimos
as Quart-Vittel
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Jenny Burnay
as Lucien's Friend
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Edouard Delmont
as Panama
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Rene Genin
as Docteur
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Robert Le Vigan
as Michel Krauss
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Marcel Peres
as Chauffeur
- Roger Legris
- Michèle Morgan (I)
- Martial Rebe
