Review of La Bête Humaine (1938) by Paul Z — 05 May 2010

All serious film noir fans should see the baby that started it all. This was the induction of the 'femme fatale' played here by Simone Simon, the petty & child-like schemer in Renoir's brilliant show case about a woman who plays her own devilish games using men to her advantages by seducing them. Jean Gabin made this film for me though, as he is always a pleasure to watch. He suffers from internal demons causing him to do things that he can't explain. It's simply an illness for him and he takes it as reason.

As a whole, it's a good dramatic movie but a bit slow paced at times. However, I did find it to be rewarding in the end. Renoir worked magic with a camera and shot the train scenes with such perfection and magnificence which is important and central to the plot and is in conjunction with Jean Gabin's character. Alot of little details lead me to believe that Renoir was definitely ahead of his time and his legacy lives on because of that.