This first episode was the first part of the theatrically released documentary ,Bertrand Tavernier's voyage in the French cinema.
1)Jacques Becker :the first film he saw was "Dernier Atout" but his "Coup De Foudre" was "Casque D'Or";he passes over in silence the director's failures ("Ali Baba" and "Arsène Lupin") and insists on the fact that in a movie the characters are more interesting than the plot and we can only approve of Tavernier's opinion ,when he says that Becker's plots are minimal ,but that he creates extraordinary secondary characters (one remembers the uncle who studied in Oxford from "Edouard Et Caroline as much as Manda's fiancé in "Casque D'Or") ;besides ,these human beings work,a lesson contemporary directors should pay attention to)
2)Jean Renoir : the extracts are well chosen: the admirable final sequence of "Une Partie De Campagne" ;this terrifying scene when Gabin tries to strangle Blanchette Brunoy in "La Bête Humaine" ; the advertising in "Le Crime De Monsieur Lange" which was oddly prophetic.Tavernier does not pass over in silence Renoir's debatable attitude at the beginning of WW2.
3)Jean Gabin : the director wanted to show that he was a character actor and he's convincing.This part shows extracts of movies by less known directors :"La Nuit Est Mon Royaume" by Georges Lacombe in which he is cast against type as a blind man ;He restores to favor directors who were unfairly lambasted by the arrogant Nouvelle Vague : Gilles Grangier's "Le Desordre Et La Nuit" and "Gas Oil" ,and mainly Jean Delannoy's "Maigret Tend Un Piège " ,one of the best Simenon adaptations .The biggest flaw of the Gabin sequence is that ,although he mentions him, Tavernier seems to forget that it's Julien Duvivier,not Renoir,who created the myth.What have we got here ? From the thirties, a very tiny fragment of "La Belle Equipe " whereas this movie represents the 1936 zeitgeist ;and what about "La Bandera " which spawned Gabin-the-outcast (Carné would use in "Quai Des Brumes" )?
4)Marcel Carné: "his collaborators,be they Jeanson or Prevert ,used to treat him condescendingly ,nay contempt.So did the notorious Nouvelle Vague although Truffaut would later make amends and say he would trade all his "filmography " for "Les Enfants Du Paradis ".And however,Tavernier concludes ,his masterpieces have stood the test of time gracefully .This part shows glorious Arletty in a flattering light .And to begin this sequence with the (dated ,admittedly ,although it was his next-to -last effort in the...seventies!)"Assassins De L'Ordre" ,is,as Tavernier says himself,a provocation.
