L'Atalante

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L'Atalante is a 1934 French film directed by Jean Vigo and starring Jean Dasté, Dita Parlo and Michel Simon.

The story follows Jean (Jean Dasté), the captain of the barge L'Atalante and his new wife, Juliette (Dita Parlo). They are married, having hardly met, in Juliette's provincial town. The scene of their march from the wedding to Jean's barge is filmed in a disontinuous style that predicts the films of the French New Wave. They set out on a trip to Paris which functions doubly as a cargo delivery and as their makeshift honeymooon. Tensions arise with the crew, who are not used to the presence of a woman. Most of the conflict, however, stems from Jean who flies into a jealous rage, smashing plates and sending cats scattering every which way, when he discovers Juliette and first mate Jules (Michel Simon) talking in Jules' quarters.

Once arriving in Paris, Jean and Juliette go to a music club. There they meet a street peddlar who flirts with Juliette leading to a scuffle with Jean. Growing disaffected of barge life, and enamored with the lights of Paris, Juliette runs off with the peddlar. Jean, furious, casts off, leaving her behind, only to return later to look for her when he has thought better of it.

The film has been praised for its prescient poetic realist style, but it also includes surprising surrealist passages, such as the double exposure Michel Simon wrestling match and a scene in which Jean jumps into the river. As noted, it was also a favorite of the filmmakers of the French New Wave, whose films contain many allusions to the works of Jean Vigo.

The original distributors cut the film's running time in an attempt to make it more popular and changed the title to Le Chaland Qui Passe, the name of a song from the time, which was also inserted into the film.

The much lauded cinematography was by Boris Kaufman. He would later go on to shoot great Hollywood films such as On the Waterfront. Nevertheless, he described his years working with Vigo as "cinematic paradise."

{| style="margin:0 auto" align=center id=toc width=600 !style="background:#CCCCCC" align="center"|Jean Vigo |- |align="center"|Films |- |align="center"| Zero de Conduite (1933) • L'Atalante (1934) |- |align="center"|Shorts |- |align="center"| A propos de Nice (1930) • Taris, roi de l'eau (1931)