Whirlpool of Fate

This is the first film Renoir directed alone and it is by far his best silent film, of the ones I have seen (Whirlpool of Fate, Nana, Charleston Parade and The Little Match Girl).

The editing was just amazing. The quick cuts where so spot on and well paced. And the trick shots where like something from a poetic avant garde film. There was also a very nice close up of eyes, which reminded me of the Spaghetti Westerns.

The story is not bad. Reminded me a little of D.W. Griffith mellow drama. The acting is also not too bad but the strength of this film is first and foremost its visual aspect, something sadly lacking in his other silent films I have seen.

The ambiguity of politics in La Fille de L'Eau replaces the ambiguity of stylistics from Une Vie Sans Joie (1924). I find it hard to determine which early idea presented by the film should then be applied throughout the film... that hope springs from the unsung courage and perseverance of everyday people or that wisdom is seated in the lives of those who know to avoid being in the way of their husband's racing car? Is Renoir flippant in his observation of the casualness of fate and abnormality of instinct? This film leaves me with more questions than answers as it is a launching point for social themes that will be teased out throughout Renoir's career. I would like to think that Renoir cares about "the little people" but it is well recognized that he is ambiguous and ambivalent in his political expressions. This film is a good example. The documented views of Vigo's social cinema have a solid application in the barge scenes and the milieu of the film more generally, however, the stylistic system dominates the cinematic experience(like all Renoir films really). Psych-driven flashback shots and angular close-ups eventually give way to rapid editing montage sequences. The caravan scene is first expressed in Eisensteinian juxtapositional collision montage and is then remembered by Gulune in Gance-like hyper-psychological rapid montage. As Gulune undergoes further stress from her environment and circumstance, she hallucinates...and nightmaresque sequences are constructed from every French Impressionist technique in the book: superimpositions, mattes, over-exposures, surreal visuals (mise-en-scene), reverse-projection, slow-motion, oblique blocking within the frame, unnatural settings, and even mirror distortions a la Dr Tube (Gance). Gulune was close to death and I conjecture that this is the over-arching theme of the film as opposed to the tired fixations on Renoir's supposed ever-present and all-pervasive socialist politics (even if subverted and often excused under the banner of "naturalism"). Perhaps my thesis would hold more weight if La Fille de L'Eau had been produced in 1926 or 1927 as sound film was to bully silent film to death... but then again Renoir was always considered forward-thinking and generally ahead of his time.

"La Fille De L'Eau" is Jean Renoir's first film; Renoir is very well recognized by the longhaired generation, due especially to his sound period; this is a youthful film, and we all know how bold the longhaired are during their early lives..

A melodramatic air can be noted in the film's storyline; it tells the story of Damen Gudule (characterized by the director's muse, Catherine Hessling) a girl who goes through many and varied misfortunes, the sad details of which this aristocrat will enumerate.

Gudule works with her father and uncle in a scow, up and down river (first disgrace: a girl working, and to makes matters worse, in such a vulgar place); when her father accidentally drowns, her uncle tries to abuse the poor little orphan.

Weary of this harassment, Gudule runs away and leaves the scow behind, uncle included, and joins a group of low life people (the lady reads cards and the boy is a petty thief, occupations not very commendable especially the lady's one); due to Gudule's unlimited charms she soon attracts another undesirable suitor but the petty thief rescues her honor. When the little orphan rejects the young pursuer's further indecent proposals, the rejected scoundrel, helped by some neighbors, decides to burn the wagon of her new family.

Alone, without wagon or family (they ran away during the fire), the tragic Gudule's destiny becomes bleaker still with the reappearance of her uncle, who asks her to finance his pitiful life. The hapless young woman then is instructed to rob the house where she is now working and where she has attracted the young Master (another mishap; the intimacy between different social classes)

The young Master, when he discovers that his dearly beloved has been extorted by her uncle, decides they must get rid of such an unrepresentable family member and defeats the evil uncle in a tough fight; Gudule's new heartthrob takes the young woman with all his family to Algeria (as though poor Gudule hasn't suffered enough; now she must endure the tacky holiday destination chosen by her lover)

In spite of the film's imperfections and undefined style, this German count was impressed by Gudule's dream sequence with its obvious surrealist influence, it fascinates the spectator with its strange and suggestive shots; it is mainly because of this that the film deserves to be seen.

And now, if you allow me, I must temporarily take my leave due to the fact that this Count needs to called to order too, some unrepresentable family members.

To try to find some of the seeds which produced Renoir's masterpieces of the thirties is splitting hairs.All we can say is that it shows Renoir's taste for nature ,rivers,country landscapes.

The heroine called Gudule (the name has become completely ludicrous in today's France ;no one is called Gudule anymore)is played by Renoir's favorite actress of the silent era ,Catherine Hessling.Her fate is worthy of Hugo's "les miserables" :mistreated by a wicked lecherous uncle ,taken in by a poacher and his mum, left in the cold and the rain...And finally she finds love :a nice young man falls for her and marries her.His background is very bourgeois ,but the parents do not seem to bother.That is to say we are far from "Boudu Sauvé des Eaux" ,"La Chienne" and even "Une Partie de Campagne" .

Best moment: the heroine's nightmare;people who know well Renoir's silent era will notice the similarities between this sequence and that of "La Petite Fille aux Allumettes" where the little match girl and her attentive escort go for a horse ride in the sky.The comparison stops here for " La Fille de l'Eau' is inferior to the Andersen adaptation.

Actually the main influence is DW Griffith but then again Hessling is not

Lilian Gish.

For Renoir's fans.The others might find it a bit obsolete.

This film is from the DVD collection from Criterion and it's the earliest of the films by director Jean Renoir in the package. Naturally, being made in 1925 it's a silent film--and it's really one of the better ones from the era. Now this is not because the story has a huge budget or complex plot. No, it's very simple and direct. But, it also is masterfully composed--with some wonderful film work and lots of skill in such a young director.

The story begins with a young lady (Catherine Hessling) living on a barge with her father and uncle. When the father unexpectedly dies, her life falls to pieces as the uncle is scum--complete and total scum. She flees for her life and to avoid being raped and lands in the lap of a 'bohemian' (in this case, really just a thief who shuns work) and you know she can do better. However, when the bohemian and his mother take off, Hessling is all alone and without any resources. What will become of her? Tune in and see for yourself.

The film works well for some reasons other than just the fine direction and cinematography. Hessling's amazing eyes really catch your attention. They practically glow and really give her a gorgeous expression. Also, all the nice location shooting in the countryside was terrific--like a window into a lost way of life. Well worth seeing and well-constructed.