Cheap Port of Shadows - Criterion Collection (DVD) (Marcel Carné) Price

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Customer Reviews of Port of Shadows - Criterion Collection

Shadows & Fog
I first became aware of director Marcel Carne when I saw "Children of Paradise". In a review I wrote on here for that movie I said to call it a masterpiece is to understate it's case. The same can be said for "Port of Shadows", easily one of the greatest films I have ever seen. <
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> The movie stars Jean Gabin as a soldier running away from the past. What exactly did he do? I don't know, we get the hint he must be a deserter, but maybe that's just the beginning of his problems. Whatever the case may be it doesn't matter. All that matters is the fact he wants to get away. Jean (that's his character's name) finds himself in a hideout run by a man called Panama (Edouard Delmont) which is near what is known as "the port of shadows". Here is where Jean will get all the help he needs to leave the country. But things are never that easy. For instance he meets a girl, Nelly (Michele Morgan) and gets mixed up with criminals; Zabel (Michel Simon) and Lucien (Pierre Brasseur). And soon Jean fears he may be a suspect in a murder. <
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> Jean Gabin is an absolute natural for a role like this. He practically invented the character in "Pepe le Moko". A character that American actors such as Humphrey Bogart would play in films like "Casablanca". Gabin has those rough edges around his face and a dour look on his face that leads us to believe the guy has been through a lot. This is a complete contrast to the look Michele Morgan has. She is to put bluntly a beauty! <
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> The film was based on a novel written by Pierre Mac Orlan and was adapted by Jacques Prevert (a poet as well as songwriter. If you are familiar with the song "Autumn Leaves" he wrote the lyrics). I've never read the book so I cannot comment on how faithfully this film is adapted, but I can say Carne does a masterful job directing this movie. The film takes us down paths I wasn't expecting to travel. Carne doesn't throw too much in our face. He lets the story flow at it's own pace. And things move along quite quickly. The film is only 90 minutes. But at the same time, nothing feels rushed. We understand these characters, their situations and the fate that awaits them. Having only seen two films from this director I'm ready to call him a master. His films manage to touch me on a deep personal level. He creates characters that seems to live off the page. And just think, this was Carne's third film! He clearly had a natural gift. And luckily people took notice during his lifetime. "Port of Shadows" won the National Board of Review award for "Best Foreign Film". <
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> As for the film's title, at first I wondered how they arrived at it. We don't find out the name of the port until the end of the film but couldn't it have a double meaning? Couldn't the "port of shadows" refer to a place where people go looking to escape the shadows of their past? Or maybe it's just that you can't see a darn thing with all that fog hanging around! <
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> Bottom-line: Marcel Carne's film is one of the greatest I have ever see. Carne handles the story and the characters with a sure touch. The movie takes some unexpected turns and takes what could have been a simple story and transcends it into something much more.

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A very nice french film
This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film. <
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>"Port of Shadows" known in France as "Le quai des brumes" is an excellent film. <
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>The film stars Jean Gabin as a deserting soldier who is trying to start fresh. He hitchhikes into a port town and finds a stray dog who he takes for his own. He later becomes romantically involved with a woman who has some problems of her own. That's all I can say without spoiling the film. <
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>Jean Gabin is probably best known for his role in "Grand Illusion" and does a fine job in this film also. He is perfect for the part, but the only drawback is that I now see him as typecast in military roles. <
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>The other actors in the film do great also and the dog in the film was well trained. <
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>The DVD only has two special features but the liner notes contain much more material than usual. The features are a theatrical trailer and a gallery of production stills and film posters. This is a great film and has a nice story.

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Jean Gabin steps out of the shadows
Jean Gabin is a great French actor - rugged and rude with the swagger and confidence of a male achetype he nonetheless posseses a style and charm that makes him appear as if he could sweep any woman off her feet of the most posh Paris night spot. Here Gabin's performance is no exception as he portrays a solider weary of colonial French outposts who has abandoned his duties. Arriving in the port of Le Harve he soon encounters the murky band of hangers-on, losers, and unseemly characters one might suspect would lurk in such a place. Some of the most dangerous are a small band of wanna-be gangsters whose penchant for violence and desire for respect outweighs their low intellingence. <
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>The one bright spot in this sordid locale is Michele Morgan as Nelly. Morgan nearly stops the heart of the viewer at first moment on the screen as the ultimate femme fatal wrapped in translucent raincoat with a beret covering her blonde locks. <
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>The combination of these two, some nice supporting performances - including the proprietor of a portside dive bar who recounts every great moment in his life to a trip to Panama 30 years previous, and a few tense, even terrifying, screen moments make this film stand the test of time, while similar others of the era might be dismissed and forgotten as pulp pot boilers.