Ask Bookie
A Day in the Country
Overview
Adapted from a Maupassant story, A DAY IN THE COUNTRY is suffused with such an overpowering sense of reality that watching it can make one feel a bit like a voyeur. It stars Sylvia Bataille as Henriette Dufour and Georges Darnoux as Henri. They meet by chance when Henriette's father (Andre Gabriello), a Parisian ironmonger, borrows a cart for a trip into the countyside. He's joined by his wife, Juliette (Jane Marken); his daughter; her fiancé, Anatole (Paul Temps); and his mother-in-law. Stopping at a small riverside restaurant, they are charmed by a pair of local young men: Henri and Rodolphe (Jacques Brunius). The two locals offer to row the women down the river to see more of the countryside while their men rest and go fishing. Rodolphe, who has been lusting after Henriette since he first saw her, now has her in his boat and is prepared for action. Henri, concerned about what might happen to the girl, makes a deft switch, giving Madame Dufour to his friend and taking Henriette in his own boat. The two spend an unforgettable afternoon together. This deceptively simple masterpiece is the director's most lyrical evocation of lost love.
Awards:
Main Cast & Crew:
Jean Renoir - Director
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Jane Marken [Jeanne]
Georges Darnoux
Paul Temps
André Gabriello
Marguerite Renoir
Sylvia Bataille
Jane Marken
Gabriello
Jacques B. Brunius
Details
- Format: DVD
- Color Format: B&W
- UPC: 715515137010
- Genre: DRAMA
- Rating: Not Rated
- Release Date: February 2015
Movie Reviews
Synopsis:
A DAY IN THE COUNTRY is the film from director Jean Renoir that is most reminiscent of his father's painting. It stars Sylvia Bataille as Henriette Dufour and Georges Darnoux as Henri. The two meet when Henriette's father takes Henriette and her fiancé out for a day in the country. Henri and Rodolphe, two young locals, charm the family--which includes Juliette, Henriette's stepmom--and offer to row the women down the river while their men fish. The young men, however, have more on their minds than rowing.
Notes:
Theatrical release: May 8, 1936.
The film was shot in Bords du Loing and Monitgny, France.
Among the assistant directors were future directors Yves Allegret, Luchino Visconti, Jacques Becker, and photographer Henri-Cartier Bresson.
Renoir considered the film unfinished, having conceived scenes that were never shot.
The film's year of production is 1936; it was edited without Renoir's supervision and released in 1946.
Philosopher George Bataille has small part as a young seminarian.
Film historian and critic Georges Sadoul noted that "Pictorially [A DAY IN THE COUNTRY] reveals Renoir's relationship not only to his father, Auguste Renoir, but also to Manet, Monet, Degas and other impressionists." The drama takes place in the mid-19th century, the very height of that artistic movement.
A DAY IN THE COUNTRY was originally released in America as part of an anthology entitled WAYS OF LOVE. That trilogy also included JOFROI, directed by Marcel Pagnol and based on a story by Jean Glono, and THE MIRACLE, directed by Roberto Rossellini from a script by Fellini; both Anna Magnani and Fellini himself starred in that episode.
Reviews:
"[T]he movie as we have it is not just sublime but virtually perfect..." - 02/11/2015 A.V. Club
Customers Also Bought
- 1
