Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Film / LAtalante

Go To

1[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Latalante_7120.jpg]]
2
3''L'Atalante'' is a 1934 French romance/drama film directed by Creator/JeanVigo. It is regularly hailed by critics as one of the greatest films of all time.
4
5Quite beautiful in its simplicity; ''L'Atalante'' tells the story of Jean (Jean Dasté), captain of the canal delivery barge L'Atalante, and his newlywedded wife, Juliette (Dita Parlo). Jean, like Ratty from ''Literature/TheWindInTheWillows'', craves the river. Juliette, on the other hand, is a CityMouse who longs for excitement. As the two embark on their honeymoon - a cruise up the river - along with a cabin boy and the strange old second mate Pere Jules (Michel Simon), Juliette gets progressively more bored. She and Jean go head to head with each other as well when Jean catches her in Jules' quarters and flies into a jealous rage. When the barge arrives in Paris, Juliette disembarks for some fun. Jean, believing she has run away, casts off in a rage. Quickly, however, he regrets this, and sends Jules to go and find her, whereupon they are reunited in one of the sweetest movie endings of all time.
6
7The film was Vigo's fourth and final; his life was tragically cut short at the age of 29. But his legacy lives on in the French New Wave, of which this is a prominent predecessor. Director Creator/JimJarmusch said that this was his favorite film.
8
9----
10!!This film provides examples of:
11
12* AnswerCut: Jules comes back on board with his hair shorn to a buzz cut. Jean the CaptainObvious says "You got a hair cut?" Cut to a guy on shore with a sign that says "Dog Barber" saying "That one had a screw loose."
13* CallBack:
14** Juliette tells Jean that if you submerge your face in water and open your eyes, you'll see your beloved. Jean thinks that's dumb. Later, after he's gotten the boat underway and abandoned her in Paris, he jumps into the canal and sees her while swimming underwater.
15** The men on the barge like to sing a ditty about how barge men are hard workers. At the end, Jeanette goes into a sort of record club and plays the song over the speakers. This draws the attention of Papa Jules, who is out looking for her, and he brings her back on the boat.
16* CityMouse: Juliette finds life on the boat dull and badly wants to see Paris.
17* CrazyCatLady: Gender-flipped with Jules, who annoys the others with all the cats he keeps on the boat.
18* GayParee: Juliette is very disappointed when they can't go into Paris at first because Jules and the cabin boy run off, requiring Jean to stay with the boat. They eventually do make it into Paris, only for Jean to grossly overreact when a man dances with Juliette at a nightclub.
19* GreenEyedMonster: A big problem for Jean. When he sees Juliette talking with Jean in Jean's cabin, he flips out and wrecks the cabin. When Juliette dances with another man in Paris, he drags her back to the boat and says she can't go out anymore. When she goes out without him, he leaves with the ship, abandoning her in the city.
20* HappyEndingMassage: Sort of. Jules goes onshore to see a psychic. She's holding his palm and telling him that no bad luck will come to him. Then she says "I can give you the full treatment if you want." Jules tells the cabin boy, who is tagging along, to get lost, and the scene cuts away.
21* HornySailors: Papa Jules has pictures of scantily clad and naked women all over his cabin. In Paris he visits a prostitute.
22* ManChild: Jules, a giant kid who likes wrestling and playing with puppets, and loves cats.
23* ThousandYardStare: Jean after abandoning Juliette in Paris, after what he did in a fit of temper really hits home.
24* TragicKeepsake: And a profoundly creepy one, as Jules has the ''severed hands'' of an old friend and shipmate in a jar in his cabin.
25* VehicleTitle: Jean's canal barge.
26* VisualTitleDrop: The first shot of the movie is the stern of the barge, with the boat's name visible.

Top