Review of La Bête Humaine (1938) by Paul B — 04 Aug 2010

Jean Renoir's adaptation of Emile Zola's La Bete Humaine (or "The Human Beast," as it is translated in the subtitles) is a naturalistic tour-de-force that explores the nature of love, the power of obsession, and inability to escape one's past.

Unlike many naturalistic works, La Bete Humaine is not simply a bleak, depressing examination of characters as they destroy themselves; instead, it is a taunt thriller that follows the lives of several individuals related by the business of train-travel who become involved in murder, adultery, and a variety of other intrigues.

Renoir powerfully brings locomotive travel into the film, and the train steadily becomes a character itself that ties together the various lives that we watch unravel onscreen. Indeed, as with any good naturalistic work, La Bete Humaine examines how our environment and upbringing determine our fates.

And, indeed, the characters barrel full-speed towards their fates like the unstoppable juggernaut of the steam-engine. In effect, their lives, like the train, are own tracks as the proceed inevitably towards one fated, tragic outcome.

As always, Renoir's direction is breathtaking and brilliant, and he manages to truly bring Zola's story to life in this powerful exploration of human identity and the damned relationships we forge with one another.