The Human Beast

"La bete humaine" is a film noir avant la lettre. Is this why "film noir" and related terminology such as "femme fatale" is French, in spite of the fact that the indicated films are in general American? Of course not. The term "film noir" comes from an article in a French movie magasine (L'ecran francais, The French screen) about American crime movies after World War II.

The story in "La bete humaine" is a bit shaky. Simone Simon (also known from "Cat people" (1942, Jacques Tourneur)) is the femme fatale, seducing a couple of men. These men need to be totally blinded by love however not to see through her real intentions.

The strong part of the movie is the way it portrays the railroad community of those days. The collegue is not merely a collegue but a friend. The locomotive has a name and is treated as nearly a living creature. Because the train table makes it impossible that everyone returns to his post at the end of a working day, there are special pensions for railroad staff. The film emphasizes the camaraderie between the men in those pensions where the book from Zola more accentuates the diffuclties men alone have to stay away from booze and women.