Review of The Life of Emile Zola (1937) by Elliott F — 22 Apr 2010

One of the main reasons to see this mostly forgotten Oscar Best Picture winner was Paul Muni's great performance as the radical writer Emile Zola. Comparing this film to such colorful representations of Paris in many pictures, "The Life of Emile Zola" has depicted the said city not as a picturesque place, but instead, realistically portrayed filled with crumbling apartments, claustrophobic streets, and constant outrageous behavior of the mob.

The highlight of the film is of course, the courtroom sequences, especially Emile Zola's delivery of his military defiance speech, but the final scenes have become predictable, as films at the time could not afford to film sequences that would not advance the plot, so if one would see a scene depicted with utmost normality, behold, something devastating surely will happen, and with this film's case, (SPOILERS, though it's a biopic) Emile Zola's death.

Still, "The Life of Emile Zola" has rightfully shown the positive effect of freedom of speech, and the men who were more than willing to fight for it.