The Worst Film Ever

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Watched Apr 09, 2018Matt Kerr's review published on Letterboxd : Ahead of its time? Check. Laying the foundations for film noir before it was a thing? You betcha. Stuffed to the brim with tragic characters and dark plot elements? Of course!Clunky ending towards the final minutes of the film? *sigh*, I suppose nothing that looks this good on paper is ever so perfect, after all...

The matter is this. Film for me is first a spiritual vision, in that if it doesn't speak to what in passing we call 'spirit', the rest like aesthetics are just to fill the empty spot at heart. And 'spirit' in my definition has cinematic properties; it is that inner viewing space where various affective forces come into play, and to which the self we know is not so much an original cause as a response.So it is with films. They are a response to various forces, many of which directly of the environment.A sense of stagnation and powerlessness were very much in the French air in those years between the first and second war. All that is reflected in the film's microcosm of Le Havre, with its eternally foggy streets and everything human giving way to some inescapable void of pessimism and malaise. A suicidal painter says he paints the 'hidden aspect' of things, the pervading gloom. Even the gangster is a petulant playboy, a make-believe gangster out to pose instead of a seething, fierce, genuine Cagney.Obvious so far. What's more interesting is noting how this climate is sublimated cinematically. The film has no energy, I mean in the gears and walls of its world. It's constrained, powerless beyond assuming some postures. Stagnant in terms of cinematic vocabulary; some abstraction in place as soul, but if you think of Epstein's and L'Herbier's magic a decade before, the camera is stagy, the created viewing space a middle- brow theater of declarations.In many ways it speaks of the German defeat to come, who had put the drama of self-doubt to the side and were pumping blood purely in mindless visual form and sculpted landscape; horrible in many ways and forced from the outside, yet it spoke of a clear vision that was at that time shaping national self. The French had abandoned their own form, with it the desire to cultivate self. Interesting, because this means a passive eye that does not reveal or envision the hidden world of things. The ending with the sailing ship is good, repeated from Pepe le Moko.But for the purposes of my study on noir, this is a clear noir progenitor; the protagonist is a disillusioned soldier returning home, carrying the fog of confused existence 'in his head'. There's the fervent desire for escape, the weary fatalism, the change of selves in his assuming another's identity, the celestial conspiracy against human playthings. Each one a distinct mark of noir.And yet the woman is on his side, and he is not lost in the world. The protagonist is as much a noir puppet as a masterless ronin who'd look great next to Yojimbo; which helps bring to the fore another quality of the film, whereas Kurosawa's ronin were rootless but actively involved themselves in the world, this one just wants out. The film is this rootless brushing with despair, small.Noir Meter: 2/4

I saw Port of Shadows for my film history class and was pleased with it. The movie surprised me from the start with Jean saving the dog by swerving the truck. The whole scene with him being confronted by the driver leading to an anti-climatic ending between the two of them was just too comedic for me to take seriously. The whole scene is dark and gloomy, and the situation is pretty serious, yet they shrug it off as if it is nothing to be bothered about. Had I been the driver of that truck I would have knocked Jean out. For the film being so dark and gloomy, most of the characters were very comedic in their actions and ideas. When Jean slaps and beats up the "gangsters" that was just too funny and by slapping them he just insulted them even more. When Jean steals the identity of the artist and tells the captain what he sees when he paints, it is just too funny to see the reaction of the captain and his thoughts of Jean the artist. The random artist who commits suicide, the want to be gangsters, the perverted uncle, the war torn veteran, they all come together and act upon each other, and that just leads to a comedic outcome every time. The movie is deep in the meaning and sense of it all. The lonely characters finding comfort in each other, helping one another find meaning in their lives once again. That was a good part of the movie. I was very surprised with the ending and Jean being killed in the end by the gangster he humiliated. I was expecting a happy ending with the lovers sailing away together on the boat to a new life. But that's just the way life is, dark, lonely, gloomy, and disappointing. All in all, a good film to watch at least once and get its gloomy reality.

Tragic dramatic films were standard movie fare in all countries in the 1930's.Le Quai De Brumes (Port of Shadows) was directed by Marcel Carne.He directed--- Les Infant Du Paradis (Children of Paradise). This somber,sad & tragic tale of lonely people is made very watchable due to the ensemble cast of some of the best actors in French cinema. Each of the 4 that I will mention were making films & television for over 40 years.They each created some of the finest performances ever.Jean Gabin- He had just made Pepe Le Moko & was also in Grand Illusion.Michelle Morgan--she was 19 when this film was made & already a veteran, Among her American films are Joan of Paris (with Alan Ladd & Higher & Higher with Frank Sinatra (before they were stars.) BTW she is still alive & probably still a beauty.Michel Simon- a towering actor who always was superb and Pierre Braseur another long time brilliant actor.The remaining cast members are equally impressive.As I said the story itself is not viable today but the acting is.Also please note the DVD print is not too good, Criterion did the best they could.Ratings: *** (out of 4) 81 points(out of 100) IMDb 7 (out of 10)